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Vintage watches for sale by other brands

On this website you will find immaculately preserved vintage watches for sale by Rolex, Omega, Jaeger LeCoultre, IWC, Breitling and the all the other famous brands that we regard as household names today. Sales of these watches have made up the bulk of our turnover for the last twenty five years.

It would be a great mistake to think of these companies as being the be all and end all of the vintage wristwatch world though.

In fact, some of the significant technological breakthroughs that have taken place over the last century, particularly when the wristwatch was coming into its own in the early inter-war years, can be attributed to less well known pioneers.

A good illustration of this would be the first generation of self-winding wristwatches. These are some of the most interesting models available to the collector and have a Heath Robinson charm all of their own. The first serially produced automatic wristwatch was the Harwood, designed by an Englishman, but there are several others that followed in the years around 1930 including the Rolls, in which the movement literally slid up and down the case, winding as it did so; the Autorist, which utilised a curious pivoted lug to wind the mainspring with the movement of its wearer’s wrist and the memorably named Wig Wag. While beautifully made, we should regard these delightful watches in retrospect as heroic failures. However, they are of the utmost historical importance and it comes as no surprise that London’s British Museum has examples of each of these types on permanent display in its horological section. We try to offer a small selection of early automatics for sale in investment grade condition at all times. These are far from inexpensive and almost impossible for us replace when we sell one, but they do make the basis of a marvellous themed collection for anyone intent upon charting the development of the wristwatch as we know it today.

Similarly, early waterproof wristwatches also have a lot of appeal. In the years before Rolex finally developed an effective solution to the challenge of designing a sealed wristwatch with its Oyster in 1926, there were several evolutionary stepping stones by various makers that led the way to the creation of reliably waterproof models. Again, though these are rare and highly prized, we try to offer a representative selection of the best surviving pieces.

When the dark clouds of war amassed over Europe in the late 1930s, both the Allied and German governments commissioned wristwatches for use by their armed forces. Vintage military watches are extremely collectible today and many of the most difficult to find models were manufactured by makers other than the major brands. While we would all regard the regime that inspired them to be totally unacceptable, some of the most evocative of these military classics were produced for the German Luftwaffe by a variety of Swiss and German houses to a remarkably high standard. As with all Nazi related antiques, fakes abound, but we do our best to offer a handful of these models that are guaranteed to be entirely genuine and of a standard suitable for museum display.

Some of the early chronograph wristwatches are a delight to own and again, are much sought after. We’ve had some remarkable gold cased chronographs from the 1940s and ‘50s pass through our hands over the years, several of which were supplied, and signed, by some of London’s most prestigious jewellers. This sort of material is well worth considering, not least because while it isn’t cheap by any means, it will typically sell for only a fraction of the amount asked for its closest equivalent by the famous makers. Even today, when the market for vintage watches is at an all time high, it should be possible to locate a large sized pre-1950 near mint vintage chronograph in an 18 karat gold case, with a superbly finished Venus or Landeron movement, for less than £1200 GB pounds. These watches offer an awful lot of complex high quality machinery for a very modest outlay and will unquestionable appreciate in value in the future.

Our company policy is not to supply anything that isn’t first rate, both in terms of its intrinsic quality and its present condition. It could be argued convincingly that this section of our site is the most interesting, because it breaks away from the conventional vintage Rolex, Omega, Cartier etc territory and showcases unusual models that many collectors will not have encountered in the past. These are watches that are as exceptional in their construction and finish as those by the prestigious brands, but are not often seen outside of highly specialised auction catalogues and scholarly reference books.

In every instance, we are always willing to discuss with potential buyers, either by email or by telephone, as to what may be the most suitable purchase for them, whether the objective is to find a watch they can wear from time to time or to fill a strategic gap in a focussed collection. Those who wish to examine some of the quirky rarities in this section first hand are more than welcome to do so and both old and new customers are most welcome to examine our stock for themselves in East Yorkshire.

Hunter wristwatch silver with World War I provenance 1919

This watch may be unique in that its early history is known to us. It comes complete with a folder of documentation giving details of the enlistment, day to day conduct and discharge of its original owner, a soldier in the Durham Light Infantry.

Price £1275 GB Pounds

Mechanical Digital Ladies Art Deco 1933

So evocative of the art deco period between the two World Wars, this thirties ladies’ mechanical digital is a rare, untouched specimen of the one of the most fascinating early wristwatch styles. Collectible and very charming.

Price £345 GB Pounds

Duo Dial Doctor’s Watch Scottish dial gold 1933

There are very few vintage watches than can be regarded as more iconic and evocative than these duo dialled doctors’ models of the 1930s. Elegant and very opulent, they conjure up mental images of society life in the art deco era between the wars.

Price £1075 GB Pounds

Charles Nicholet Tramelan chronograph boxed 1940

Representing very good value for money, this is a lovely vintage chronograph from the War years in rare untouched condition. Despite its high quality movement it remains very affordable and will be difficult for those with a nostalgic bent to resist.

Price £775 GB Pounds

World War II German Luftwaffe Onda 1943

Especially online, there are, sadly, a myriad of fake watches purporting to be ex-Luftwaffe pilots’ models. This example is guaranteed to be the real thing and is authentic throughout, right down to its original stamped airforce code to the case back.

Price £645 GB Pounds

Bulova flip top retailed Tiffany & Co 1951

This ingenious model offers the facility of storage behind the case back, accessed by pivoting the watch front upwards. Retailed by high society New York jeweller Tiffany & Co, it is the perfect quirky luxury watch of its era.

Price £785 GB Pounds

Eberhard with unusual waterproof case, steel 1951

Eberhard is one of the most technically interesting of all the vintage watch brands and the quality of its work is marvellous. This example is fascinating because of its case construction, which we have never seen before. A rare item.

Price £775 GB Pounds

Ebel Videomatic with art deco skeleton case 1954

With a very unusual skeletonised construction, this vintage Ebel is an eyecatching model by this much respect house. Totally original throughout, it remains in superb, investment grade condition while also being a pleasure to wear.

Price £645 GB Pounds

Smiths Deluxe gold boxed Everest dial 1955

The same model that reached the summit of Everest on the wrist of Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953, this Smiths Deluxe is ludicrously undervalued at present. A very high quality and extremely evocative watch that is something of a bargain.

Price £875 GB Pounds

Hamilton 6B “Mark 11” military RAF pilot’s steel 1967

The Hamilton 6B is one of the forgotten bargains of the vintage military watch field. It has all the characteristics and superb quality of the IWC and Jaeger LeCoultre Mark 11, but can be bought for a fraction of the cost.

Price £775 GB Pounds
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