The inimitable allure of vintage
By The Prodigal Fool, published on 5 February 2009
Nowadays, spending a few thousand on a so-called ‘luxury’ watch is all too easy. No one here at The Guide would complain about that. We’re all for diversity, choice and a lot of self-indulgence. But when it comes to our own money – and yours – the inherent allure of the classics is always in our minds.
By all means, buy yourself a brand-spanking new Rolex Cosmograph or Breitling Navitimer. Hell, if you’re feeling a little more modest that month, delve into some modern versions of the Omega Speedmaster or TAG Monaco.
But here’s the thing. All of these are no more than modern interpretation of classic designs. If you were feeling judgemental, you might even suggest that they were little more than cynical marketing ploys designed to milk those with more money than understanding of the watch industry.
Sure, the new stuff shouts at us from the shelves today, but the vintage originals will remain desirable and exclusive for far, far longer.
The watches that appeal most to The Guide are the classics. The models that have stood the test of time and that look as good and as relevant today as they did forty, fifty, sixty years ago when they were first designed.
The original Brietling Navitimer (the mythic ‘806’ model) started the craze for chronographs and has been in continuous production, design virtually unchanged, ever since its launch in 1952. The same is true of Omega’s Speedmaster launched just five years later. If you want to go back even further, what about Jaeger-Le-Coultre’s Reverso, launched in 1931? Nearly eighty years later, it’s still in production and, save for growing slightly larger over the years (don’t we all?) and some tweaks to its dial, it’s unchanged.
The point we’re making is simply this: before you pluck that shiny new model off an authorised dealer’s shelf, why not invest a little time to do some research? You might find that for similar money you can bag yourself a vintage watch. Rarer, more interesting and with far more heritage.
The inimitable allure of vintage
Nowadays, spending a few thousand on a so-called ‘luxury’ watch is all too easy. No one here at The Guide would complain about that. We’re all for diversity, choice and a lot of self-indulgence. But when it comes to our own money – and yours – the inherent allure of the classics is always in [...]
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2 Responses to “The inimitable allure of vintage”
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Ron, thanks for your comments.
Indeed, if well chosen, a vintage watch is almost always worth hanging on to.
Then again, walk into a Rolex dealership today, pick yourself up a brand new Submariner anniversary model and then sit on it for 50 years. I reckon you’d end up with a vintage collectable…
By the way, my name’s not Jake!
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Ron
26 September 2009
Nice blog- Jake. Frankly, I could cry just thinking about the vintage watches I have bought and then foolishly sold.
There is something about a vintage timepiece that is very special. Not appreciated at first but over time it becomes a treasure.