I'm still getting my feet wet on this new interest. Looking through all the different makes and styles of Swiss watches both here and on auction sites I keep seeing names I've never seen before. I'm wondering what some of you think might be sleeper watches in the near future. Modern and vintage.

 

Rolex.

 

42mm 2500 PO
Zenith Primes - homework is to figure out why
Mid 60’s to mid 70’s Seiko that look good and are in original and great condition.

Thank me later.

 

Especially the Seikos... they're great value right now and just such neat watches .

I also particularly loved the Titus Calypsomatics when I saw all of David Kim's, since he has a gazillion of them, but I believe they're already getting pretty expensive... little more than I think I would pay for them.

 

These are good sleeper watches

 

Omega Chronostop ? (And then the 145.007 and 008)

 

I think today’s sleepers are the watches that get pushed by the likes of Hodinkee tomorrow. I don’t see anything suddenly jumping hugely in value in secret, it’s exposure that pushes the prices up.

 

Did you spill your tea?

I think most 70's designs would fall into this category TBH, I love those radical chunky designs but they haven't caught on yet with the remake madness and are pretty cheap. Zenith Defy, Omega Cones etc.

 

I think the 34mm will always be held back by the diminutive size. I agree the 41mm model is a sleeper. But I would say that owning a 41mm and having previously sold a 34mm as I never wore it.

At the old price of £400-500 I would have said that the Dynamic Gen 3 was a sure fire sleeper but now they are more like £750 for a good one I would say they have woken up. I doubt you would lose money on a 2201 PO, POMLE or AT Railmaster (the white/green lume one) either

 

Nivada
Sleepers in my book
White dial one below was picked up in a antique shop in Tasmania ( 21 Jewel Swiss watch cheaper than lunch )

 

While I agree there is market manipulation out there intentionally or not... there are some little known gems from the early to mid 90’s out there.

Look at the Zenith Prime. It ticks every single box for the vintage chronograph collector and is relatively modern. It’s seriously under valued.

 

the first digital watch - vintage jump hour 1920s-30s.

 

I don’t care too much about the market, my sleepers are watches I just tend to look out for.

Pre-owned my sleepers are the late 60s Gigandet and 90s Tudor chronographs.

Modern sleeper, Seiko MM300.

 

But what’s going to be the trigger that gets it to it’s true market value. What’s holding it back ? One thing I can see increasing at some point are the early Smiths watches that were made in England. They have reasonable movements, the better ones are steel cased, and they have some quite attractive dials. They’re probably being held back by the size, as are a lot of <34mm watches from the forties and fifties. If wearing smaller sizes comes back into the mainstream, then I can imagine a jump. To put it I to perspective you can pick up nice ones in the 100-200 USD range. Here a quirky and pretty salmon waffle dial.



And yes... I am a messy eater

 

I have a Smiths in my watch box. I have put a bit of cursory research in to what makes them desirable or interesting but prices are all over the place. The Dennison cased waterproof ones make comparatively big money, the snap backs much less so. The fact Hillary was wearing a Smiths when he conquered Everest helps rather. Nice well made pieces which are fully English (during the 1950s at least) so have some interest. A bad pic of mine from circa 1955, the watch not photo:

 

The Calpysomatics have skyrocketed, though their later iterations without gilt dials are still relatively affordable and look great despite the design differences. My 8940 reference is my current daily watch.



The Zenith Prime and Defys are definitely sleepers, and I'd say to a certain extent the Aquastar Geneves as well (though not the Benthos.)

Certain wrist alarms have kind of hit the roof price wise, though good prices and finds can still be had (especially the Benrus models.)

One of my watchmakers is a bit of a mad Smith's person, and I believe that he does have a Deluxe with the pretty JLC like movement. Of course, over the years as they progressed to moving their manufacture to Scotland and lowering quality that diminished somewhat, though unless you're going for a W10 I'd agree prices are good.

As a whole Certinas are very undervalued and deserve a closer look at, not just for their DS divers, but for their earlier Kurth Freres (KF) movements and variety of models (Bristol, Blue Ribbon etc.) as well as the fact that most of their movements were in house.

 

Seiko. Oris. Nomos. Not all Swiss but I think sleepers with strong future collectibility.

 

I'd say that Eterna is a sleeper.

 

There is a lot to it. Italian watch forums, what’s cycling out in Japan. Current trends, resurrecting of old brands/ models.

One article on the Primes on a big site and they will double. Seiko are going up as they are still affordable while other things like the poor man Heure are being priced out.

I don’t think there is a sure fire way to do it, but classically good looking pieces will always do well.

I still think the Seiko 6117-8000 is under valued they are just a little to hard to hunt preventing the rise, tied with most being poor condition.

On the flip side I don’t think the relatively rare Lemania Powered Sinn903 will ever spike even if it checks all the boxes with size, style, movement and history.

 

They are kinda already on the upswing but the Monnin 844 case watches (non-CWC & Heuer branded/dialed).