The older stuff from the 50s and 60's are obviously vintage, but what is the cutoff date?

 

70s would be around the max in most eyes IMO. Particularly with Omega, since the 70s was the last time of classical innovation before the quartz crisis.

 

In my head:

Pre 1940 = Antique

1940-1979 = Vintage

1980-2016 = Used

Being born in 1981 that makes me used rather than vintage

 

From a time before you were old enough to have witnessed it being sold new.

(seems to coincide with the 60s/70s for most collectors)

 

Not a native speaker, but doesn’t „vintage“, in contrast to „antique“, also imply it‘s not only old, but from some kind of „golden age“?

 

If the "Antique" traders in some of London's markets are anything to go by, "Antique" means "Old Rubbish that no one wants, but you can have for £200".

 

Vintage is the contraction of "vingt ans d'âge", which means 20 years old in the wine world

 

Not really, vintage come from the old french vendenge, wich, in his turn come from the latin vindēmia (from vinum (wine) and demere (de - out + mere - take it; demere - take it out).

In 1450 this word was recognized in the english with the meaning of harvest of wine

 

I like your explanation of the origin but Google thinks otherwise....





Vendange is still a commonly used word in french. The French also have adopted english word vintage "from a certain era".

 

Personal interpretation in the watch world. Have seen enough of these thread over the years to come to " its a personal view and can not be a fixed set of dates "

For me
vintage is 50s to 70s
And ( @tyrantlizardrex ) anything 70-80s is Retro
90s to now is modern

In a government context for duty and importing / exporting it is stated as 25 years , Antique is 100 years

 

So you’re telling me I’m Retro, and not just Used Andy?

You say the sweetest things.

 

Depend on how old are you ...if you were born after 90' or 2000 everything before that it's vintage...

 

Make this Pre-Loved rather than used please.

 

Next time your at your parents look at your 5-10 years of age pictures tell us what you were wearing

 

I feel pretty in-line with most responses here. For some reason in my mind 1980 is the 'continental divide,' in my opinion. Pre-'80 could acceptably be called vintage to me, 80's would maybe be new vintage or just old. 90's onward is modern.

 

Fixed it for you

 

The traditionally accepted cut off was 25 years. Possibly due to the old system of tax exemption for motor vehicles over 25 years of age; although it's more likely that the tax exemption came in at 25 years because of a previously accepted definition.

I will always remember Arthur Negus explaining that antiques had to be more than 100 years old; vintage was more than 25 years old; and anything younger was bric-a-brac.

If you want to be truly confused, try to work out the difference between "veteran" and "antique" now.

 

Surely it depends on how old each member is?

Personally anything before '79 would be vintage, '80-mid '90's would be retro

 

As i said in similar thread, imo, a date is insufficient to classify a watch as vintage.

Quoting myself:

"An old watch is just a watch, which, as the name suggests, is a watch that is already a few years old, but also implies a certain pejorative sense. That is, something almost obsolete, which has little monetary value and is not worth keeping.

An antique watch it’s a more traditional watch and already with some prestige and value. It‘s a watch with a certain value, more due to the years that has than to the watch itself.

A vintage watch involves not only age but also quality. A vintage was a good watch when it was made and so it stills, it has matured with balance and is worth preserving.

To distinguish itself from an antique watch a vintage watch has to have another particularity which is notability and this notability can be of various types: quality and / or innovation of movement, design, rarity, material used, etc, etc ...

So, and for me, a vintage watch is an old, quality and remarkable watch.

My 2 cents"