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Vienna vintage watches

banshee
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Hi guys,

I'll be going to Vienna for a first time, later this week. Will be touristing and Christmas_market-ing around.
A friend was there recently and shared his good impressions on nice antiques shops.

In this context, I'm wondering whether there are any vintage watch shops worth visiting or flea-markets, antiques markets worth browsing around for watches?
Trips-Vienna-Christmas-Markets_Christmas-Market-Feature-770x510.webp
 
BlueBoy
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banshee banshee
Hi guys,

I'll be going to Vienna for a first time, later this week. Will be touristing and Christmas_market-ing around.
A friend was there recently and shared his good impressions on nice antiques shops.

In this context, I'm wondering whether there are any vintage watch shops worth visiting or flea-markets, antiques markets worth browsing around for watches?
Trips-Vienna-Christmas-Markets_Christmas-Market-Feature-770x510.webp
Hi Banshee, I can't comment on any watch stores, but if you like coffee and cake, head over to Demel Cafe, and if you eat meat, Plachutta (https://www.plachutta.at/en/hietzing.html) is a fantastic place
 
Donn Chambers
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It’s been several years since I’ve been to Vienna, but there are lots of antique shops along the small streets off the Kartnerstrasse between the Opera and Stephansdom, including at least a couple of watch-focused shops. I recall one about a block over on Seilergasse, and another on a small alley at the end of Graben.

But the watch stores know what they have and tend to focus on Rolex (surprise, surprise) so prices will be high. Your best bet is to just walk around the pedestrian area around Kartnerstrasse and see what you see. Even if you don’t find any watches, it’s a great area to explore.

Just remember that the smaller antique stores don’t keep all their stuff on display in the windows — if you see any vintage watch in the window, it’s worth going in and asking if they have others. I scored a Speedmaster 105.012 in San Francisco about 20 years ago — the dealer had a bunch of old Rolex Datejusts in the window. When I went in and asked if they had any other watches, the owner pulled out a tray that had the 105.012 and a transitional 145.022 on it!
 
banshee
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Donn Chambers Donn Chambers
It’s been several years since I’ve been to Vienna, but there are lots of antique shops along the small streets off the Kartnerstrasse between the Opera and Stephansdom, including at least a couple of watch-focused shops. I recall one about a block over on Seilergasse, and another on a small alley at the end of Graben.

But the watch stores know what they have and tend to focus on Rolex (surprise, surprise) so prices will be high. Your best bet is to just walk around the pedestrian area around Kartnerstrasse and see what you see. Even if you don’t find any watches, it’s a great area to explore.

Just remember that the smaller antique stores don’t keep all their stuff on display in the windows — if you see any vintage watch in the window, it’s worth going in and asking if they have others. I scored a Speedmaster 105.012 in San Francisco about 20 years ago — the dealer had a bunch of old Rolex Datejusts in the window. When I went in and asked if they had any other watches, the owner pulled out a tray that had the 105.012 and a transitional 145.022 on it!
Awesome, thank you for the tips!
 
tigertom
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There are two serious secondhand shops in downtown Vienna:

1) Timelounge https://timelounge.at/?startseite Located in Naglergasse, on the backside of the famous https://schwarzeskameel.at/shop/pub/kameel , THE place to enjoy wine, drinks or a splendid Wiener Schnitzel. They have a great choice of mainly modern or neo vintage Rolex, Patek, Lange, AP and other brands, but prices are quite high.

2) Chronothek https://www.chronothek.at/ in Bräunerstraße, just 50m off the Graben. They always have a wide variety of neo vintage and vintage watches (mainly Rolex, Omega, Patek, Heuer, UG…). Probably one of the best places for vintage watches in Europe and very well respected, certainly worth visiting!

Both shops are just 5 minutes walking distance away from each other and in the very center of the city. Be prepared to run into a lot of people, as Vienna is packed with tourists this time of the year, but it it beautifully decorated and very romantic ⭐️

Enjoy your stay, you might even run into me, as I live here 😉
 
Fatcat
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Hi for watches there is but your best bet is the Wiener Schnitzel at Plachuttas for shure 😀)))
 
Donn Chambers
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Fatcat Fatcat
Hi for watches there is but your best bet is the Wiener Schnitzel at Plachuttas for shure 😀)))
Second this. Best I’ve had in Vienna for sure.
 
banshee
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tigertom tigertom
There are two serious secondhand shops in downtown Vienna:

1) Timelounge https://timelounge.at/?startseite Located in Naglergasse, on the backside of the famous https://schwarzeskameel.at/shop/pub/kameel , THE place to enjoy wine, drinks or a splendid Wiener Schnitzel. They have a great choice of mainly modern or neo vintage Rolex, Patek, Lange, AP and other brands, but prices are quite high.

2) Chronothek https://www.chronothek.at/ in Bräunerstraße, just 50m off the Graben. They always have a wide variety of neo vintage and vintage watches (mainly Rolex, Omega, Patek, Heuer, UG…). Probably one of the best places for vintage watches in Europe and very well respected, certainly worth visiting!

Both shops are just 5 minutes walking distance away from each other and in the very center of the city. Be prepared to run into a lot of people, as Vienna is packed with tourists this time of the year, but it it beautifully decorated and very romantic ⭐️

Enjoy your stay, you might even run into me, as I live here 😉
Awesome, will check those out, for sure!
Thanks!
 
banshee
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haha, great... I googled Vienna christmas market and that was the first photo that came up. 😲In my intent to keep my post more entertaining...
 
banshee
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Merry Christmas everyone!

Reporting from my trip to Vienna:
What a majestic city! So much history, architecture, art, etc. had 2 and a half days, did the best I could with my time, obviously not enough time. Will come back for sure. Loved Albertina Gallery, such a great art collection, reminded me of the Thyssen Madrid; Chagall temporary exhibition was going on, massive collection, very very impressive.

On the watch side of things:
Found a small but fairly well stocked store at Plankengasse 6, called JUL.HÜGLER.

They had a few interesting vintage omegas, Piaget, plenty of Rolex, etc. Prices were better than what I expected to be honest given the street centric location.

Ended up buying this sterling silver (.925 Ag) DeVille from the 70s. I don’t think these come up very often and less so in good condition.

IMG_8039.webp IMG_8037.webp IMG_8038.webp
 
Fatcat
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Where is the picture of the Wiener Schinitzel ? 😀)))

Happy Christmas

Paul
 
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