Vintage Wristwatches Enthousiasts

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Comment by Laurent on February 13, 2012 at 1:56pm

Hi Mirko, 

I know a good shop in HK, I guess they can help you for repair / maintenance of any vintage watches; feel free to contact them: http://www.kenwatches.com/ here is a photo I took last time I visited them:

Comment by Mirko Endenburg on February 13, 2012 at 1:24pm

Hi there,

i have a vintage Breiting Navitimer from 1992. it needs maintenance and some repair. Does anyone has a suggestion for a good watch repair / maintenance shop in Shenzhen or Hong Kong? 

thank in advance!

Comment by Jack Hau on February 3, 2012 at 3:24pm

thx for creating this vintage section for us watch lovers. I m a watch collector myself but focus on NOS watches. The cortebert 616 and the Angelus sf240 are my grail watches. Other brands I like includes Pams, Lum tecs, Ball, Glycine and nos casios. 

Comment by DAVID B on December 14, 2009 at 8:04pm

HI, and thanks to all of you you already joined in!
I collect vintage pieces, and would be glad to share information with those who may have questions.
Modern horology is very interesting as well. However, my taste lays in those pieces that will never be manufactured again, and hold this flavor from the past. Modern pieces are bringinf new trends: size increased since the re-interpretation by Panerai, at the end of the 90s, of their vintage watches. I think it all started with their 45mm PAM collection.
new watchmakers have arise since. They master complication, design, they launch trends, and try their brands at style exercises we may be surprised by. But, I have to grant them one think: they try! From Franck Muller to Vila, we were surprised by modern collections such as Zenith extreme, Concord tourbillons, and the come back of brands such as Heuer, Hublot or Omega.
There is a common thread though to all those last collections: they often find hteir "new roots" in vintage models.
Heuer keeps adding new versions of the Monaco, Omega revisits its diving watches, Patek gives a new breathing to the Nautilus, and Rolex keeps bringing in the new oldies such as Milgauss or GMT/Daytona/Submariner...
I believe there is a lot to be done in watches. New brands come up every couple of years with a strong identity. Ernst benz for instance surprised me. Or Meier.
Before all, we as amateurs, collectors, enthousiasts, are making the market. responding to, or launching trends, we influence the industry's choices.
There lays the major difference to my opinion, between vintage and modern pieces. Watchmaking has started with manufacturers. Nowadays, I believe only a handfull of companies can claim that title. Since watches are one of the only piece of jewellery a man can wear, and since women are becoming the new customers, strongly targeted by majors, to make sure they will be able to match their clothing choices to watches - and jewellery - production is reaching top heights.
And the only way to keep it profitable, is to mas product those time instruments.
There would be so much to say.
Once again, our individual taste is the most important.
I remember when I was able to afford my first costly watch: I was 18, just graduated, and had the necessary sum in my pocket to purchase a Rolex daytona. I spent it partying instead...the watch was at the time 8500francs in my jeweller's window. Seven years after, I started a collection with the same piece I had to pay 35000francs for. I sold it five years ago for 22000euros - 158000francs- with all my collection.
I did not buy it because I did not appreciate it at the time. Today, I think as a collector, or amateur, our taste has to help us narrow our selection, according to standards we decide on.
then we can start purchasing. Or dreaming.
Looking forward to your comments,
Take all care fo you
David

Comment by Le Pantere Nere on December 14, 2009 at 11:59am

Good on you David for creating this group. I share your enthusiasm, although I like contemporary watches too. are you a collector?

Comment by DAVID B on December 6, 2009 at 7:55pm

If you have questions about specific brands, models, themes of collections, or sourcing, feel free to ask me. I love to share all I can.
Looking forward to your suggestions as well.
(I first thought of a generic site, including modern horology, but I do not enjoy modern pieces as much. )