Vintage Watch: Where can I find the market value infromation?

[strangedream]

My watch collection is at best modest or rather embarrassing. But despite my petty collection I still hold a strong passion in watches and a desire to improve my collection.

Right now, my wish is to collect vintage Omega watches from the 1960s and early 70s: Constellation, Seamaster, Speedmaster, etc. Their quality and designs are so admirable that ever since I have first seen their images, I got hooked.

I have learned from many advices that eBay is at at best to be avoided. So my best bet to buy a genuine watch would be from the vintage watch dealer.

Is there any good source in the web to find the general market value of vintage watches? I would like know to them ahead and be prepared when I have to negotiate with the dealer when I decide to purchase my first vintage watch. I have a pretty limited budget afterall.

In addition, can I get some recommendation of good book for horological knowledge? I would like to learn more technical aspect of horology so I can be prepared and know what to look when I purchase my first vintage watch .I have been taking notes of good watch advices, but I am still kind of guy who sometimes prefer to read through the physical medium over through the computer monitor.

Thanks

 

[comrade]

Tell you a little secret: I am the original owner of an 18k gold Omega Seamaster DeVille
from 1963. I stopped wearing it after several years and replaced it with a Timex. Why?
The Omega never kept good time. The Timex was better as an every day watch. The
Omega now resides in a dresser drawer. No, it is not for sale.

 

[Journeyman]

Strangedream, whilst I can't recommend a good book to you, I can recommend a couple of websites for you to have a look at (even though I know that you said that you would prefer a book to a computer screen).

The first is Timezone. It is like Styleforum, but for watch enthusiasts. TZ is divided into subfora for different watch brands, including Omega, and there are people who regularly post there who have a high degree of expertise and there is a lot of fantastic information on the site. It is well worth a look. TZ also has a "sales corner" (like the Buying & Selling forum here) where people buy, sell and trade watches and watch paraphernalia.

With regard to Omega, particularly the Speedmaster versions, you really can't go past the archived version of Chuck Maddox's website here, and his blog here. Chuck unfortunately passed away a few years ago, but he was an absolute mine of information when it came to Omega watches and some friends of his preserved his website so as to ensure that the information remained available to people.

 

[strangedream]

Journeyman, thanks for your advice. I will definitely check out these websites

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

Good info from Journeyman. I would add that the forums at watchuseek.com are also a good resource and there's a very active Omega sub-forum there (I'm an Omega fan myself) as well as a buy/sell/trade area.

 

[Bill Smith]

I have a stainless steel mid '60s Seamaster Deville and I have never had a problem with accuracy in my eight years of ownership and it's not for sale. t echo checking out TZ, Watch u Seek are good places to start.

Vintage Omegas are nice. I would love a Speedmaster Pro 861 in my collection at some point.

 

[deveandepot1]



Tell you a little secret: I am the original owner of an 18k gold Omega Seamaster DeVille
from 1963. I stopped wearing it after several years and replaced it with a Timex. Why?
The Omega never kept good time. The Timex was better as an every day watch. The
Omega now resides in a dresser drawer. No, it is not for sale.

I have dozens of vintage watches including Tissots, Omegas, Hamiltons,... However, the watches that get the most daily wear are my Timex quartz watches.
I really only wear mechanical watches when I wear a full suit and/or don't really need to know the time at any given moment. In less you get your vintage watches serviced monthly they can't always be trusted.

 

[mingus2112]



The Omega never kept good time.

I can't tell you which watch you should be wearing. . .some people would just rather wear a quartz watch that they don't have to worry about. . .and that's perfectly fine. If you want to start wearing that Omega again, consider sending it out to get serviced. If it NEVER kept good time (from time of purchase), I suspect it was mishandled at the store or was defective. A proper service would bring that right into spec keeping pretty consistent time. I've got a similar deville that, after a service, consistently keeps within 3 seconds a day!

-James

 

[comrade]



I can't tell you which watch you should be wearing. . .some people would just rather wear a quartz watch that they don't have to worry about. . .and that's perfectly fine. If you want to start wearing that Omega again, consider sending it out to get serviced. If it NEVER kept good time (from time of purchase), I suspect it was mishandled at the store or was defective. A proper service would bring that right into spec keeping pretty consistent time. I've got a similar deville that, after a service, consistently keeps within 3 seconds a day!
-James

I am going to have it serviced. When I was wearing it many decades ago, it was serviced regularly,
if only because I was not satisfied with it's accuracy. At the time the watch maker(s) in Chicago
said it was becoming magnetized, possibly by contact with my refrigerator door.

 

[mingus2112]



At the time the watch maker(s) in Chicago
said it was becoming magnetized, possibly by contact with my refrigerator door.

In 2011 this sounds absolutely ridiculous, but this could have completely been the case! I had an old GE refrigerator whose magnet was HUGE! I have several mechanical watches and invested in a demagnetizer after fears of being magnetized on the way back from being serviced. (Both watchmakers I use are not local and do most business through the mail. . .and are VERY recommended if you're looking for a place) I've actually never had an issue with it coming back magnetized, so I've only used it once or twice (just to test it, etc).

-James