Hi Konrad
@kfranzk,
I am afraid I don't agree with your approach and below is why.
Let me begin by emphasising that I myself am far from being an experienced collector. I really enjoy reading and learning from the advice of the people here who gave their valuable time and effort to accumulate a great deal of knowledge - and offering priceless advice to people everyday helping them save hundreds or thousands of whatever currency they would otherwise pay for crappy pieces.
I became particularly interested in watch-hunting at one of the worst possible vintage watch markets in the world, Türkiye, full of frankens, fakes, redials, Handwritten dials, so much polished that you can see the base metal beneath.... kinds of watches. My interest in collecting and managing watches was amplified after losing my father during the pandemic, from whom I inherited many beautiful watches. I was stuck there for years before the restrictions were lifted and I moved back to London. Also had some cash and I was burning inside to get my hands on my favourite Omega's while dealing with many personal matters. And I came across so many bs. Far too many bs. My first posts here would witness my struggle: Golden, redialed, polished, franken Seanasters (what a deadly combo right) that would drain my wallet for nothing. Potentially impossible 'projects' that no watchmaker would dare to handle (hoping that I would revive good deal broken watches)... All in all I would have spent a fortune on pieces which I would remember with eternal regret.
I am so glad that I was turned back many by the people on this forum. Yes, I might have liked them. Yes, I would have been emotionally attached to them. But let's face it, once I would see that these pieces are, though vintage and 60, 70, 100 etc y.o., NOT by any means 'rare' and that there are many sharp, nice examples out there, the spell would've been broken and your heart would be, too. Unless we are talking about T.E.Lawrence's or a special dial/LE Omega, there is way more than one of that right watch that you seek in mostly great condition and for the right amount you would be willing to pay (you may also find info on those rare pieces around the forum). You just need to be patient and know where you need to look for it, starting from the honest ads and trusted sellers on this forum.
And why would (heavily/unevenly) patinated or polished watches are not favoured by myself and many others, besides the non-rarity reasons above? People have different opinions on patina. But especially when uncontrolled, it might be the sign of many issues to come, dial getting oxidated to the level of illegibility, to begin with. Polishing does not only mean removal of valuable gold material, but also makes the watch lose it's outside coating against any environmental impact. Plus, although you may not care about that, the watch would lose its originality and aesthetic features that would be upheld by most veteran collectors anywhere. This is because one of main features that would make these common vintage pieces valuable and standout beauties is the degree to which they were preserved as-is despite the whole world changing around them. Unless you mean to challenge an ages old 'dictation' about the history, conservation and cultural heritage or anything that UNESCO stands for, you need to accept why people stand for such standards. You are more than welcome to get any watch you like of course, but such would be the foundation of the mainstream -and free!!- advice that people would get when they ask the forum's opinion.
A valuable taking for me from here is that the more I learn about watches the more picky but also attuned I become about getting them. I probably pass 2,000+ watch before I get one. One shouldn't rush into fine pleasures like watch collection, if you wish to avoid paying your newbie tax over and over, even though your market is full of crap. I waited for 4 years to get one of my dream watches and now I feel ready to take that leap. This wouldn't be everyone's story, considering that I took a long break after pandemic. But the wait has been worth much more than the rush.
Thank you to anyone who showed the patience of reading this long comment and happy fishing.
