Listicles
Introductory guides to help you find the perfect watch.
Featured
Introductory guides to help you find the perfect watch.
The best watch tools and watch cases that you can have at your doorstep by the end of the week.
The best new everyday watches from the watch world’s biggest week
The vintage chronographs from Heuer, Omega, and Universal Geneve you should be collecting
Special Tudors for Google, Hodinkee, Ed Sheeran, Undefeated, and more.
"Shoot the photos that make you happy".
Guide
Advice from a new watch collector, for a new watch collector.
Comparing the Nomos Tangente and Nomos Club Campus, two of the brand’s best — and most affordable — offerings. Sport v. dress. Youth v. experience. Tradition v. experimentation. But always Bauhaus.
Affordable and luxurious alternatives to the classic watch from Rolex.
“Stop being scared of other languages. It’s 2020. Google Translate is pretty good.”
Our recent picks of the best dive watches for small wrists got us thinking about something else: What are the best accessibly priced dive watches, full stop?
The start of a new year is as good a time as any to take a step back and look at the broader market: what’s hot, what’s not, and where is there value to be found? In this list, we’ll take a look at some of the watches we’re watching this year, and why. These aren’t necessarily “bargain picks” or “value finds”, but they are vintage watches that tend to be overlooked by the market more generally, and all will set you back less than $10,000.
It’s a pretty common question: What’s the best in affordable vintage Rolex? Sure, six-figure Daytonas and Submariners grab all the headlines, but most of us just want to get our hands on any Rolex, much less some of the most desirable references around. And with authorized dealers often having limited stock of some of the more in-demand models, that means turning towards pre-owned or vintage Rolex as an alternative.
Modern, entry-level Rolex starts at $5,4000 with the 36mm Oyster Perpetual (and $5,700 for the 39mm version), so we’ll use that as our baseline to define what “affordable” means. Luckily, vintage Rolex can often be found at a fraction of that price. One of Rolex’s strengths as a brand is its offerings at both the extremely high and low end of the market. From six- and seven-figure Paul Newman Daytonas to $1,000 Oyster Perpetuals, there’s something for almost everyone.
I also gave a Primer on Transitional Rolex recently. Many of these models are affordable, and slightly more modern, thus making them easier to find around the internet. It’s a great companion piece to this article as you search for your next (or first) great vintage Rolex.
Watch collectors have always used the internet to share information, help fellow collectors identify and buy watches, and document their latest find. Over the decades, this has moved from forums to highly professional digital publications, but the premise remains the same: information is essential. You can’t buy a vintage watch without digging deep into the story behind a particular brand or reference. I’ve attempted to compile some of the best in-depth articles on vintage watches from around the web. The core of this page is (and will continue to be) these in-depth articles. I’ve also begun to collect various other links to videos, podcasts, groups, etc. that one might find interesting in their collecting journey.
This is a dynamic page, and I plan to add more to it — for example, in-depth explanations of movements and complications, recommended dealers, and more. Let me know what you’d like to see from this page going forward.
With the fall 2019 Geneva auctions fast approaching, it’s time we give a preview of what’s to come over the auctions from Christie’s, Phillips and Sotheby’s from November 10-12. There are roughly 200 lots per auction, meaning there’s quite a bit to get through. As such, we’ll divide this preview into three categories: (1) Top Lots, (2) Next Up (pieces with estimates under $100,000) (3) Under the Radar (pieces with estimates under $10,000 or so).
We’ve already created our “Vintage Daytona Database” highlighting all vintage Rolex Daytona (and pre-Daytona chronographs) up for auction this fall, so we’ll largely eschew discussing those in this preview, though some are too good not too highlight.
While most previews start at the top and move down, we’ll do the opposite, starting with watches that are flying under the radar. Unlike in past previews, I’m giving quick hits of each piece, instead of going in-depth on a smaller subset of watches.
Way back in 2012, John Mayer wrote an article for a young Hodinkee titled “The Five Best Buys in Vintage Rolex for $8,000 or Less”. It was a fine article with a lovely premise: you don’t need to be rich like John Mayer to own a desirable vintage watch from the Crown. Well, I’ve covered the fact that since then, most of Mayer’s recommendations have ballooned in value, most now trading in excess of five figures. So where’s a modest collector to turn? Enter Tudor.
Back in March, the prodigal son returned. John Mayer returned to the Hodinkee universe, joining Ben Clymer for Talking Watches 2 to show off some 20 watches from his collection. But let’s look back at that original video, some 5 years old now.
Guide
Sometimes, 38mm is all you need in a dive watch.