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Before I state the reasons why you should consider collecting vintage watches first one must define a vintage watch. There is no definite cut off date as to what makes a watch vintage or contemporary but many vintage watch collectors would consider watches that pre-date the quartz revolution as being vintage. They are also usually made with a mechanical movement of a mainspring wheel.

Watches

There are a number of advantages to collecting vintage watches over the modern replicas or contemporary watches today.

Firstly vintage watches make quality investments. They will tend to appreciate in value over time rather then depreciate so long as you look after them and keep them in good condition. This gives them greater collectible value as you can buy a vintage watch for a bargain today and sell it for a profit in a few years time. Like a modern car modern watches will depreciate in value fast. They have also not withstood the test of time like a vintage watch.

There are also aesthetic and nostalgic reasons to collecting vintage watches. These mechanical devices were intricately crafted through beautiful craftsmanship. They reflect an era gone by or a lost art. There are also many styles to choose from which make them diverse and interesting.

While there have been improvements to watches over the years such as their accuracy and their metal content, titanium watches being the most durable, the essence of how a movement is designed, made and adjusted has remained relatively the same. The major differences between vintage and contemporary mechanical watches are with design and style but even the design and style of many watches today are recreations of classic designs.

Buying Vintage Watches

When purchasing a vintage watch you need to be aware that there are fake vintage watches out there and that some sellers scam people by selling something which is not authentic and stating it as original.

If your buying online such as from an auction site like ebay you should only buy if the seller can show photos, preferably detailed photos of the watch so you can inspect them carefully and compare them with the same watches on the official website of the watch brand in question. Also check out the sellers feedback. A seller who sells genuine vintage watches is unlikely to have negative feedback about the authenticity of the watch.

Ask the seller for the serial number of the watch in question as all authentic vintage watches come with serial numbers. If they cannot provide them then move on to a different seller as it is possibly a fake.

Vintage watches are pre-owned or worn. If a seller tells you that the watch is brand new or it looks brand new its unlikely to be a vintage watch and more likely a modern replica.

If you learn a bit about vintage watches and their value it should be easier for you to spot a bargain and you may even make a nice profit should you choose to resell it at a later date.

Why Collect Vintage Watches

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Skagen watches began with the story of two immigrants who came to New York from Denmark. This couple was here to begin marketing a brand of watches in order for the Danish company to expand worldwide. This brand was a nice watch to have and began the Skagen line. The couple who introduce this design to the American market found that the brand was likable by the public, but would not become popular because of just the logo and name recognition. Quality and affordability had to go with the name recognition.

Watches

This made the couple order four unique designs from the Danish company and almost eight-hundred pieces. These initial designs became the Skagen brand. The order was sold quickly and another order went just as rapidly. The beginning of Skagen was launched. The four designs made the immigrants in New York desire to initiate additional designs and those grew to over thirty different models for the next year. Their perception of what individuals wanted made their designs different from the rest of the watch designs on the market and this turned into a triumph.

The watches were handcrafted and reliable with a Scandinavian flavor as well as being reasonably priced in order to satisfy the average person. An unexpected meeting with a local catalogue producer would put the Skagen line on the map. The catalogue placed one of the designs on the back of the publication. This ad earned more than 0,000 and all of the stock sold out. The couple was only working from a small apartment located in New York City, but the success of this woman’s watch was be start. The designers were on their way to bigger and better things.

Bloomingdale’s decided to take a chance on Skagen, but only on a trial basis. The designs stocked by the store sold out within hours and the revolutionary Skagen line hit the worldwide market after this. The company soon became the new rising star and other publications named them as the local up and comers in the watch market. Soon after their success in America, the two originators set up an office in their home country of Denmark and quickly grew to eighty stores. The 250 designs marketed by the designer are being sold worldwide in over 5,000 stores. The chance that this couple took with the original marketing of four designs has grown into a million dollar company spanning the world while still being creative in design.

That small New York apartment has developed into a starting point for all the models from Denmark to the rest of the world. There is no longer just two employees, there is now over 170 working in many places, but still assisting in new, creative designs. The original designers’ passion has made the world want more and more.

The Start of Skagen Watches

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One of the coolest things about divers watches, is that they are amongst the toughest watches on the planet. These highly specialized sports watches are designed with functionality first on the watchmaker’s priority list. This is because as a watch is subjected to greater depth, the tougher it has to be to guarantee safe operation in a pressurized environment.

Watches

How Divers Watches Are Tested

There is a strict international standard that a true divers watch must satisfy in order to be a certified diving watch. Watches must pass a series of tests laid out in ISO 6425, to earn the right to print the words “DIVER’S WATCH” on the case. Any watch bearing this marking will have satisfied the ISO 6425 testing procedure that is a special type of guarantee that the watch will hold up under submarine conditions.

The first test in the ISO 6425 procedure is a condensation test. The test involves heating a plate to around forty to forty five degrees centigrade, the watch is then placed on the plate and left for a period of ten to twenty minutes. Over this period the watch will heat up to this specific temperature. Onto the watch’s crystal face, a drop of water at room temperature is placed and left for one minute and then wiped off.

If there is any condensation seen to be forming beneath the crystal face, then the watch fails the testing. No further testing is conducted from that point on.

Another test in the procedure requires that watches be tested at depths that are 25% below their rated depth in still water conditions. Slight weather variations can cause the density of seawater to differ from between two and five percent and it is also well established by science that seawater is denser than fresh water.

Thermal shock testing is also applied to the dive watch as part of the testing procedure. The testing involves rapid temperature changes. For a period of an hour, the watch is first placed in forty degree water, then when the time expires, is rapidly transferred to five degree water. The watch is left for a further hour before being moved back to the fourty degree water again for a final hour.

By far the longest test in the ISO procedure is to test the watch’s resistance to the corrosiveness of seawater and involves the diving watch being submersed in thirty centimeter water for a period of over two days. This is why most diving watches are manufactured from stainless steel, titanium, plastics or ceramics as these materials do not rust.

Using A Diver Watch Under Water

Diving watches are also tested for the practical application of using a sports watch underwater. It is mandatory that all diving watches have some mechanism for keeping track of the total amount of time since the start of the dive.

Most analog diving watches use a unidirectional rotating bezel to track dive length, the bezel can only be rotated one way and as part of the standard is required to have distinctive markings at five minute intervals and a scale of sixty minutes. The watch is required to have its 60/0 minute mark be legible at twenty five meters below the surface and the reading of the time legible itself. Analog diving watches achieve this with luminescent watch hands, whereas most digital diving watches implement this with a back lit watch screen.

Divers watches must also indicate that they are working, both at 25 meters and in complete darkness. Analog watches have a running second hand with luminescent tip. When the battery runs out they must present an “EOL” (end of life) indicator.

Divers watches are among the most rigorously tested sports watches on the planet, meaning a good one will likely last you for many years and be completely safe to use in and around seawater, whether you are scuba diver or not.

Tough Watch Heavyweights – Why Divers Watches Are the Toughest Sport Watches on Earth

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Billed as the affordable quality Swiss watch, Lucien Piccard watches are some of the most sought after in the world. They are worn by royalty, dignitaries and celebrities. The company was founded in 1923 and continues to uphold its commitment to quality and excellence. These distinguished watches can be worn with pride and they are made so well that they are often passed down to children and grandchildren. The company originally became well known for its 14 karat and 18 karat gold watches with innovative designs for both men and women. They offer a large selection of collections so it is very easy to find a Lucien Piccard watch to fit your style and your pocketbook.

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Every watch in the 14 karat gold Jubilee Collection of Lucien Piccard watches is made of 14K yellow or white gold. The details are very elegant. The Allure for women in this collection is made of 14K yellow gold and boasts sparkling diamonds that mark the hours and line the bracelet. It includes a mother of pearl dial and is delicate and rich looking. All this beauty and it can be purchased for approximately three hundred and fifty dollars. An example of a men’s watch from this collection is a masculine black strapped stainless steel watch with a 14K gold bezel. It includes a black dial and square diamond hour markers. It has a Swiss quartz movement and it is water resistant. Price is approximately six hundred and fifty dollars.

A Lucien Piccard women’s watch that is priced at around one hundred fifty dollars is model number 26023D. This watch is a gold plated two-tone with a Swiss quartz movement and includes eleven diamond markers on the dial. A men’s Lucien Piccard watch for approximately the same price is model number 27022RUB4. This watch is made of stainless steel, it is scratch resistant, it has a dark cranberry leather strap with a white mother of pearl face and it includes four ruby hour markers. It is very masculine and rich looking.

In addition to the 14K Jubilee Collection, Lucien Piccard watches also offer several other collections. The Lexington Collection is a group of chronograph watches with round faces; the Prestige Collection is very flashy and although this collection is primarily made up of stainless steel watches with round faces, they also offer some with leather bands with pave diamonds.

These are just a few examples of the wide array of Lucien Piccard watches that are available. You can dress up any outfit with a piece by this famous manufacturer. The nice thing about these watches is that many of them look just as good when paired with a suit as they do when worn with a pair of denim jeans. With a huge collection from which to choose, you will not have a difficult time finding the watch that is perfect for your needs.

Expensive Watches

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For those people who lived in the United States or United Kingdom in the 1980′s, they would never forget the Swatch watch which was in great vogue at that time.

Watches

Swatch watch is under the ownership of Quartz and these watches are produced by the world famous Swatch Group Limited. Unlike other name luxury watch brands, Swatch timepieces are mainly targeted at the average people. Manufactured from cheap materials and by small manufacturing plants, these watches are priced at moderate rates, making them available for the most average Joes. As a result, Swatch watches have attracted a lot of regular customers.

In the 1980s Swatch watches were quite popular among young teenagers, and they were brag with proudness by adolescents walking on the street, going to school, having a party, etc. However, the sales of these watches witnessed a fallen down in the nineties and changes have to make to maintain sales. Innovative changes were made basing on their old ways of watchmaking, and a bit of luxury was added to the simple design.

Some members of the extravagant Swatch watches are Rado, Breguet, Jaquet Droz, etc.

Swatch watches are available in various designs and functions that it is hard to believe that some of them are truly Swatch watches. Whatever watch you are looking for, you can always find a suitable timepiece such as metal watches, scuba watches, thin watches, etc.

In current times swatch makers have been committed to manufacturing watches of excellence. You can always find a bright glittering watch that is known to all. As one of the most well received kinds of watches all over the globe, these watches are all the rage among avid fashion aficionados.

The Swatch Watches – Highly Collectible

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Many modern day dive watches are now manufactured from titanium. This has many benefits as titanium possesses several qualities that make it perfect for deep sea watches. Titanium is known as a “space age metal”, it is strong and corrosive resistant and is encountered all over the planet in bodies of water and soil deposits. Discovered in 1791, it is possible to combine it with other elements to produce useful, lightweight alloys that have be utilized by the aerospace industry as well as dentists and the military. The metal is found in a variety of sporting goods, automotive products, jewellery, mobile phones and sports watches.

Watches

First used in watches in 1978, by the International Watch Co. (also commonly known as IWC) located in Schaffhausen Switzerland and was partially owned by Ferdinand Porshe in that era, the company utilized Titanium to produce the world’s first watch bracelet. On the heels of this success, the company designed an entire Titanium case and bracelet for another watchmaker in 1980 although that company was subsequently forced to withdraw from the project leaving IWC – a maker of internal movements at that time – to take complete control of the manufacturing process for titanium cases.

Making a watch out of titanium was not a trivial process and IWC managed to refine the process of creating polished titanium watch cases down to a fine art. They released the world’s first chronograph watch in Titanium that originally sold for around 00 – a bargain considering how revolutionary the engineering process was at the time.

The trend caught on and titanium watches are now everywhere. Nearly every watch manufacturer on earth has a titanium watch within their product lines. The Citizen watch company is the largest, using titanium in their sports and diving watches. Titanium is 30% stronger and 50% lighter than steel, is corrosive resistant, and hypoallergenic. While it is more expensive than steel, can scratch easily and stain, watch makers like Citizen overcomes these problems with a glass multi-layer coating that prevents scratching.

There are several factors that have led to the increase in the number of diving watches that use Titanium in their cases. Titanium is the ideal case material for dive watches due to it’s strength, lightness and resilience in seawater environments. Titanium watches feel lighter on the wrist and there is an abundance of Titanium metal available.

The list of dive watch makers who utilize Titanium metal is endless, Seiko, Citizen, Omega, Rolex and Invicta and the list goes on… Prices tend to start around 0 for these watches and can retail for much higher in the top quality watches. More titanium dive watches are being produced every year. From space age material, to a practical underwater, deep sea resistant watch case for divers, the titanium trend is likely to continue for many years to come.

Titanium Dive Watches – Why Titanium Diving Watches Are So Common

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Technomarine watches are designed with fine materials, and that is one of the tell tale signs that you are working with a luxury watch maker. Technomarine watches are commonly found to have fine metals in them, including gold, steel, and others. It is common to find diamonds, platinum and other precious metals included in them as well. The company’s collection of watches is definitely something to talk about since each piece is designed to be attractive, yet amazingly accurate in its function. Unique, artful, definitely high in quality, each of the Technomarine watches will tempt your fashion sense.

Watches

Technomarine watches were first launched from Saint Tropex, France in 1997. The company is young but the watches they produce are world class and well respected around the world. The first watches to come from Technomarine were stainless steel chronographs, which featured a translucent plastic band to them. This band came to be known as a Raft. Within the first year of these Technomarine watches hitting the market, they sold some 50,000 units. The watches were attractive with their innovative style and the highly superior craftsmanship they offered.

With the success of The Raft, as the watch was called, the company set up shop in Los Angeles, California to better reach its audience. The move happened in 1999. There, the founders, the Dubbary Family, had not much to offer, and the business started as nothing more than one computer in the family’s home. But, soon, the company was creating amazing watches and a line of diving watches took the world by storm. These watches combined of PU and of stainless steel chronographs did fantastically well, because they gave the impression of a luxurious French watch but they featured the finest of Swiss technology within them.

The TechnoDiamond is perhaps the first breakthrough watch that was designed by Technomarine. The company launched this watch design in 1999. It was considered the best in the industry in 1999 at the Basel Watch Show, a prestigious event in the watch industry. It was considered one of the best by those looking for a luxury watch and those looking for a beautiful sportsman piece. The watch was the first original diamond chronograph and it was fully functional diving watch at the same time as providing a fine luxury look to it.

What also made the Technomarine watches so unique and often sought after was the interchangeable gel bands and the full carat of handpicked diamonds that were set within the TechnoDiamond watch. The diamonds were hand placed in the stainless steel revolving bezel.

Today, there are more than 110 distinctive styles in the Technomarine line of watches. The watches are found in distribution to countries around the world, including countries on six continents. The company changed in 2001 when it split into two divisions to better serve each. The divisions, Technomarine Sport and Technomarine, both are well-respected and luxurious watches at the top of their style class. The company continues to provide the finest quality pieces and sets the bar for others in the industry.

Technomarine Watches

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