Community Stories

Musings on the strength of the vintage watch market, e.g., Speedmasters…

DanT
Posts
334
Likes
465
M'Bob M'Bob
Interesting insights, which are appreciated.

I, for one, do not tire of the repetitive newb questions, and I would wonder if that would be enough to jade old-timers like me. My observation is simply that the major forum participants who used to generate a lot of enthusiasm seem to be here less often.

Yes, you are correct: people stuck at home theoretically would have more time to devote to hobbies, and while a small percentage of people have been economically insulted, many lawyers, doctors, etc. have noticed an income dip.

I hope you are correct, though, and I am wrong.

@M'Bob thanks for your reply - I didn't mean to be critical about newbs making enquiries per se (I've done so myself) and I also always try to share whatever modest knowledge I have, if that can be helpful to those newer to the hobby. There are some fantastically helpful and knowledgeable guys here on OF who continue to be a great resource to enthusiasts. Long may that continue. Especially as the barrier to entry to vintage watches seems to be a lack of knowledge (as opposed to money) and forums like this in part exist to help overcome that.
 
STANDY
Posts
16,754
Likes
47,415
Most of the old crew are still here but when your fishing in a pond that has hundreds if not thousands more eyes on where you are casting you tend to cast a lot quieter and quicker.


😗

But it is true the top percentage of condition specimen vintage watches is not as abundant as it used to be and the buyers of these don’t usually buy average examples.

Watch season is just about to start though. Tip for anyone new ( search watch season )
 
Ludi
Posts
2,182
Likes
28,302
STANDY STANDY
Most of the old crew are still here but when your fishing in a pond that has hundreds if not thousands more eyes on where you are casting you tend to cast a lot quieter and quicker.


😗

… in the foolish hope you’d be fortunate enough to find something worthy to be pulled out of the water. Interesting pieces are more scarce than ever I’m afraid 😬
 
STANDY
Posts
16,754
Likes
47,415
Ludi Ludi
… in the foolish hope you’d be fortunate enough to find something worthy to be pulled out of the water. Interesting pieces are more scarce than ever I’m afraid 😬

Certainly scarce, but there is still plenty of collectors still collecting just not as much as many years before.
I myself was guilty of several watches a week in the heyday. Which is several watches a year nowadays.
 
Dan S
Posts
21,643
Likes
49,041
ckhaing ckhaing
people confused the old preowned watches with vintage

there is a good number of unfortunate people with limited knowledge who bought the crappy old preowned watches that are worth nothing

those are not vintage watches and their price should eventually go to near zero

Yeah, those 1990s Rolex 5-digit Subs are going to zero. 😁
 
JwRosenthal
Posts
16,307
Likes
44,936
Dan S Dan S
Yeah, those 1990s Rolex 5-digit Subs are going to zero. 😁
Might as well throw this worthless POS in the trash- not vintage so not valuable
784642E7-D57C-4A9F-89A7-EB8B5CD1E34F.jpeg
 
cvalue13
Posts
3,979
Likes
8,998
Dan S Dan S
Yeah, those 1990s Rolex 5-digit Subs are going to zero. 😁

If we could make the GMTs to zero, too, please 😁
 
felsby
Posts
1,575
Likes
6,119
STANDY STANDY
Certainly scarce, but there is still plenty of collectors still collecting just not as much as many years before.
I myself was guilty of several watches a week in the heyday. Which is several watches a year nowadays.

I have set a ceiling on the number of watches in my collection that most collectors would find laughably low. But I have found out that it increases my collecting fun tenfold: not only do I have to find out if a want a new watch; now I also have to find out if it is so desirable that it may displace an existing watch.

Restraints can be rewarding.
 
kaplan
Posts
2,526
Likes
2,919
I've been collecting C-Case's for more than a year, so I'm pretty new - from my experience because of covid deaths, there's quite the surge of new watches hitting the market, this lowers the prices 20%+ - when I started, a day/date model was hard to find, now there's so many good ones readily buyable - so it's a good time to buy, bad time to sell

I believe low-end watches will appreciate in time, lifting middle-grade ones too

There's bad realities affecting the market in general though, I think the middle grade of people are being eliminated in most places, so it's either super rich or super poor now, and with disasters like covid, it's more grim for a middle grade brand like Omega

Before this realisation, I've been telling myself it's all an investment, now I don't fool myself and call it an obsession

One possibility for an unexpected price increase is "trends" - if/once people start going back to the good old ways and start enjoying watches again, it'll increase demand significantly and I don't think there's enough vintage Omega supply to keep prices in check - this happened for mechanical keyboards as an example, they are expensive and imperfect, yet they trended incredibly in the last 5 years - I'd guess the market is 50X now - if one in 2000 people were using mechanical keyboards, now it's more like 1 in 40 - but obviously my statistics are all made up 😀
 
ckhaing
Posts
489
Likes
2,018
Dan S Dan S
Yeah, those 1990s Rolex 5-digit Subs are going to zero. 😁

that was no too long ago people are selling non-running gold watches for the price of scrap metal, including Rolex
 
watchlovr
Posts
1,796
Likes
2,550
M'Bob M'Bob
I have no data to support any of my opinions, and I’m sure that others who will chime in here do. They may be dealers or other niche watch-collecting experts.

I can only speak from 30 years of active collecting, and despite the fact that higher-end pieces have in the past, and will continue to command strong prices, I have to be honest when I say that it appears that vintage watch collecting is in the doldrums.

Now, I have for sure noticed this coincided with the Covid pandemic. Less disposable income? More generalized fear and anxiety? A reshifting of values? Will there be a huge bump in the market if this thing ever clears, as a celebratory symbol, i.e, I made it through, and deserve a perk?

Is the Apple Watch partly to blame? I see it on the wrists of more and more folks who could afford a nice mechanical timepiece.

Some of the frequent posters on this forum have gone, or post much less often. And the enthusiasm level, even when a nice Speedmaster appears for discussion, is palpably muted, and responses are notably subdued.

As I intimated, I have no answers and this is just my observation, and thus would enjoy your personal opinions and theories on the issue.
Amazing the difference a few days makes.
£2.5 million Speedmaster anyone?
 
M'Bob
Posts
6,788
Likes
21,970
M'Bob M'Bob
despite the fact that higher-end pieces have in the past, and will continue to command strong prices, I have to be honest when I say that it appears that vintage watch collecting is in the doldrum

watchlovr watchlovr
Amazing the difference a few days makes.
£2.5 million Speedmaster anyone?

Yes and no: as mentioned, the very upper end of the market has traditionally been immune from economic swings that affect us lesser mortals…
 
Sign up or log in to reply...

Similar threads

RubenDhae

Battle of the vintage inspired chrono's: OMEGA vs LONGINES

RubenDhae Modern Omega Watches
thelinendial
thelinendial
Posts
25
Views
6K
buramu

Some musings on the "next gen" Speedmaster

buramu Open Discussion
Foo2rama
Foo2rama
Posts
5
Views
992
Draven

Tale of the vintage watch gift.

Draven Open Discussion
Draven
Draven
Posts
3
Views
1K
watchknut

OF Members' Take on the Watch Market--A Forecast

watchknut Open Discussion
Thomas P.
Thomas P.
Posts
59
Views
5K