Vintage Omegas as Investments

Big picture: Vintage omega prices will mirror how the global economy is doing. I started collecting in 2008 and the accumulated many nice pieces at reasonable prices in those first few years.

More focused picture: If investment is your priority AND you have the funds buy the best examples of the following models:

Cal. 321 speedmasters esp. the straight lug ones
Cal. 33.3 steel chronographs esp. the screwback ones
Straight lug SM300s with intact original bezels and the military issued ones
Railmaster and their variants

Honorable mentions:

RAF '53 TA with either nice original dials and even the Bienne replacement dials (not many of those around)
First run 600 Cal. 30 manual winds (there were ever only 600 of them and would be surprised if more than 3-4 dozen in decent quality survive to this day)
Ranchero - extra points for center seconds
Triple Date Moonphase only IF all the functions work AND the dial is original and in excellent shape; extra points for the square and jumbo versions
Scientific dial Rg manual wind - extra points for the larger versions
Original black dial constellation - extra points if piepan arrowhead or textured arrowhead or rose gold markers

There are pockets of truly rare models that I'm not listing here like WG early connies and "sparkle dial" seamasters, cloisonne dial connies and seamasters, synchrobeat, piepan arrowhead seamasters, legit prototypes etc.

But remember these models don't have to be just good they have to be premium - among the top 5% of examples - to be considered truly investment grade. And it takes A LOT of work to get to the point where you can pick these examples out with relative ease. I could have easily gotten another post-graduate degree (or 3) with the time I've invested - by my estimation at least 10,000 hours. Others like @@mac_omega have invested far more time than I have.

In short, if you have to ask "I'm looking at this watch, is it a good investment", it almost certainly isn't.

The problem is objects that are thought of as investments today can fall out of favor in the future, and vice versa. My goal is happiness investment, if I can buy something, enjoy it and eventually recoup most of the money upon selling it my dividend was the happiness it gave me over the years by owning it.

That's one way to look at it but the time I devoted to this study is time I didn't spend on social media - zero time on Facebook, Instagram and the like so in that sense it's a plus!

Nearly all the watches I over payed for due to condition years ago are worth the most today.
Also buying and keeping. Never loose a cent if you keep 😉

They can be either depending on which model you buy, that was what Mike was outlining in his post and he's very correct.

I would say almost every vintage omega would have been a investment if you would have start buying 10/15 years ago. All those speedmasters and 300's which were bought cheap are now worth nice cars. But I once had two houses which were worth more then 1 mln and then the crisis started which had a very negative effect on the prices and my mental state. So fu### investments. Buy to enjoy. Dont put it in a safe. You only live once. Peace...

Not really. Ever get a dividend from a piece of raw land? A rare coin? Gold?


There are plenty of investments that don't yield dividends or interest, but will gain value in a strong economy and lose value in a weak one.

If you've ever seen any of the watches that @MSNWatch buys, you'd understand the meaning of the term "investor grade".
gatorcpa

If someone buys any asset with the expectation of a profit, it is an investment by definition.

However, I agree with you that no watch should be an investment.

But many wind up that way. (Bad pun!)
gatorcpa

So do you do this as a main source of income. Are you amassing a certain dollar amount of watches with intent to sell at a certain time. It’s a funny thing with certain investments, you haven’t made a penny until you sell then have to worry about timing, too late, too soon.
I’m not critiquing I think it’s cool. I see a few people here saying they sell watches for a living. I guess it’s like any other retail business but low sell high, they aren’t selling to benefit the buyer. I’ve sold a few things some so I could a acquire something new and some were just offers I saw that would allow me to.
I can see it’s a lot of work. You need to have the knowledge, know what to look for, know what is original and what isn’t, fight the fakers and deal with a lot of competition.
I’m not looking to go into the watch business I just find it interesting.

I like growth more than dividends but I am for dividend and growth.