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Vintage Watches

Every vintage watch has a story to tell, and that’s what makes them special. Each piece offers a unique window into the past that traces back through generations, and owning one means getting to enjoy a piece of decades-old mechanical art. Welcome to the world of vintage.

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Popular Brands
  1. Rolex Rolex
  2. Breitling Breitling
  3. Omega Omega
  4. TAG Heuer TAG Heuer
  5. Tudor Tudor
  6. Cartier Cartier
  7. Panerai Panerai
  8. IWC IWC
  9. Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet
  10. Patek Philippe Patek Philippe
  11. Hublot Hublot
  12. Jaeger-LeCoultre Jaeger-LeCoultre
  13. Vacheron Constantin Vacheron Constantin
All Brands
  1. A. Lange and Sohne A. Lange and Sohne
  2. Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet
  3. Ball Ball
  4. Baume et Mercier Baume et Mercier
  5. Bell and Ross Bell and Ross
  6. Blancpain Blancpain
  7. Breitling Breitling
  8. Bremont Bremont
  9. Bvlgari Bvlgari
  10. Carl F. Bucherer Carl F. Bucherer
  11. Cartier Cartier
  12. Chanel Chanel
  13. Chopard Chopard
  14. Corum Corum
  15. Eterna Eterna
  16. Fortis Fortis
  17. Frederique Constant Frederique Constant
  18. Girard Perregaux Girard Perregaux
  19. Glashutte Original Glashutte Original
  20. Graham Graham
  21. Grand Seiko Grand Seiko
  22. Hamilton Hamilton
  23. Hermes Hermes
  24. Hublot Hublot
  25. IWC IWC
  26. Jaeger-LeCoultre Jaeger-LeCoultre
  27. Longines Longines
  28. Maurice Lacroix Maurice Lacroix
  29. Montblanc Montblanc
  30. Nomos Glashutte Nomos Glashutte
  31. Omega Omega
  32. Oris Oris
  33. Panerai Panerai
  34. Patek Philippe Patek Philippe
  35. Porsche Design Porsche Design
  36. Rado Rado
  37. Raymond Weil Raymond Weil
  38. Rolex Rolex
  39. TAG Heuer TAG Heuer
  40. Tudor Tudor
  41. Vacheron Constantin Vacheron Constantin
  42. Zenith Zenith
Series
Case Size
The size of a watch is very important for style and comfort. If you prefer an oversized watch like a Panerai Luminor, you’ll probably want Large. If you’re looking for something more discreet like a Rolex Lady Datejust, you’ll want Small. For everything in between, Medium.
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Stock Type
  1. Watchfinder Watchfinder
Case Material
  1. Bronze Bronze
  2. Carbon Carbon
  3. Ceramic Ceramic
  4. Other Other
  5. Platinum Platinum
  6. Rose Gold Rose Gold
  7. Silver Silver
  8. Steel Steel
  9. Steel & Rose Gold Steel & Rose Gold
  10. Steel & White Gold Steel & White Gold
  11. Steel & Yellow Gold Steel & Yellow Gold
  12. Titanium Titanium
  13. White Gold White Gold
  14. Yellow Gold Yellow Gold
  15. Yellow Gold Plated Yellow Gold Plated
Dial Colour
Black
Blue
Bronze
Brown
Champagne
Diamond
Green
Grey
Ivory
Orange
Pink
Purple
Red
Salmon
Silver
Specialised
White
Yellow
Strap
  1. Bracelet Bracelet
  2. Fabric Fabric
  3. Leather Leather
  4. Rubber Rubber
Box and Papers
  1. Original box Original box
  1. Original papers Original papers
Movement
A mechanical watch is powered by a spring. Manual mechanical watches must be hand wound. Automatic watches are also mechanical, and are wound by a weight that spins with the wearer's movements. A quartz watch is battery powered and extremely accurate.
  1. Automatic Automatic
  2. Manual Manual
  3. Quartz Quartz
Promotion
Limited Edition
  1. Limited Edition Limited Edition
Reset Results (329)
Results (329)
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Cartier Santos Galbee W20011C4 419257
Vintage

Cartier
Santos Galbee
W20011C4

Box
Papers
Year 1999
£4,425
Rolex Air-King 14000 401863
Vintage

Rolex
Air-King
14000

Box
Papers
Year 1991
£3,750
Rolex Datejust 16220 342317
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust
16220

Box
Papers
Year 1997
£5,255
Rolex Datejust 16233 404781
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust
16233

Box
Papers
Year 1989
£5,600
Rolex Datejust Lady 69173 410652
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust Lady
69173

Box
Papers
Year 1989
£4,750
Rolex Datejust Lady 69173 400734
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust Lady
69173

Box
Papers
Year 1991
£5,500
Rolex Datejust Lady 69174 399724
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust Lady
69174

Box
Papers
Year 1992
£5,575
Rolex Lady Oyster Perpetual 76030 403589
Vintage

Rolex
Lady Oyster Perpetual
76030

Box
Papers
Year 2001
£2,850
Rolex GMT Master II 16710 423065
Vintage

Rolex
GMT Master II
16710

Box
Papers
Year 2001
£10,950
Rolex Oyster Precision 6426 424005
Vintage

Rolex
Oyster Precision
6426

Box
Papers
Year 1971
£3,250
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 67480 377195
Vintage

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual
67480

Box
Papers
Year 1998
£3,950
Rolex Submariner 5513 401328
Vintage

Rolex
Submariner
5513

Box
Papers
Year 1988
£8,975
Rolex Air-King 14000 386049
Vintage

Rolex
Air-King
14000

Box
Papers
Year 1991
£3,250
Omega Seamaster 300m 2531.80.00 421330
Vintage

Omega
Seamaster 300m
2531.80.00

Box
Papers
Year 2000
£2,900
Rolex Air-King 14000 422727
Vintage

Rolex
Air-King
14000

Box
Papers
Year 1999
£4,400
Rolex Datejust Lady 69178 321050
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust Lady
69178

Box
Papers
Year 1996
£9,500
Rolex Datejust 16233 402211
Manufacturer's Warranty

Rolex
Datejust
16233

Box
Papers
Year 1990
£5,980
Rolex Datejust Lady 69173 363825
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust Lady
69173

Box
Papers
Year 1996
£5,175
Rolex Datejust Lady 69174 397634
Manufacturer's Warranty

Rolex
Datejust Lady
69174

Box
Papers
Year 2001
£4,500
Rolex Submariner 16800 397476
Vintage

Rolex
Submariner
16800

Box
Papers
Year 1996
£7,750
Cartier Santos Galbee W20040D6 409850
Vintage

Cartier
Santos Galbee
W20040D6

Box
Papers
Year 2000
£4,950
Rolex Datejust 16233 404117
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust
16233

Box
Papers
Year 1996
£5,450
Rolex Datejust Lady 69173 397626
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust Lady
69173

Box
Papers
Year 1990
£5,250
Rolex Datejust Lady 69173 402095
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust Lady
69173

Box
Papers
Year 1988
£4,750
Tudor Submariner 79190 407556
Vintage

Tudor
Submariner
79190

Box
Papers
Year 2001
£5,585
Rolex Datejust 16234 417424
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust
16234

Box
Papers
Year 2000
£6,950
Rolex Datejust Lady 6916 400596
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust Lady
6916

Box
Papers
Year 1974
£3,400
Rolex Air-King 5500 356694
Vintage

Rolex
Air-King
5500

Box
Papers
Year 1969
£3,950
Omega Speedmaster Date 3513.46.00 424515
Vintage

Omega
Speedmaster Date
3513.46.00

Box
Papers
Year 2000
£3,395
Cartier Panthere W25028B6 418138
Vintage

Cartier
Panthere
W25028B6

Box
Papers
Year 2001
£5,950
Omega Seamaster 300m 2352.80.00 424707
Vintage

Omega
Seamaster 300m
2352.80.00

Box
Papers
Year 2000
£2,800
Rolex Daytona 16523 423822
Vintage

Rolex
Daytona
16523

Box
Papers
Year 1997
£14,950
Rolex Mid-Size Datejust 68274 398929
Vintage

Rolex
Mid-Size Datejust
68274

Box
Papers
Year 1994
£7,750
Rolex GMT Master II 16760 424041
Vintage

Rolex
GMT Master II
16760

Box
Papers
Year 1987
£9,500
Rolex Datejust Lady 69178 405098
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust Lady
69178

Box
Papers
Year 1986
£9,250
Rolex Datejust Lady 79174 408669
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust Lady
79174

Box
Papers
Year 2000
£5,385
Rolex Lady Oyster Perpetual 76198 419063
Vintage

Rolex
Lady Oyster Perpetual
76198

Box
Papers
Year 2000
£6,875
Rolex Datejust 16013 402190
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust
16013

Box
Papers
Year 1987
£5,750
Breitling Crosswind B13355 416797
Manufacturer's Warranty

Breitling
Crosswind
B13355

Box
Papers
Year 2000
£3,500
Rolex Datejust 16220 398149
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust
16220

Box
Papers
Year 2000
£5,400
Rolex Datejust 16013 399751
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust
16013

Box
Papers
Year 1978
£5,600
Rolex Datejust 16013 402400
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust
16013

Box
Papers
Year 1983
£5,500

Vintage Watches

There has been a huge upsurge in vintage watch collecting over the past twenty years, a natural consequence perhaps of the mechanical watch revival that took place in the 1990s after the doom-laden era of the quartz crisis had receded.

Since then vintage watches have grabbed the watch industry’s biggest headlines, with a number of Rolex and Patek Philippe models regularly selling for well over a million dollars at the most prestigious auction houses.

Vintage watches have never been in such high demand, with even models from lesser-known brands seeing their value increase ten-fold over the last decade or so. Of course, precious few vintage timepieces—or any timepieces, for that matter—will reach anywhere near the astronomical price ($17.75 million) fetched by Paul Newman’s Daytona in 2017, but a vintage watch by a brand like Omega or Zenith which sold for a couple of hundred pounds in the 1990s, would fetch several times that in today’s market.

If you’re wondering what defines a vintage watch in the first place, the answer isn’t set in stone. Some people consider any pre-1980 model to qualify as vintage, while others insist it’s anything over 25 years old. Any watch over a hundred years old, on the other hand, is classed as an antique—one you might consider locking in a safe rather than actually wearing.

If you’re thinking of starting your own vintage collection featuring the most established brands, there are a number of names and models to consider. Vintage Patek Philippe pieces are among the most desirable, whether it’s a pre-World War II time-only Calatrava, a 1970s Nautilus or any perpetual calendar model in gold or platinum.

The most popular vintage Audemars Piguet models are the first-generation Royal Oaks, a luxury steel sports model launched in 1972 that gave rise to a whole new genre in high-end watchmaking.

Extremely rare and therefore much sought-after are vintage Panerai watches, of which as few as 350 were made between 1938 and 1994, after which the brand finally began making watches commercially and for the civilian market, rather than just for the Italian navy. Vintage Radiomir and Luminor models now command six-figure sums at auction.

Vintage Breitling and vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre watches are generally more affordable than the above, but even more wallet-friendly are a number of chronograph models by the legendary Heuer.

Vintage TAG Heuer (as it is now called) is best represented by several chronograph models with strong motor-racing links, the most famous being the square-cased Monaco. Famously worn by Hollywood maverick Steve McQueen, this distinctive and iconic timepiece is now a regular in the brand’s catalogue, with a number of dial variations and special editions. There’s something extra-cool about the early models, though, whose tiny imperfections enhance their appeal.

A few oft-repeated rules for budding vintage collectors are as follows: always buy from a trusted seller; try to buy watches with all original parts (dials, for example, have often been repainted or replaced on older watches); and never wear any vintage watch, whether a diver’s watch or not, in water as it will have almost certainly lost its water resistance due to the seals on the gaskets eroding.

And don’t be put off by faded lume, the odd battle scar and a little patina. Part of the charm of a vintage watch is that it’s been around the block a few times, had a few different wearers, got a few tales to tell.

At Watchfinder we sell a number of vintage models from brands including Rolex, Tudor, Zenith, Omega and more. Browse our selection online today to find your perfect vintage timepiece and add another chapter to its story.

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