Have you ever seen antique pocket watches for sale and thought ‘I’d love to get into collecting vintage timepieces’, well, there’s never been a better time to start!
Today is one of the best times to start collection classic, timeless and vintage watches, whether it’s pocket watches or classic wristwatches, there is something to suit every taste and every occasion. The online world is a hub of information and options, from the latest releases of the world’s leading brands to rare 17th century antique timepieces that will appeal to the serious horology collector.
When starting a collection of antique watches, you should ask yourself some questions;
Why am I starting a watch collection?
What occasions am I going to wear them on?
How much am I willing to spend?
Am I going to focus on wrist or pocket watches? Enamel and decorative, or marine style watches? Hunting-cased, or repeating and musical watches? By fine pointing what you’re specifically into will only increase your knowledge and potential investment.
What do I want the end goal to be out of my collection?
These basic questions will allow you to start a collection that in years to come, you will still look fondly upon and will have increased in financial worth too!
When you have decided on what your goals are for your collection and what type of watches you are going to collect you should remember the four ‘rules’ below:
When buying a wristwatch, never buy a one that doesn’t look good on your wrist and is uncomfortable. This sounds obvious, right? But we have seen many people buy something spontaneously because they think they are getting a good deal, only to find that it doesn’t sit well on their wrist and doesn’t match up well with many of their outfits. Don’t be afraid to take in a couple of different suit jackets and shirts when investing in a highly crafted watch. By trying on different looks with the watch you’ll be happy knowing it looks good with what you wear!
Don’t buy watches just because you think they’ll make you large sums of money. Like a brand-new car, as soon as you get the keys they’ll depreciate the minute you take ownership, the same rings true for watches. This is the long game, that pocket watch you picked up for £800-1000 now may be worth 100 times that later in life.
Buy what you like, after all, it was your money, and it’s your collection. When it comes to collecting, you will always find opinions and snobbery, stick to your gut feeling when selecting watches.
Stay clear of fads and never buy a watch simply because it’s considered the “in thing”. You will be looking for items that will be in style for a lifetime, so steer away from watches that will be out of favour by the year’s end.
Start your foray into antique watch collection today by visiting us instore or online at Pieces of Time. Since our launch, our site quickly emerged as the largest specialist antique site on the Internet, a position, we are proud to say, it retains to this day. We have published 96 catalogues and, for ease of reference, our site lists every watch we have ever sold, accompanied by over 17,000 images. We have hundreds of pocket watches on display in-store, and hundreds more movements are available from our extensive collection.
