Fratello Talks: Watch Brands Selling Vintage Watches

Nacho, Lex, and Daan discuss this concept that brands seem keen to embrace

February 02, 2023

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Hello, and welcome to this week’s episode of Fratello Talks! Today, Nacho, Lex, and Daan sit together to discuss watch brands selling their own stock of vintage watches. Lex joins the podcast after a week away visiting Jaeger-LeCoultre, the latest brand to jump on the bandwagon. Armed with knowledge, vintage-buying experience, and plenty of opinions, this week’s trio is ready to delve into the details. Who are these premium vintage pieces, painstakingly restored by the brand itself, meant to be for? It may not be us, but perhaps it’s a perfect introduction to vintage watches for those willing and able to pay the premium. The guys share their thoughts extensively, but not before a quick wrist check.

If you want to listen to last week’s episode of Fratello Talks, where RJ, Laurits, and Daan discuss watches they’d like to see released in 2023, make sure to check it out here.

Wrist check

Lex kicks things off with his fantastic plastic (or rather, Bioceramic) MoonSwatch Mission on Earth. He wears it on a dark blue rubber strap, which matches the dial nicely. It’s a comfortable, lightweight watch that finds plenty of time on his wrist. Daan, on the opposite end of the spectrum, is wearing a borrowed Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5065 on a khaki-green rubber strap. Keep an eye on the site next week as he’ll share his experience wearing this rather special watch. Nacho, still deep into the honeymoon with his latest acquisition, has had nothing other than the Omega Seamaster Professional 300M 2254.50.00 on his wrist since he was on the podcast two weeks ago. The only thing that’s bound to change anytime soon is that it’s still on the bracelet. It’s time to let this strap monster loose!

Luxury watch brands selling vintage pieces

I won’t give too much away, but this is certainly not a new topic to draw watch brands’ interest. Longines, Cartier, and Vacheron Constantin are some of the brands that have already been doing this for several years. The latest brand to tap into the vintage market is Jaeger-LeCoultre. Lex visited the brand in Switzerland last week and wrote an article on the initial collection of vintage pieces that are kicking things off. But how do we feel about brands doing this, especially when charging incredibly high prices for said pieces? Is there any special value to be had? Or is it all just a marketing gimmick? Well, these are the topics discussed in this week’s episode of Fratello Talks.

Thank you for listening, and tune in next week for a brand-new episode!

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Fratello Talks: Watch Brands Selling Vintage Watches

Good morning, Nacho. If we all just held onto our watches instead of selling and trading them and churning our collections, we’d all own vintage and neo-vintage watches. Doesn’t matter if it’s a €75,000 PP or a €500 Tissot or €100 Timex. It’s just cooler when it’s older and more rare.

If these brands are bringing these watches up to snuff internally and not replacing dials, hands, crowns, bezels & polishing (thinking Rolex here) and maintain the historic / vintage integrity of the piece, that is worth something. With that said, went into the Le Coulyre boutique in NYC & can’t imagine one could not get this done by a good independent watchmaker for less & quicker.

The vintage car analogy is spot on. As Watch consumers another one presents itself from real estate in that you don’t necessarily want to buy the most expensive house in the neighborhood. You’ll have the longest road to recouping your investment. My dad had his own POV that I find instructive. Don’t expect to make money in real estate (real estate and watches for me) and do upgrades and refurbishment for your own enjoyment because when you go to sell they’re used too and no one else may appreciate the work you’ve put into it. Does JLC’s refurbished Memovox have that much more on the ones I can find elsewhere? The answer is a bit of yes and no. But odds are pretty good we can find examples in near same condition for far less. We have to be a little more careful with the others but that’s where due diligence comes into play. I hope this isn’t a move to manipulate watch prices because to my mind that feels like they’re engaging in their own form of the flipping market. Having my specific watch appear in a book is neat but is like box and papers. They’re awesome if you can get them but I don’t value them all that much. The watch is what I’m after.