This thread may have been done already,I only joined here a week or so ago. There are many interesting watches on here but I just can t get excited about 99% of the modern omegas where as nearly every vintage one makes me want to rob a bank to get my hands on it. ( I have reserved a watch on here already and can not wait until the end of this month so I can pay for it) I was wondering if people generally fall into one category or the other.
Secondly there are so many beautiful watches by other makers that I have not really heard about, and it is interesting to learn about them. I enjoy spending time on this forum( my wife thinks its silly)

 

For me I think it is pretty safe to say I am a vintage guy. Take that how you like. Most of my watches are pretty close to my age

 

I have a rotation of about 50 or so "cool" watches. In that mix, I have one new(ish) dive watch for rainy days.

It's ok about your wife. For years my wife KNEW I was crazy for liking old watches. Then I started doing some light repairs on junkers. Then I started selling them on ebay. Then I started paying off the house taxes every year with the money. Then I started paying for the family vacation every year. Then I gave her a like new Tag Heuer Aquaracer that I had bought cheap and fixed. THAT pushed her over the edge.

Not bad for a hobby that I LOVE. Previous hobby was vintage car racing. THAT was a money pit.

Newer watches don't have as much appeal to me. I put them in the same category as works of art. Who would rather have a new painting than an old painting? The Louvre isn't filled with new art.

 

The watches I like most are from round about when I was born (73) The first one I bought was a 73 megaquartz, I like just taking it out the draw to look at it

 

I know the feeling. I keep looking at new watches, but it's not much that makes me say "yes, that's the one". I don't care it it's a PP or whatever expensive brand. The movements are nice on high end watches, I'll give them that. But I don't like newer stuff. Doesn't give the same fuzzy feeling as when I see a vintage watch. 1978 and back please.

 

One thing to think about is cost.. a nice modern brand new from an AD will cost several thousand. Imagine how many nice vintage watches (barring pre-moons and a few other) you could buy for that. There's a lot of nice omega watches, seamaster and others for $1000 or less.. if you want many watches, vintage might be a good choice.

 

Most of my watches are '60's and earlier, with more of them 40's and 50's.

I do own a couple of modern watches as vintage simply isn't suitable for all activities.
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I'm mostly a vintage collector but that doesn't mean that there are not later watches that I like. The focus of my collection has two strings, Zenith and chronographs, both from the 40s through to the 70s. Whilst there are several overlaps, I also have pieces that are outside of this time frame. - including Omega. As for modern Omegas, the only one that does it for me is the new Seamaster 300.

 

Own and love a couple of modern pieces. However the relationship with vintage watches are on a different scale.
Chronographs, Lemania, Eterna, Omega, Zenith, Certina, Alpina, JLC and some military stuff (not sorted in any way). Also quirky electronic watches fascinates me. I am old enough to remember them, and young enough to have embraced them with fascination and awe at the time of their launch.

 

I thoroughly enjoy both. The modern of today is the vintage of tomorrow, and I see no reason to not enjoy some of the outstanding pieces being made today, both from an aesthetic and technical point of view. I have watches from every decade from 1912 to now, except 1920's plus back in Spain my family has a store of Victorian pocket watches. I wearing of them on rotation, with perhaps the exception of the 30's and 40's which I rarely wear. I basically buy and wear what I like, no reservations

 

Sorry guys, I'm more of a modern late model type guy! I do own a few vintage pieces but they were all passed on to me from close family members. That being said, I think a birth year piece would be cool to own.

 

Vintage all the way for me. Except for the Speedmaster and a 1998 Seiko quartz my wife bought me new the thirty-something watches around here are all older.

 

I prefer vintage because of my personal liking for watches no larger than 38-39mm.
in my mind watches are at their most aesthetically pleasing in this "smaller" vintage size. Older/Vintage movements are also much smaller than modern movements so case sizes could be appropriately smaller as well.

Modern watches, including reproductions of vintage watches like the SM300 seem to take up too much room when they're at 42mm or more, it's like the scale which works under 40mm doesn't work as well over 40mm and everything looks slightly clumsy.

my .02c

 

I lean to the modern side. I own a couple vintage, and look forward to acquiring more. For me, 40mm-ish, is the perfect size. Most vintage watches are smaller, or much smaller. Current watches stick around that size, which I enjoy.
But there is definitely a certain charm vintage pieces possess that most modern watches have yet to acquire.

 

My fun is the connoisseur angle. Show up to a meeting with a vintage IWC, noobs think Timex, fellow watch fans gaze in awe

 

I have a beautifully crusty Omega 2471 moon phase. Amateur watch guy in the office said that's a cool watch can I see it? After close examination: "That's a REALLY cool watch". Love it.
I have 2 boys in their early 20's who cared less about my watches when they were young. Now when the come home, the first thing they do is break out my boxes and go over the watches and look them up on their phones. I've got one kid in a Heuer Autavia and the other in a Blancpain diver. Both have been warned that they are not allowed to sell them until I am DEAD

 

To that end, I would argue EVERYONE here is a connoisseur, modern and vintage, despite our preferences. I wear my 300m and it too gets mistaken for a Fossil. Then someone who knows watches spot it, and a new drinking buddy is found. I make a point of complimenting anyone I see making an effort and sporting a decent horological example on their wrist - the more understated, the better IMHO

 

What do people feel about modern reissue watches like the Omega Seamaster bullhead? I want one, my heart tells me to go find an original rather than buy a new one and my head tells me to buy the new one because I think it will be hassle free. They come in at about the same price.

 

The value of the vintage one is only going to go in one direction whereas the modern one will drop in value before it will come back up to its original cost.

 

I was thinking about it more in terms of aesthetics and reliability rather than pounds and pence, although this is a factor too. I wear the two omegas I have on a weekly basis but there is always a fear that they will be damaged and difficult to repair, especially the megaquartz, I was told it would be difficult to repair that if it stopped.