By: Agaki (@agakistuff)
“Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”
I’d like to paraphrase that little line by Bong-Joon Ho in a watch context. I’d say, “Stop being scared of other languages. It’s 2020. Google Translate is pretty good.” As English-speaking watch collectors, we have a tendency to narrow ourselves into a box of eBay, Chrono24 and our small myriad of western vendors. But what if there’s an entire other side of the world that’s… easily accessible through the internet? We often hear about Japan being a “treasure trove” of vintage but the thought of actually buying something from Japan seems scary to most — when it doesn't have to be. They’re humans with the internet too! With this whole pandemic going on, the dream of going to Tokyo and looking at a cool watch in a rickety old shop is dashed for the moment; however, with the internet we can at least browse some cool stock.
As always, caveat emptor, due diligence and all that. Yes, some of these websites will look like they’re from 2003. Returns are harder, if not impossible in another language and hell, some places might not even ship overseas or want to deal with you at all. Them’s the breaks. While I can’t help you with actually buying these watches (look into proxy buying, emailing people politely in English or just making friends with someone in Japan), I hope with this little resource I can shine a light on a few places on the Japanese web that I think carry some interesting stuff. In no particular order here are a few places to dig around for some vintage watches.
ヤフオク! - Yahoo! Auctions JAPAN
Good for: Everything
Personal Pick: This manual-wind Spring Drive Credor where the designers at Seiko clearly just wanted to make a fun shiny thing
If you’re an eBay deep diver I absolutely implore you to check out Yahoo! Auctions JAPAN. I’ve grabbed most of my collection from this very site, and it is ground zero for any watch reference you think of. Compared to eBay there is a tendency for things to pop up and disappear very quickly (often listings only last for 2-5 days), making a quick daily trip through Yahoo Auctions almost necessary. You can bid, buy and browse the site easily through proxy services like Buyee and ZenMarket. As with eBay you can set up alerts to ping you on new items daily and if you already know what you’re looking for there is no better place than Yahoo Auctions. If you see a watch on eBay that is located in Japan there is an extremely high chance that it’s just a reseller selling on a Yahoo Auctions listing with… a few bucks more on top. Save some money and go directly to the source!
Advintage
Instagram: @advintage_watch
Good for: Highly Curated Collections
Personal Pick: This lovely leaf indices NOS Smiths watch (sold by the time I finished writing this article, but still worth a look!)
I’d like to lead off with Advintage because it proves two things I want to highlight straight off the bat. The power of Google Translate and the different selection of stuff compared to a western vendor.
“Most of the watches selected by advintage are made by lesser-known brands or manufacturers that do not exist today. However, they have the potential and personality to compete with famous brands, and above all, they are beautiful watches.”
That’s a Google-translated paragraph straight off their about page. Google translate is pretty good, people! Advintage does a cool thing wherein they curate their stock into themed collections for your convenience. Their most recent collection is ‘Rectangulars’, but I adore their SMITHS collection as well. There are a lot of Smiths watches in Japan! Why? That’s for me to find out another time, but that also leads us to…
My Dear Mini
Good for: Smiths and neat dioramas
Personal Pick: A very striking 1960s Smiths Astral
Sometimes in the pursuit of any collecting hobby, you have to think laterally. You won’t get a ‘find’ at a watch dealer. You’ll get a find in a pawn shop, a flea market or someone’s backyard. Japan as a society tends to be really good at leaning into a niche upon a niche - which is what My Dear Mini is. As far as I can tell, My Dear Mini is sort of like an Americana-style shop but for all types of British ephemera run by someone who makes little dioramas of retro Britain (?). Which collaterally means for us, a nice little selection of Smiths watches!
Special Dial
Instagram: @specialdial
Good for: Japan’s greatest hits along with the occasional top-tier Swiss piece or Cartier
Personal Pick: This Vacheron Ref. 6360 on display has a lot of soul
To state the obvious, yes - Seikos are easier to get in Japan and the folks at Special Dial are always cycling through vintage Grand Seiko’s great hits. These guys tick all the boxes for ease of use in 2020: entirely in English, a nice website and very active on Instagram. If ever there were people who are working towards bridging the gap between Eastern and Western collectors, it’s these folks.
From Time To Times
Instagram: @tokyo_horology
Good for: A well preserved assortment of Japanese and Swiss pieces with slick photos
Personal Pick: This Tudor Oyster Royal is quirky enough to look at more than a few times
From Time To Times has a great collection of really cool references from the big hitters. In a frankly incredible move that I didn’t know I needed before I saw it, most of the pages come with an accompanying timegrapher picture as well, which is really really really handy. Expertly photographed, this is a solid place to scroll through. Another store entirely in English and active on Instagram — with possibly my favorite spread of watches on the web!
Antique Watch Dazzling
Instagram: @antiquewatchdazzling
Good for: Historical deep cuts and a good selection of advertisements, boxes and watch-related goods with a good price spread
Personal Pick: The words ‘Polerouter’ and ‘Sub’ shouldn’t register together, but here we are
If you’re into your watch-related ephemera, Antique Watch Dazzling has an extensive array of posters and other goods to sift through as well. Their watch selection is extremely strong and equally as interesting too, with a focus on ‘transitional’ watches from manufacturers. This is one shop where I’d recommend carefully perusing their sold pages as chances are there might be some cool stuff you haven’t ever seen before!
Select Vintage Watch Tokyo
Instagram: @select_watch.tokyo
Good for: Spread of interesting-looking vintage wrapped up in a nice website
Personal Pick: Someone should be all over this slick and affordable Eternamatic
I’m really a sucker for a good looking, simple website — especially in a hobby where the boffins higher-up only seem to have discovered the internet about a year ago. A shop that just slaps a bunch of nice pictures in my face with accompanying prices is a mild godsend. Select Vintage Watch Tokyo has an always-updating spread of vintage in nice-looking condition and is a shop to keep on your revisit radar as more affordable stuff pops up here often. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly it is, but their selection exudes a certain unique taste too!
Eguchi Store
Instagram: @eguchistore_official
Good for: Eclectic ‘Big Swiss’ taste and beautiful photography
Personal Pick: Already sold but this Patek reference 3579 is frankly incredible
Vintage clothes and vintage watches should go hand in hand, and here they do. Eguchi Store should be your go to for the more unusual and dare I say aesthetic looking pieces of some of the big Swiss hitters. Their spread of Cartiers and Rolexes are quite tasteful and I love their funky selection of JLCs and Vacherons. With wonderful photography and sublime taste in watches this is a really cool place to check out online — even more so in real life.
ITEM by Time Anagram
Instagram: @timeanagram
Good for: Affordable and fascinating array of vintage Japanese and Swiss watches
If your budget is under $3000 then this is your shop. ITEM by Time Anagram has an extremely wide spread of affordable vintage — and not just the 521st mildly beat up Omega Geneve you’ve seen today, though I’m sure they have some of those in stock too. This is a genuinely wide spread of affordable, yet absolutely gripping bunch of watches. From Lip watches, Ulysse Nardins and a bunch of brands that have long since bit the dust.
Sweetroad
Instagram: @sweetroad_official
Good for: Sheer volume and variety
Personal Pick: This 1970 Osaka Expo Ricoh is absolutely the greatest watch I’ve ever seen
Sometimes you just have to go to a shop with... a lot of stuff. Sweetroad has a lot of stuff. They’ve laid out their categories on the left quite well too, allowing you to sort by price bracket and even by decade of make. Good one when you’re in your bed at 3am at night on your iPad because you can’t sleep and just want to scroll through pages of watches that you could consider buying but probably won’t end up buying. Not speaking from experience.
There’s something to be said about a more global view in looking at taste in watches. The taste in Japan is markedly different to the West, skewing to smaller and non-complicated watches from a variety of brands. With a vintage scene that even has its own dedicated Vintage Watch magazine, we’ve just skimmed the surface of vintage in Japan and vintage in Asia. Even if you’re not in a position to take a leap of faith and buy from overseas, you can gain a lot from viewing and collecting through a different lens. I’ve discovered a number of weird, wonderful and under-appreciated references through Japanese vintage shops and I hope this article helps you do the same. Rest assured there are plenty more vintage watch shops on the Japanese web — I haven’t even mentioned a few of the super big players in this article! But hopefully for today at least, your curiosity is roused and we can save some more for later.
Thoughts and prayers for your wallet.