Need some help
Anyone here collect vintage? I am looking into maybe getting a vintage piece or two. However, I have the attention span of a puppy who sees a squirrel so I do t have the time/patience to research vintage. Where is a good spot to find/look for vintage that isn’t going to bend me over on price? I have seen some people showing vintage Zeniths for $300-$400 and they look stunning.
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Vincent
A budget watch collector who loves all things bang-for-buck in the Watch world. Big fan of Casio, G Shock, Seiko and all things budget.
Fort Carson
Member since
Last active: 23 hrs ago
16.51 cm
I tried to get into vintage about a year ago, but after looking at some YouTube videos and reading forums I realized that this is a very dangerous road to take and I better not on embark on that journey. There are so many offerings out there and how do you differentiate between a good and a bad one. Lots of people try to take advantage of you if you do not know what you are doing, they may sell you a watch with a wrong dial, hands, even movement. So, you need to be very, very careful and diligent in your search. Good Luck.
I can only recommend one thing besides “buy the seller” and “do your research”, which is start with vintage quartz.
There’s fantastic late 70s and early 80s pieces from Seiko and Omega out there for less than $400 in very good states of conservation. They are a bit easier to research as there’s a bit more information about them around, and there’s a lot of variety. Dressy pieces, sporty pieces, funky designs, sober designs… just don’t expect water resistance.
Search for: Seiko Silverwave, Seiko Grand Quartz, Seiko King Quartz, Omega caliber 1330, Omega Dynamic…
Example from Chrono24, a gorgeous 1979 Seiko King Quartz with double quartz crystal that will look the part in any life situation and will keep ticking well into the future… for 210€.
Of course you have to be aware of corrosion issues and crappy bracelets all around, but if the deal goes wrong it is not a huge loss as would be, for example, dropping upwards of $1000 on a fake automatic Omega Constellation “Pie pan”.
Totally agree, 1970s quartz is the way to go. As well as the other Seiko models mentioned, Seiko 4004,QT,QZ,QR these were all pretty high end and you can get a good condition one for under 200 dollars. There is also Seiko Type 2 quartz which were more mid range but still very well finished and have beautiful dials. You can probably pick one of these up for around 100 dollars if you're patient.
Totally agree, 1970s quartz is the way to go. As well as the other Seiko models mentioned, Seiko 4004,QT,QZ,QR these were all pretty high end and you can get a good condition one for under 200 dollars. There is also Seiko Type 2 quartz which were more mid range but still very well finished and have beautiful dials. You can probably pick one of these up for around 100 dollars if you're patient.
True that. My first vintage watch was a 4004. Nice piece, I just didn’t wear it often and sold it for roughly the same price I got it for.