1.  -  The Watchmaker

If you want a true classic, the first thing that you should organize is a really good (and I mean good) watchmaker.
I am not talking about the sort that changes batteries and sends everything else to the factory.
What I have in mind is the increasingly rare kind of watchmaker who has a rear room in his shop stocked with all kinds of spare parts for the most common movements made in the last sixty years.

Finding such a watchmaker is much harder than finding a certain watch! I was lucky to find a person like this - not, as you might expect, a sixty-something year old grey-haired master of the trade with an obscure little shop in a back alley (though someone like this may be exactly what you need), but rather a young lady who has had a special training in historic watch repair.

2.  -  The Brand

If you don't find a watchmaker of the type I described, there is only one way to play it reasonably safe:
Go for a brand that still exists!
Major brands usually stock parts for about thirty years, and for most of them, it is a question of honor to try everything possible to get one of their products running again.

Some companies have special departments dedicated to restoration; Patek Philippe, e.g., will even make missing parts for one of their old pocket or wristwatches. This, however, can take a long time, and it can become extremely expensive.

3.  -  Where To Buy

Buy your vintage watch from a reliable source, if possible, with a guarantee, or make arrangements to give the watch back if it does not correspond to the dealer's description.

Good sources to buy vintage watches are auction houses of all kinds (including internet auctions if you have a money-back guarantee); you get reasonably reliable descriptions (make sure to understand what a "very good" means), you can be sure that the watch is genuine, and you can also be sure that there are no questions about the ownership (to put it mildly ...).

Flea markets or special watch markets are OK if

• you know exactly what you are doing (meaning you know a thing or two about watches),
• and if you are dealing with a seller who will not have disappeared the next day. If you pay cash at a booth with a sign "John Doe - Vintage Watches" it may be difficult to trace the seller if a problem should arise.

Always make sure to get a receipt with the dealer's address on it that lists brand, reference number and/or serial number of the watch that you bought.

4.  -  Knowledge Is Power

This is probably the most often ignored, yet probably the most important factor in the game of hunting down a classic:
Become as much of an expert as possible!
Knowledge is power - learn about the various references and calibers (including their special potential flaws) of your favorite brand or type of watch, and you will know exactly when to spend how much on which watch.

If you want a vintage Omega, an early Patek Philippe, or a classic Breitling, you should first buy (and read!) the books, then buy the watch.

5.  -  Accept That Your Watch Is Old

Although this should be understood, please remember that you must not expect too much from a vintage watch!

Even if it is a "certified chronometer," this only means that it did meet the regulations when it was made - and this may have been thirty years ago.
A minute slow or fast per day does not even make me frown in a watch from the fifties, and I accept five minutes in a late 19th century pocket watch.

It is a special feeling to have a true classic on your wrist, but, like when you are driving a vintage car, you must make concessions: You wouldn't expect a 1964 Jaguar E-Type to out-perform a 2001 Porsche, right?

Like accuracy, water-proofness is another issue that you shouldn't take for granted in a vintage watch. If you don't know for sure that the watch has recently been serviced and checked, don't rely on a diver's watch from the sixties as still being water-proof.

If you keep this in mind, you will be more or less on the safe side - there is no such thing as an absolute guarantee. If you want this, buy a new watch from an authorized dealer.
With increasing experience, you will probably become more and more ready to accept a risk.

The first time when you notice that the watch that is offered as type X is in fact the rare variant Y, and you will get it for a low price, will be one of the highlights in your collector's career that you will remember forever.

On the other hand, you will also never forget the day when you bought a watch for what looked like a reasonable price only to find out later that is was a "mariage" between a movement and a case that were never meant for each other.

I have experienced both situations myself, and I wouldn't want to miss these experiences. You learn from them, and they are what really makes collecting watches such fun!

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