Whether you?re buying out of sentimentality ? say, you want to own a watch from the year of your birth ? or simply for investment purposes, education is the most important factor when it comes to buying, or collecting, vintage timepieces. During my last decade-plus with Fratellowatches, I have received numerous e-mails from people who?ve struggled with their purchase of a vintage watch; in nearly every reply to these e-mails, I have offered five bullet-point guidelines, which I will now share with you.
1. Don?t buy without investigation
It is tempting to make an impulse purchase on a nice-looking vintage timepiece that you see in the window of an antiques dealer or watch shop. However, there are many traps you can fall into ? traps of which even the seller may be unaware. So make sure to do your homework and learn about the watch you want to buy. You should only pull the trigger on a vintage timepiece when you have become something of an expert on a brand or specific watch model. For some, risking $300 or so on a vintage watch isn?t a worry, but when you’re in the market for certain vintage Rolexes, for example, which can easily have a price tag of $10,000 or more, you will want to be sure you’ve done your research. When you notice very similar-looking watches offered at lower prices, you’ll want to know what the differences are. Perhaps needless to say, as with every major purchase, you are advised to go online and look up the watch you want before purc...