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You can start a collection on virtually anything as long as it appeals to you, but the truth is that few of us have the time, energy and most importantly, enough financial resources to collect 'everything'. Thus, you will need to stay focused, and soon you will realize that even in one small niche of watches there are so many stories to be uncovered and so much history to be learned. Collecting vintage/antique watches is as much about learning history as the fun of owning something refined, perhaps even enjoying some financial gain. Unlike collecting modern watches that have their prices fixed and in most cases will be certain to drop in price right out of the store, prices of vintage watches can be all over the scale depending on factors such as style, age, condition, and historical context. That's why research is so important, the more you put in to learn about a particular watch, the more you will learn about all of the aforementioned factors that will determine the price of that vintage watch. Here is a chronological list of what I consider to be the 'evolution of a watch collector':
1 - You are a novice knowing virtually nothing, looking to get into vintage watches either because you have general interest in watches or are just fascinated with the 'old look' of certain nostalgic watch designs. At this point the main determinant is pretty much just your 'love at first sight' gut feeling towards a particular vintage watch.
2 - You acquire your first vintage watch, with those that are already into modern watches (you may already have several expensive watches like Rolex submariner etc.) paying more for the vintage watch since they know the intrinsically high values of good watches versus those who are just simply attracted to an old style. Here you can already notice a segregation of collector 'levels', with more expensive vs. cheap starting pieces in building a collection.
3 - You buy your second, third, or even fourth pieces of vintage watches. Now you are really getting into the vintage collectors' arena, so you think. It can't be farther away from the truth: just because you like buying old watches, even paying lump sums for them, doesn't mean you know anything about them. Most of vintage watches acquired in this period are often impulsive at first, but perhaps turning investigative later on, and could signify a real turning point in the evolution into a true vintage watch collector. Most people tend to stay in this stage and never move forward, and it's often easier for ones that pay high prices for vintage watches to move forward than those who spend little, primary due to the appreciation for old stuffs as reflected by the willingness to commit more fund.
4 - You come to Timezone.com vintage watch forum, wanting to know more, googling on the internet, for instance, for more information on that antique pocket watch you own. This really signifies that you have the desire and potential to get really serious about it, you are taking the most important first steps towards becoming a real collector: doing research.
5 - You decide to take it a step further, you open up the watch (a scary proposition for many newbies), fiddle around with it, take pictures and share with your Timezone.com friends (us!) where we share back and you learn a lot more about all sorts of facts for your watch, including the most important bit: the current market price. Sure, if you are Bill Gates, you can build the best watch collection on earth if you desire, but you will certainly overpay and will only be attached to your ownership of watches in terms of monetary value. For an average income collector like you of course bargains are desired, and extensive research will help you spot treasures and avoid land mines.
6 - You decide to get even more serious, you bring the watch to a watchmaker for servicing. He opens it up and says: you got a broken balance staff and it'll cost you $200 to repair it. You are shocked at how much it costs to repair a Hamilton 982 in 14K gold case that you picked up for $600, but you decide to let your old companion regain its old glory and goes for the repair. This is a big step forward, often newbie vintage collectors will find the cost unbearable, either leaving their cheaply acquired vintage watches in their egregious conditions or just quit collecting vintage watches due to the hassle.
7 - After 5 repair jobs costing you $750, you find the cost to be a bit silly in which you can use the repair money to buy a very nice vintage piece in itself. You start considering to DIY repair your own watches, and you took a 1940s cheap AS movement apart and now you can't put it back; watchmaking is harder than I thought! Yes it is, but it's not as hard as you think either. Through hundreds of years of development most of the vintage watches you will find are of anchor escapement types with 3 train wheels, 1 Swiss club tooth escape wheel and various standardized features. As long as you have the determination of learn, there are many excellent resources such as Timezone's own watch school.
8 - You decide to really take watch repair more seriously, so you hassle your watchmaker everyday for advices, you join Timezone school, and you buy Donald de Carle's 'Practical Watch Repair' book. Now you realize you need good tools to do a decent job, and holy moly, why are the tools so expensive? They are, but you have to make that initial investment. You went for it, and after a couple of disassembly and assembly you now fully understand the watch mechanism and quality standards.
9 - You are now moving into the realm of an 'expert' vintage collector; no longer do you need to take bad advices from vintage dealers trying to make that extra buck off of you. You can even spot fakes and frankens on the internet, just by looking at small, dingy pictures. You also start to offer advices for other collectors, and engage in vigorous discussions about in depth watch topics.
10 - You are no longer a novice watch collector and are turning into an expert, but you got a long way to go and a lifetime of learning about the wonderful world of horology in front of you.
I would really like to recommend anyone who's serious about horology to consider joining the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC). Being a member myself, I can certainly say that it is a most wonderful and rewarding experience to interact with its large cohort of members who are all true aficionados and experts in their niches of horological understanding. Hopefully my analysis of a watch collector's evolution (or should I say plunge into madness) gains a few laughs from experienced collectors and can guide newbies somewhat into the wonderful world of collecting vintage watches.
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