BACK IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS...AND THEY WERE NOT THAT LONG AGO!
DATOKEEHUACHEE@GMAIL.COM
I am curious to see what answers you will get to this question. First of all, I think we can agree that “back in the day” say roughly from 1920 to 70, the era of classical mechanical wristwatches, no single watch had anything like the finishing of a modern day Patek or Lange. This has become a major distinguishing factor in luxury timepieces, and companies are nowadays in competition to outperform each other in this regard. On the other hand, the further you go back in time, the more pronounced would have been the proportion of skilled manual work that went into each watch. What mattered much more than the beauty and decoration of the movement, was its accuracy, durability, shock proofing, etc. Prestigious pieces had fine gold cases, fashionable shapes and sometimes elaborate enamel dials like the one you see on this exceptional Patek from the 1950s.
Or maybe you were more thinking of a simple Calatrava like this one:
In either case, the movement would have been of highest quality but rather basic and modestly decorated for contemporary standards. It would most likely be a Jaeger LeCoultre ebauche, hand finished and perhaps customised by Patek. Apart from the watchmaker, nobody would ever get to see it. It could look somewhat like this:
For a vintage Patek with features like the ones shown here you would now have to pay anything between 15.000 and a million dollars (or more), depending on rarity, condition and buyers’ enthusiasm. Watches like these were, in their category, always top of the range, whether they had artistically ornate dials, or not. If you want to spend a lot less but are interested in a watch that is by all accounts similar except for the brand, there are indeed some options. My personal favourite would be an IWC dress watch from about 1940 to 1960 with a caliber 88 (small second) or 89, which are equal in quality and performance to the ones used by Patek at that time. These watches are currently obtainable on the second wrist market for under 3000 dollars for a more or less decent specimen, and they are unlikely to lose value. This is a picture of mine, from around 1950.
The caliber 89 looks like this:
Perhaps even better deals in terms of price and quality, if you are very lucky and patient, you may get when you venture into brands that are either completely gone, or so dormant that there is basically no contemporary awareness of them outside watch collector circles. A very noble one of these is Universal Geneve, the company that got credited for the invention of the microrotor movement. This watch here should really be every bit as desirable as any similar Patek of that period.
Finally, if you really don’t care, you can get a watch that will look ok and can be as functional and robust as any other from that era, for the cost of a new Orient Bambino, or less even, depending on the quality, condition, material and brand. Some watches go for less than the current gold price (don’t nail me down on this). Cortebert is a good brand to go for. It has a significant heritage, and you may find elegant examples like the one shown below.
The movements also get less ornate and special as you are climbing down this ladder.
I hope this addresses your question. It is definitely true that you can get vintage watches of objectively similar quality that differ in price by orders of magnitude based on brand awareness, rareness and perceived value, not unlike the market of new watches.
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