A look at the move towards ‘honest’ vintage watches whose appeal is enhanced by the ‘ravages’ of time, featuring watches with tropical and exotic dials offered in Dubai and previously sold at Christie’s.
One of the most interesting evolutions in vintage watch collecting has been the desire to move away from watches that have been restored and polished to look ‘like new’ in favour of watches in original condition with honest patina. Nicks, scratches and fading that may have developed over the course of decades of wear can enhance a watch’s desirability.
As with many trends, it is hard to track the exact origin of this appreciation, but certainly one of the places it originated was in Japan, where the wabi-sabi aesthetic values imperfection developed over time. In Japan, this has affected watch collecting for many years, particularly in regard to vintage Rolex sports watches.
Japanese collectors have long preferred original cases made beautiful by years of wear — with accumulated scratches, and fading on original parts such as bezel inserts on Submariners and GMT-Masters — compared to vintage watches that have been made to look pristine. Of particular interest and desirability is a black dial that has turned brown or ‘tropical’ with fading over the years.
This trend towards seeking honest patina has extended worldwide, particularly over the last five years, and is associated with a massive growth in the number of vintage watch collectors. Many people are drawn to vintage watches for the beauty of having something that looks old.
The concept that collectors prize originality over restoration is one of the things that many people find most surprising about collecting vintage watches
As one new, younger vintage watch collector explained, ‘If I wanted something that looked new, I would just go into a boutique and buy it. But I wanted something different; a watch that has been made unique by the ageing process.’
One issue surrounding this desire to collect vintage watches with honest patina is that it is extremely difficult. Well-known watches such as the Rolex Submariner and the Omega Speedmaster are especially rarely found in original condition because of their famous affiliations over the years.
Those who owned one were likely to wear it and have it serviced over the years, when parts were frequently replaced (such as bezel inserts and crowns), and perhaps the luminous material on the dial and in the hands was refreshed for better night visibility — all with the goal of making the watch a more effective tool, and with no mind towards future value to collectors. Furthermore, the cases were polished to remove scratches and make them look like new, making the lugs a bit thinner in the process through the removal of metal.
For non-collectors, it is not at all intuitive that a watch inherited from their father or grandfather needn’t be restored. In fact, the concept that collectors prize originality over restoration is one of the things that many newcomers to the category find most surprising. However, there is something that is appealing, even to a non-collector, about a watch that has aged in a unique way.
While, in general, the hierarchy of vintage watch collecting would rank a true ‘new old stock’ vintage watch that has never been worn as the ideal, second place is now strongly held by that same watch in original condition with honest patina and wear, rather than a watch that has been restored. In some cases, a watch with a beautiful ‘tropical’ brown dial can even be worth more than it would be in ‘new old stock’ condition.
This desire for honest patina seems so strong with collectors across the spectrum today that it is likely to continue shaping the vintage watch market for decades to come.
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