Found this online. 32mm with what looks like a gilt dial. Searched the internet and can't find anything similar. Would like to get some thoughts on this one.

 

I think a lot of people will be going for it!

 

Looks quite nice. Small(er) case but still very desirable.
What are they asking for it?

 

It’s an online auction

 

Tre tacche case?

 

Yes.

This is a rare, Tre Tacche, stop-seconds caliber 12.68Z. Should be from the early 1940's. This one is particularly desirable with its black dial and overall condition. The chronograph second hand looks to be damaged but otherwise, a really great piece.

 

Holy macaroni

 

What a beauty!

 

My guess is this goes north of $5k USD, even in in the 32mm size. The 37mm version is a $15k-25k watch. It’s beautiful.

 

Not intending to troll, but I seriously wonder hpw much all of thst stuff will be worth in 20 years.
I was recently on a trip to Asia and all of the young affluent peiple were wearing Apple watches.
It really takes a leap of faitth to imagine items like this one will retain value- and so to sink in even « north of 5K » really means one should be prepared to lose the entire value just for the love of it.

 

And yet, young Asian buyers are amongst the most common purchasers of pieces I sell and that my friends sell (context: while I keep my vintage Longines, I sell a number of others, I fall out of love too easily and like the rotation, so I have sold .... too many and some wonder if I am a dealer, oh man, not a good sign).

I think people view the watch now as a micro work of art and craftsmanship. Something versatile - you can get the hand made amazing loafers, but it looks out of place with shorts - watches are amongst the most versatile things to wear on average.

And the Apple watch as tech, an extension of their phone. So while the former is called "a watch" and the latter is called "a watch", neither are viewed as your classic definition of a watch ("functional timekeeper"). My view is that art prevails. I don't think it takes a leap of faith at ALL to think great pieces retain value -- this one may not be one given the 32mm size and tastes likely never go back to liking watches this small.

OK, this is getting wordy - gut in general, I disagree with your premise and if anything, I think value of the good stuff rises over time - no new supply is coming of a vintage watch.

 

mechanical watch industry is not dead but as smart watch getting smarter, i can't imagine people will switch from apple watch to a 1940's longines which runs +/- 8s a day

 

Anyone who wore a watch for perfect timekeeping in the last 10 years is silly. My phone tells far better time. Why switch? Do you only have 1 and only 1 watch and it happens to be running +/- 1 second a day? There is no switching involved. You have the Apple Watch for some occasions, you have your other watches for others.

Let's put it this way. Someone who has an Apple watch and that is his/her one and only watch was likely never a watch collector and likely never to be. I sincerely believe you are confusing both TAM and SAM as well as target customers.

 

No confusion here. Not trying to argue the difference between "audience" but if you listen to people in the industry, that's how they perceive. Mr.Biver was asked in an interview about what he thinks about many more people wearing watches (primarily smart watches", he thinks this can lead to increase interests in wearing/buying mechanical watches. I completely disagree.

 

That's the beauty of opinions - we can all have one! There is no data to predict the future, so you will eithe rbe very right or very wrong or somewhere in the middle. I still think we have seen more accurate timekeeping (quartz, then flip phone, then smartphone, then activity monitor like fitbits, now smartwatches, and on and on) supposedly be the end of traditional mechanical timekeepers and yet the "+/- 8 seconds a day vintage" pieces get more rare, more desirable, and rise in value, for the most part (certainly don't collapse in value).

Long way of saying, you completely disagree, and I completely disagree with you, and glad we could share our views!

 

I think you make a good point to the future of vintage watches. I've noticed that interest in Longines has faded among young collectors. Most are interested in hot brands like Universal, Heuer, and Rolex. Of the well-known collectors in the 25-35 age, I can't say that any of them have many Longines pieces, sadly. My guess is that the very interesting pieces are just too darn expensive made worse by low supply. Why pay $50k for a 13zn when you can buy a vintage Daytona or an exotic UG Tri Compax for less? I don't think prices will collapse either. Think of it this way: The affluent people buying them will likely remain financially stable and have little to no reason to sell them for less than they paid. At best, you could be the 2nd last person collecting this piece and still not lose value. At worst, you could say that people are overextending their budgets/financing their collections and would have every reason to sell to remain financially stable. Prices would collapse in this case.

I like to think vintage is growing but is just so small and the Apple Watch so big that it appears unknown. By most accounts from dealers, this is the case. In my 4 years of collecting, I have yet to meet a vintage collector in my daily life.

 

IMO the vintage Daytona market will collapse long time before the
waterproof 13ZN market

Coz they attract different kind of enthusiasts.

 

Just?

 

So funny how collector circles differ. I am part of collector groups locally, skewing younger by age, and literally 95% of them prefer vintage. I have yet to meet too many modern collectors at watch meetups in fact, unless the event is hosted by the brand itself. It also is part of the explanation as to why modern pieces don't hold value well, while vintage does (factually speaking by market data now).

 

I think a good indicator would be to look at the average age of the Hodinkee followers and my impression they tend to be on the younger side. I see their interests being on the affordable brands. They started out with the UG, Heuer, and then migrate up into the Rolex. I now see many being interested in the Seiko. I believe the mechanical watch interest is alive and well with the younger generation..