What Makes a Vintage “Dress” Watch?

I think it goes without saying that, based strictly on the style, a huge number of vintage watches are percieved as “dress watches,” even if they were intended to be worn everyday. Of course, this is a relatively recent way of thinking, as I imagine a great many of our parents/grandparents wore small, simple, gold-tone watches with little or no water resistance in everyday life, or for no special occasion. That’s not to say you couldn’t wear a dress watch like that, but I suspect most…

What Makes a Vintage “Dress” Watch?

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Bracelet/Strap Longevity

I stumbled across this amusing guide for how long bracelets should last and thought I’d share.

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Well dang, I guess my 1967 Seamaster’s bracelet is due to crumble to pieces any day now..

Seriously though, what is the most mileage you have gotten out of a strap? My coworker has worn the same Timex Safari with a braided leather strap for about 8 years now, and it still looks pretty much brand new. I also have a few vintage straps I regularly wear, though…

Bracelet/Strap Longevity

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Watch Straps and Diminishing Returns

It goes without saying that watches tend to have a fairly low threshold of dimishing returns. That is to say, a $15,000 watch is not going to be 15x as good as a $1,000 watch. You’re generally paying a lot of money for small details that most people won’t notice at all.

Of course, where you draw the line on diminishing returns is entirely subjective- I personally place it around $1000 before the the price of a watch begins increasing exponentially relative to the value added.

This makes…

Watch Straps and Diminishing Returns

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Prewar Waltham Premier Wristwatch- Solid Gold?

In my evening browsing, I stumbled across this listing for a badly abused Waltham Premier. It looks to me to be late 30s/early 40s- I’m guessing later rather than earlier, since there’s no small seconds subdial. What caught my eye about it is the fact that, as battered and scarred as the case is, I can see no clear evidence of base metal or corrosion that I would expect in a gold filled watch (this is surely too early to be plated.) there’s not even corrosion in the lug holes, which are…

Prewar Waltham Premier Wristwatch- Solid Gold?

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Thoughts on the Stylist Reissue?

Hello everyone,
I don’t have much experience with Tissot, bar the fact that a close friend and coworker daily wears a blue gradient dial hand-winding Tissot Stylist he bought new about 45 years ago, very much like this one;

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I always admired it, and I think it’s a stunning watch.

This week, I was very pleased to see ads for a Stylist reissue, exactly like his! I showed my coworker the site listing today, and he excitedly held his original up to the…

Thoughts on the Stylist Reissue?

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