Losing my mind at an antique shop
Currently on vacation, and I followed my wife and daughters into an antique shop. There are so many gorgeous vintage pieces, I’m struggling to contain myself.
My eyes were immediately drawn to this 70s(?) era Carrera
There were also a few beautiful older Seikos, including a gorgeous orange dial 6106(?) that caught my eye.
A sweet 1930s Omega
And a square dial Patek from the 40s
And to top it off, a Tiffany x Patek minute repeater pocket watch
But my eyes keep going back to the Carrera. I don’t know much about vintage Heuers. Anyone know if $5500 is a fair price?
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Carlos
Husband. Father. Cal alum. MethaneSAT engineer. Lapsed collector who just got back into it after 10 years of wearing smart watches.
San Francisco Bay Area
Member since
Last active: 3 hrs ago
17.15 cm
Ooof. I don’t know, but I was hoping the price would be so low it was clearly a deal. Beautiful watch, tough call. Good luck.
Good lord why are they all piled together like that? You can get a better price from someone who treats their watches that way, but if you don't know much about a watch I wouldn't drop thousands of dollars on it.
A bit steep for the ole “antique shop bargain bucket”. Definitely some pieces I’d like to take home. Shops like this probably don’t do so hot in the age of smart phones so they’re getting every penny they can out of those watches 😆
Where are you at? Somewhere in Asia? I see quite a few jade pieces beside the watches.
I'd try to get a great price on that Seiko world timer!!
Holy crap snatch up that Seiko Bellmatic!!!
Can you put a price to each of the watches listed?
From the condition, I'd say the seller is ball parking it, Throwing noodles at the wall to see what sticks. That price is based on a much nicer specimen. Those are all nice watches! almost seems like a collection. Low ball em' I'll take the Bulova Accutron
Oh man! That Universal Geneve Chrono!
I have limited experience with watches in antique shops, but I’ve generally found the watches to have “aspirational” pricing (cough - grossly overpriced - cough). You have no idea what condition that watch is in and what it needs in the way of repair.
Where are you at? Somewhere in Asia? I see quite a few jade pieces beside the watches.
Kailua, Hawaii, on the windward side of Oahu. There was a lot of different jewelry in this little shop, and the watches just happened to be next to a display of jade pieces.
Kailua, Hawaii, on the windward side of Oahu. There was a lot of different jewelry in this little shop, and the watches just happened to be next to a display of jade pieces.
Nice! Have fun in Hawaii. I’d really not get any watch from the antique shop unless it’s to be had for less than $50. As the others have said, you don’t know the condition and you might spend loads more getting it serviced and repaired.
There is no way the antique shop owner is ignorant of the contents here, I would pick two items and negotiate like there is no tomorrow. At some point the owner will try to offer a few other items to loosen your wallet, especially if he or she senses that you will walk out the door which might still be your best plan.
These are some incredible pieces. I have a soft spot for vintage Omega so that would be my choice. But these are all gorgeous pieces of history!
Ask for a big discount. As others said the watches piled like that are not in a safe status. Also, think that you might need a service, and on a Chrono they are expensive.
Can you put a price to each of the watches listed?
From the condition, I'd say the seller is ball parking it, Throwing noodles at the wall to see what sticks. That price is based on a much nicer specimen. Those are all nice watches! almost seems like a collection. Low ball em' I'll take the Bulova Accutron
Exactly. It seems like the shop owner knows enough to google the names on the dials (or worse, what they're "going for" on ebay) and is just hoping someone agrees. I would guess he doesn't actually sell a lot of watches and would take an offer as long as he didn't feel like he was getting robbed. Please let us know what you end up getting!
Can you put a price to each of the watches listed?
From the condition, I'd say the seller is ball parking it, Throwing noodles at the wall to see what sticks. That price is based on a much nicer specimen. Those are all nice watches! almost seems like a collection. Low ball em' I'll take the Bulova Accutron
Good question. He wanted $650 for the Bell-matic, $1k for the world timer and $750 for the orange diver. Definitely too high. The Carrera was probably worth a lot less than what he was asking.
Ultimately, I decided against getting anything.