The Ultimate Guide to Buying Pre-Owned & Vintage Watches

12 min readFeb 12, 2019

There is a huge market for pre-owned and vintage watches, but you should be careful about what you’re buying and who you’re buying it from. Here’s a thorough guide to help you navigate the pre-owned and vintage watch buying landscape.

If you just take a look around the web, in places like Kickstarter and such, you understand that there is an ever growing craze for watches worldwide. Due to different factors, everyone seems into launching their own micro-brand these days.

This means that watches — and as we at LuxuryBazaar.com are estimateurs of the finer aspects of life we dare to say, mechanical watches — are ultimately cool to wear. Not just as timekeeping devices, but more importantly — as a personal statement.

This means that, if you have been bitten by the watch bug, you will be going to consider buying, selling and swapping timepieces — more often than not, digging in that pre-owned and vintage market that is thriving more and more each day.

So, we would like to give you some pointers as to help you how to make your choices, and more, what to search for to get the most “watch power” for your hard-earned dough, that is.

What follows is a compact but thorough guide that applies if you buy any old watch — from a budget but lovely electro-mechanic Timex from the Sixties down to the most precious complicated Vacheron et Constantin from the Forties.

Remember that any “old watch” has a history and a peculiar charm — which makes it pretty unique. So, knowing what to look for would ensure you get the most pleasure out of it, whatever its value.

What is pre-owned and what is vintage?

Everyone has its own definitions here, but we can assume that the second-hand market covers roughly from the quartz crisis onwards, while vintage deals with anything before that. The Eighties are more or less the cutoff point between these two periods.

Watch fans are a picky bunch. So, they expect to get watches, especially high-end and luxury watches, with original boxes and documents if they are pre-owned. Anything before that, then it’s a bonus.

This means that the value of the watch you are getting is influenced by this fact.

If you want to sell an important, recent watch without documents, its value is going to be less than the average for that model, while this cause-and-effect would be almost negligible in vintage watches.

If you happen to get a vintage watch with original box and documents, this would represent instead a big plus.

“Big” could mean even a 10%-15% price hike.

Oh, a short note about wristbands. You might get the original wristband with the watch. But what is really important is not the band — which would probably be old and unserviceable — but the buckle. Buckles, in good-quality watches, are often branded. So, when buying an old watch, ask if it has the original wristband AND buckle.

Depreciation — and how to reduce its effect

Frankly said, do not buy watches for investment, ever — especially if you do not know what you are doing.

There are some watches which hold their value exceptionally well (and some can easily be resold at a premium), but speaking in general, there are way better investments out there. Though, not as cool as a watch which you can wear at your wrist and enjoy.

A new watch — except the rare cases above — almost depreciates by the value of the sales tax once you get it out of the shop.

Then, depending on the brand, the model, the make, the materials, the conditions, its value can plummet or slowly decrease, up to the point when, for different reasons, between which the scarcity gets the lion’s share, its value stabilizes and begins to climb up again.

If the watch is a Limited Edition from a reputable brand which is held in high esteem, you can be fairly sure that its value will increase someday. Someday is the keyword here.

Ah, the dials. Original or reprinted?

When we deal with old watches, we have to consider some critical issues about their aspect. And one of the most visible is the state of their dials, especially since some dials did not age so well.

Originally, watches had metal, porcelain or enameled dials — and the techniques and coverings used on them were many and quite different from each other.

In some cases, they proved themselves not being durable in time, ending up with lovely watches which have original but broken, scratched and dirty dials which cannot be cleaned or mended in any way.

Some years ago, it was fairly common to throw away these old dials and reprint them with modern technologies, sometimes using “creative” layouts which did not respect at all the philology of the original watch — an operation that would make any modern vintage watch lover cringe.

But ultimately, instead of getting an original watch with a faded and unreadable (and ugly) dial, it is always better to get a good reprint, made by someone who respects the original design of the watch, so to make it wearable and enjoyable again.

Or turn to the web: there are scores of old NOS dials waiting to be inserted into the right watch: all it needs is a bit of patience and luck into finding it.

The case: metals and plating

As you probably know, wristwatches derive from old pocket watches and have become prominent from the Twenties onwards. And this change of use — from the pocket to the wrist — has caused a very big change into the materials employed for the cases.

Most pocket watch cases were made primarily of silver and from other alloys containing zinc. But when they were put into constant contact with the skin, they would cause staining, for silver, or irritation, for zinc.

This fact involved that the use of silver almost disappeared in wristwatches, while zinc and other alloys got covered by metal plating so to avoid causing rashes on the skin.

This is the reason why we often find chrome and gold plated cases when we search for vintage timepieces. Watches that modern-day purists do not really like much, because the electroplating techniques used back then tended to let the metal covering fade with use, leaving the watch case looking dented and worn.

But as far as everyone loves stainless steel watches, which were and are the top choice for cases apart from gold, not every model was available with steel cases — so, if you like a particular watch, then it is mandatory to consider the chromed or gold-plated version.

If the plating is so worn that it shows the base metal on the edges, it would be much better to get it re-plated, for the same reason as above: you might be a horology purist, but the watch has to look good when shown around. Plain common sense helps here — so be sure to use it.

Hieroglyph hunting: the service history of watches

If you happen to open up an old watch, you might notice that inside the back case there will be lots of mysterious graffiti, faintly chiseled in the metal. These scratches mark the service history of the watch and were left by the watch repairmen which have worked at that peculiar timepiece. More often than not, you can find out how often the watch has been serviced, in which dates, and so, help you understand what happened to the watch and when it was manufactured.

As most of them are in a sort of shorthand, it might be difficult to understand what is what. But at least, there are some clues which can help you understand more about that timepiece. If you find no service history, especially in an old watch, beware: it might have been re-cased.

Movements and serial numbers

Not every maison has a reliable database of serial numbers of its watches. Some of them are non-linear, so you will not know when the watch has been made just by looking at the number. Some, also, did not mark every watch they made — they put the serials just the most prominent pieces, while others were left unmarked.

It is really a hit-and-miss issue, and varying case by case.

For example, Longines has an exceptional archive — and if you contact them with your query, they would provide you all the information detailing the watch with that specific serial number which is present in their database.

In many other cases, brands resorted to using ebauches — that is, movements manufactured by companies specializing in this field. In this case, these movements could be personalized by the brand, with some inscription marked on the movement itself, or not — so inserted into the case as they were, and just covered with the dial.

These movements, more often than not, are emblazoned by the mark of the manufacturer, generally next to the balance wheel or in the back of the main plate, under the dial.

Be sure to check the originality of the movement, though: there is an amazing tool to do that, put together by a German watch lover: dr. Ranfft.

This database — which is freely available online — collects all the movements used in wristwatches, and some of the pocket watches as well. You can make searches about movements on it, determining the authenticity of the movement and its congruity with the watch you are buying. (http://www.ranfft.de/uhr/zustand-e.html)

So, again: before buying a watch (any watch), be sure to check the movement, especially since all watches have one common enemy…

Water and its effects

Unfortunately, water and metals seldom mix well. So, even if the watch you are buying has been worn constantly and works still, better be sure to check that everything is in order inside that little case.

You might get some rust in there, even if you do not see it from the outside: and rust is not a thing you want in the delicate gears of a vintage watch.

The good news is that any competent watchmaker can clear away a mild case of rust rather easily, while the most severe cases would require replacement of the affected parts — which in case of a vintage watch, could also be difficult to find as well. Apart from being rather costly, that is.

The main areas which might be affected by rust are around the winding stem of the watch — which is the most logical place where water could get into it. Be sure to check dutifully the stem. If you find any traces of rust, you should try to examine the gears and elements connected to it — and the worst part of this operation is that they usually are more visible from the back of the main plate, so requiring the watch to be extracted from the case and the dial removed — which in many instances it is not an easy task at all, and should better be done by someone who knows what he is doing.

Some practical issues with buying…

Not every seller is trustworthy like us at LuxuryBazaar.com. So, if you are not dealing with a trusted retailer who has a reputation for good service that you can check, then you should exercise some caution in your buying.

Better safe than sorry!

If you find a watch you like that is sold by a private individual, be sure to ask for actual photos of the watch you are going to buy. Ask for photos of the watch, the crown, the back case, the movement, and the inner part of the back case.

Also, as a safety measure, we suggest you to ask the seller to set the hands of the watch to sign an exact time you indicate (which should be an unusual time, like 15:25 or 17:40). This would ensure that the seller really has the watch and not just some nice photos of it.

If the value of the watch is sizable, consider the possibility of meeting the seller at a neutral location — that is, at a trusted watch watchmaker or watch store, where your designated professional could open it and check if everything is in order and legit. Beware that there is always the possibility that the watch you are handling might be of a shady nature: be sure to retain the details of the seller (id, phone number, the usual stuff).

When paying, the best bet is to do it via secure systems — like PayPal. It involves a cost, but it also gives you insurance of getting your money back if what you are purchasing is somewhat faulty (and remember that PayPal normally favors buyers over sellers).

If you find that the watch is nice and legit, then the best bet would be to give it a full service. Your trusted professional watchmaker would disassemble and clean it, polish the case, finetune its movement so to be more accurate, and eventually substitute the glass and the wristband so it would look like new. You really have no idea on how marked the difference is from a good-looking but worn watch to one which instead has just been cleaned and serviced.

Just to give you an idea, think about your car, when you get it back from a scheduled maintenance and service checkup from your car dealer.

… and with servicing.

When you get a mechanical or automatic watch, you should always remember that it is a miniaturized machine of great complication, with hundreds of tiny parts working in unison to deliver a result. And as your car, this machine requires a schedule of services.

The average service period in a watch is five years. This would mean that your watch repairman will disassemble the watch, check its parts, wash them removing old oil and dust particles, then polish the case to remove small marks and scuffs and clean the glass as well. After all of this, he would assemble the watch back, gently oiling the movement, and finetuning to get the best performance in timekeeping.

The more complications a watch has, the more costly — and exclusive — this process would be.

Some people tend to use the official labs to take care of their watches, while others resort to independent watch repair professionals. The discriminating factor is — of course — the skill required to perform the task, and the grade of trust you have in either of them. So, if you are unsure, check online the reputations. There are several well-maintained forums of watch addicts which would be very handy to give you indications about where you should bring your “precious” to.

What to look for?

Well, this is something that almost everyone asks for. Even the most die-hard collectors want to know they are buying something that will retain its value in time: so, these are the current trends which you are going to find in watch collecting.

This does not mean that a watch that does not fulfill these simple rules will not find a buyer. Only that it would be more difficult to find one.

So, here follow some very brief indications of the trends of the horology business if you are in for investing: but we will publish something more thorough at the soonest.

Buy good brands AND good movements. If the movements are from the manufacturer, the better, but even less known brands might be interesting for their technicalities. Be sure to check online first — you might discover some hidden treasures.
The size of the dial is getting smaller, so it would be a good idea to invest in smaller watch sizes (like 30–34 mm), which nowadays you can get at a very good price.
The etiquette has changed, so ladies tend to wear men’s watches, somewhat larger in size. Blingy ladies’ watches and cocktail watches are out.
With retro fashion, the style from the start of the last century is quite hot. There are maisons re-issuing old Art Deco-inspired watches, both in shape (tank, tonneau) and in style of the dial. If you can find the originals, they are uber-cool.
Stainless steel in cases still rules, so get watch cases made with it if possible: you will always find a buyer. Avoid watches with gold and steel, or gem-studded ones — you are (probably) not a rapper or a sheik.
Chronographs and automatics still rule. Get them if you can. Chronographs first. But if you can find more esoteric complications at a good price, they would be perfect, too.