A wrist watch can be an elegant thing which can be just the right accessory to set off your outfit. It can also be a very collectable item which has seen increasing numbers of people collecting them over the last 30 years or so. It is said that the wrist watch first came about around the time of World War One, when the traditional pocket watch was too clumsy and cumbersome to be of practical use, so people decided to in turn, to wear their watch on their wrist. Always easily accessible so you can see the time without any hassle at all and is not easily lost. This may be a bit of a myth, who knows? But it does not take away from the fact that very few people use a pocket watch anymore, and people usually put them away in their collections if they own one. Collecting antique watches can be a very pleasurable and rewarding past time and can also be considered a good investment, as long as you buy wisely!
Popular Styles
The first of the Swiss watchmakers to make a wristwatch was Cartier, which came out about 1911. Soon after all of the other watchmakers followed suit, the explosion of popularity in the wristwatch had come. Nowadays these are highly collectable watches if you have a genuine one in good condition. Prices do vary and it does all come down to the condition of the watch and any provenance that is available. There are many makers who are popular with collectors today:
- Rolex
- Tag Heuer
- Cartier
- Longines
Even more modern makers are very collectable with lots of people having these, although not worth as much people still like to collect them. You never know what their worth will be in 50 years or so!
- Swatch
- Casio
- Timex
- Gucci
Ultimately it all comes down to taste and budget. You buy what you like and within your own budget and do not buy because of what other people say, unless it is a gift for them!
Getting started
There are lots of ways you can get started collecting watches. You may have inherited a watch or been given one which you like, or you may just have a passion for watches that you want to explore. Ther4 are lots of places that you can pick up cheap and good quality watches. Try looking in the local classified section of your newspaper or take a look online at auction sites such as eBay. There are also a lot of jewelers who will buy and sell vintage collectable watches, so you should not be hard pressed to find something which catches your eye. Make sure that you do not get pressured into buying a watch. If you do not like the look of the watch there is no point in purchasing it. Also make sure that you set yourself a budget when looking to buy a watch and make sure that you stick to it. This will stop you from overspending on a watch that you might not be overly interested in when you get it back home. If you are buying a watch which is said to be historic or have some significance, then you will need to see provenance to verify this; otherwise the piece is worth the same as any other watch which is the same make and style.
Resale
You may also wish to make sure that you purchase watches that are going to be easy to resell afterwards, once you get bored of them and want a change. If this is the case them you may want to look at certain categories of watch such as Military, Quartz movement, Antique and so on. Ultimately though, you are not going to see a lot of appreciation in the watch over what you paid for it. If you ask most serious watch collectors out there they will tell you that they actually usually lose money rather than make anything. But some people do it just for the passion of it rather than to make a profit!
Misty Angel has written this article and he is a keen collector of watches especially antique Rolex watches and also other pieces of jewellery. Misty likes to share her experiences and ideas in articles and blogs that she writes. A recent addition to Misty's collection was purchased from Kalmar Antiques at a very affordable price.
