Checking a vintage watch before you buy

Before you buy a vintage watch, establish three things: that its parts belong together and to its period, what condition they are in, and what the watch will need once it is yours. Good photographs and straight answers from the seller settle part of this. The movement and the inside of the case usually cannot be judged without opening the watch. For any watch you could not afford to be wrong about, that makes an inspection by a watchmaker, before money changes hands, worth arranging.

Why originality comes first

Many faults in an old watch can be put right. A tired movement can be serviced, a worn mainspring replaced, a scratched acrylic crystal polished. Lost originality is another matter. A refinished dial no longer has its original surface and printing, and metal polished off a case does not come back. Wrong hands or a wrong crown can sometimes be replaced with correct ones, if they can be found. And a watch put together from the parts of several others can look convincing in photographs. So the questions come in a fixed order: first whether the watch is what it is described as, then what condition it is in, and only then whether the price is right.

The dial and hands

The dial is the first thing anyone sees and the hardest part to put back once it has been changed, so it deserves the longest look. Compare it, under magnification if you can, with known original examples of the same reference. Original printing is sharp, evenly spaced and set in the typeface the maker used at the time. Thick, blurred or slightly misplaced text, wording that differs from original examples, or a surface that looks fresher than the case around it all point to a refinished dial, often called a redial. A redial is a legitimate repair when it is described as one. It still replaces the original surface and printing, usually lowers collector value, and must be disclosed when the watch is sold. Cleaning, conserving and refinishing a dial are different things, and a seller’s description should say which was done. On an enamel dial, tilt the watch under a light and look for hairline cracks and chips: they can be filled, but not made invisible.

The hands should be the right shape, length and finish for the reference. Look at the luminous material on the dial and the hands together: markers and hands of clearly different colour suggest that one or the other has been replaced or relumed. Tritium, which followed radium, has long since stopped glowing, so lume that glows brightly on a watch of the tritium era is newer material. Radium, found on older watches, is radioactive and hazardous when disturbed; flaking lume inside the case is a reason to leave it closed and let a watchmaker open it.

The case

Polishing removes metal. A case that has been polished repeatedly shows rounded edges, softened bevels, thinner lugs and engravings that have lost their crispness. Compare the profile of the lugs and the width of any bevel with original examples, and look along the case from the side as well as from above. Brushed surfaces should run in the original direction. On a gold-plated case, look for base metal showing through at the edges and lugs: polishing wears plating away and cannot put it back. Collectors generally value an unpolished case, scuffs and all, above a bright one that has lost its shape. The reference and serial numbers on the case, wherever the maker put them, should agree with the dial, the movement and the period.

Whatever the dial or case back says about water, treat a vintage watch as not water resistant. A rating records a test pressure the case once met. Gaskets age and harden, and only a fresh pressure test shows where a case stands now.

The movement

A watch that runs is not proof that its movement is healthy. Lubricants thicken and migrate over the years, and wear accelerates once they do, often before the timekeeping shows any change. Ask for clear photographs of the movement and check that the calibre is the one the reference should contain. Rust on steel parts or at the edge of the dial means moisture has been inside. Damaged screw heads, and scratches around them, are the marks of careless work. Note any parts that are missing or do not match. A timing reading taken in several positions, showing the rate, the amplitude and the beat error, says far more than a seller’s assurance that the watch keeps good time. One reading in one position proves little.

Service history is the other half of the picture. A dated invoice that names the watchmaker and describes the work is worth having. Marks scratched inside a case back show only that someone opened the watch, not what they did to it.

Papers, archives and what they prove

An original box and papers add confidence and can support a price, but papers belong to a serial number, not to the parts now in the case. Check that every number on them matches the watch. Some manufacturers keep production records by serial number and will tell an owner what they hold. Longines, for one, issues an extract from its archives and states plainly that it does not certify the authenticity of the watch or its components. A record like this tells you what the maker noted against a number. Only an examination of the watch can say whether the dial, hands and movement in it now are the ones it left the factory with.

What to ask the seller

Ask the seller about each of these, and ask for the answers in writing:

• Whether the dial has been refinished or restored, and whether the hands have been replaced or relumed.
• Which other parts are not original to the watch: the crown, crystal, bezel, bracelet or anything inside the movement.
• Whether the case has been polished, and how often, as far as the seller knows.
• When the watch was last serviced, by whom, and whether there is an invoice.
• Whether an inspection by a watchmaker before payment is possible, or a return period long enough to arrange one.

Request photographs as well: the dial straight on and at an angle, the case from each side, the case back inside and out, the crown and the movement. A seller who will not put answers in writing has already told you something.

What it will cost to own

The price on the listing is rarely the whole cost. Unless the seller can show a recent, documented service, assume the watch will need one, and that parts for an older calibre may have to be sourced or made, which takes time. What decides the cost of a service is worth knowing before you make an offer. A watch shipped from outside Canada may also attract duty, sales tax and a courier’s brokerage fee at the border. Check, finally, that it will suit your wrist. Many vintage cases are smaller than modern ones, and the length from lug to lug says more about how a watch will sit than its diameter does.

An inspection before you buy

A pre-purchase inspection brings these checks together on the bench. It looks at whether the dial, hands, crown, case and movement match the reference and the period, what condition each is in, what service history the watch shows and what it will need. It is an informed opinion, based on the watch itself and on comparison with known examples, not a guarantee. It also needs the seller’s cooperation: the watch must be examined before the sale, or bought with a return period long enough to allow it. Viattori offers pre-purchase inspection alongside its repair and restoration service, and a watch sent for inspection is documented on arrival like any other. If you go ahead, a sympathetic restoration can then deal with what the inspection found without erasing what made the watch worth buying.

Questions

What should I check before buying a vintage watch?

Check originality first: that the dial, hands, crown, case and movement belong to the reference and its period. Then check the condition of the case and movement and any service history, and allow for the service the watch is likely to need. An inspection by a watchmaker covers what photographs cannot.

Is a vintage watch with a refinished dial worth buying?

It can be, if the refinishing is disclosed and the price reflects it. A refinished dial replaces the original surface and printing and usually lowers collector value, so the watch should be priced for a refinished dial, not an original one.

Do box and papers prove a vintage watch is original?

No. Papers belong to a serial number and can show what the maker recorded against it, but they cannot show whether the dial, hands or movement now in the case are the original ones. Only an examination of the watch itself can judge that.

Does a vintage watch that runs well still need a service?

Usually, unless it has a recent, documented service. Lubricants thicken and migrate over the years, and wear accelerates once they do, often before the owner notices any change in timekeeping.

Can I wear a vintage watch in water?

It is safer not to, whatever the dial or case back says. Gaskets age and harden and water resistance is never permanent, so treat a vintage watch as not water resistant. Viattori does not warrant vintage watches against moisture, whatever their markings say.