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Can a Heritage re-edition of a vintage watch ever become Vintage in its own right?

  1. Aussie Jim Apr 18, 2018

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    This is sort of a meta-question that struck me as I was posting and wearing the 1964 Heuer Heritage Re-edition. So this was made in the late 90s and is a redo of a great vintage watch from the 60s. It is now almost 20 years old. At 30 or 40 years it is likely old enough to be considered vintage, but can it really be if it is a sort of copy of a vintage?

    I feel I am chasing my tail here, but somehow it just doesn't quite feel right to be calling this watch a vintage. It has modern lume, manufacture, marketing.

    The same holds for the re-imagined re-editions coming out of Omega and many others. No right answer here but I am interested in your opinions.

    This is what started the musings: ( can it have 2 posts in a day? IMG_0405.jpg IMG_0409.jpg )
     
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  2. Foxy100 Apr 18, 2018

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    I've wondered this and came to the conclusion that a manufacturer's homage to its own watch is fine (think the Seamaster 2254) because it's a continuation watch, making something new but drawing on its own design cues and influences but a direct copy like your watch is probably always going to be a replica of itself. Like a Morgan. Your watch has a good movement and pedigree though so I suspect it will be a good place to keep your money and it may even age nicely.

    I've thought about one for a while but always ended up thinking I'd buy an original and now they cost too much! I had a Snowflake Tudor but sold it because it was a bit rubbish (in hindsight I now know who could have sorted it all, sigh...) and because I knew I could buy a good one for not much north of £2k it didn't matter. Now of course it's also well out of my price range but I reckon I'll have a blue Pelagos before long. I'd classify that as an homage rather than a direct replica (the titanium case helps).
     
  3. ulackfocus Apr 18, 2018

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    Maybe we'll call the re-vintage watches. The Longines Conquest re-editions are around 20 years old now too.
     
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  4. Xeer Apr 18, 2018

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    This is a classic in its own right. Grab them while they are still 'affordable'. True to the original in almost all aspects. Although easily distinguishable as it does not have CARRERA on the dial. Tempted to get a collection of all of them CS3110, CS3111, CS3112, CS3113 + CS3140 for less than the price you'd pay for an original 2447.

    upload_2018-4-18_20-29-43.png

    Pictures credits: @heuer_carrera on Instagram.
     
    Edited Apr 18, 2018
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  5. khanmu Apr 18, 2018

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    Well with time, everything becomes an antique / vintage. If they made one, I’d buy a UG Nina reissue tmw and bury it for 20 years and sell it for an obscene amount...
     
  6. cimo Apr 18, 2018

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    Considering I knew exactly what watch you were talking about before I even clicked on the thread, yes.

    Although, it is worth differentiating between "vintage" and "collectible." Anything ancient enough is "vintage."

    For watches that's what--30 years? 40? In my head, the cutoff for "vintage" is 1979. Don't ask me why. ::confused2::
     
  7. oddboy Zero to Grail+2998 In Six Months Apr 18, 2018

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    When were you born? Or how old were you in 1979?

    :D

    I think the main difference when considering value and / or collectability is in the quantities. Whereas with vintage, there are generally few original watches of a given reference and with more modern ones, there are generally more made and therefore more around to be had - LE's being an exception of course.

    How many of OP's watch were manufactured? If few, maybe there's a shot at increased value as quantities diminish. If many, then they probably won't increase much in value.

    But then, 30 years from now, will there even be a mechanical watch market?
     
  8. Aussie Jim Apr 18, 2018

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    I think you may have hit on it here: collectible v vintage. It is vintage if it is old (how old??), but maybe completely undesirable and hence not Vintage. Part of that desirability will be tied up in uniqueness and scarcity and part in unpredictable aesthetic issues of the future

    Only time will tell whether we will all be holding a bunch of useless metal in our top drawers.

    I might just keep wearing it now and enjoying it
     
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  9. Professor Apr 18, 2018

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    I'd look at it like a Colt Second Generation Peacemaker compared to the First Generation Peacemaker. Only minor differences other than an improved method of securing the cylinder. A second generation Colt is worth a great deal more than any reproduction Peacemaker.
     
  10. Aussie Jim Apr 19, 2018

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    This is completely out of my knowledge base, but presuming you are talking about a gun. Us antipodeans lack much knowledge or hands on with this sort of stuff.

    I think you are saying that it (the Heuer) could be a desirable watch as opposed to a more faux sort of attempt. But does that make it a candidate to be a Vintage watch in another 10 years?? Looks like this will remain one of life's smaller unresolved mysteries