New Vintage Watches In The Hodinkee Shop

2023-01-06 16:46:09 By : Mr. Robben Duan

The fastest and most secure way to protect the watches you love.

We've minimized the paperwork and maximized protection, so you can stop worrying about your watches and focus on enjoying them. Induction Kettle

New Vintage Watches In The Hodinkee Shop

In most cases, you'll get a personalized quote in seconds and your policy kicks in immediately.

Wherever you are on planet Earth, your watches are protected. Rest easy and travel safely.

If you suffer a covered loss, there's no deductible and no gimmicks. Ever.

Each of your watches is covered up to 150% of the insured value (up to the total value of the policy).

Our quotes are based on historical sales and real-time market data allowing us to give fair prices without all the hassle.

The fastest and most secure way to protect the watches you love.

We've minimized the paperwork and maximized protection, so you can stop worrying about your watches and focus on enjoying them.

In most cases, you'll get a personalized quote in seconds and your policy kicks in immediately.

Wherever you are on planet Earth, your watches are protected. Rest easy and travel safely.

If you suffer a covered loss, there's no deductible and no gimmicks. Ever.

Each of your watches is covered up to 150% of the insured value (up to the total value of the policy).

Our quotes are based on historical sales and real-time market data allowing us to give fair prices without all the hassle.

The fastest and most secure way to protect the watches you love.

We've minimized the paperwork and maximized protection, so you can stop worrying about your watches and focus on enjoying them.

In most cases, you'll get a personalized quote in seconds and your policy kicks in immediately.

Wherever you are on planet Earth, your watches are protected. Rest easy and travel safely.

If you suffer a covered loss, there's no deductible and no gimmicks. Ever.

Each of your watches is covered up to 150% of the insured value (up to the total value of the policy).

Our quotes are based on historical sales and real-time market data allowing us to give fair prices without all the hassle.

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Kick off your 2023 in style with a selection of curated vintage watches from the likes of Rolex, Blancpain, Lange, and more.

To view the entire current selection of vintage watches available in the Hodinkee Shop, click here.

While some start off the new year by joining a gym, vowing to read more books, or purchasing a calendar in an effort to be more organized, watch people look toward possible additions to their collections in 2023. If that list includes any of the watches listed fresh to the Hodinkee Shop today or still hanging around from a previous drop, great. If not, feel free to leave a comment or send the team an email! We are always interested in hearing what the community is currently hunting for. While the team does the best that we can to offer watches we feel are worth your attention, collectors come in all kinds with innumerably varied tastes.

1966 Rolex Zephyr Ref. 1008 With Box And Papers

1986 Tudor Oysterdate Automatic-Chrono Time 'Big Block' Ref. 94300

2000s A. Lange & Sohne Lange 1 Ref. 101.022

Speaking of varied taste, this week's selection covers four decades of watchmaking, from a 1966 Rolex Zephyr to a 1990s Blancpain Villeret. Rich Fordon has the full story on that early Biver-era Blancpain while Saori Omura leads off the article of weekly picks with an under-the-radar Rolex Day-Date in white gold and Sean Egan wraps things up with an Omega Speedmaster Mark II with a "Racing" dial. Some Wednesdays we have a theme, clearly, we do not this go around as the offering is just about as wide-ranging as it can get. Maybe the theme is no theme. As always, click here to see all the vintage watches currently available in the Hodinkee Shop.

A new year, a new beginning. I can't say I'm much of a resolution type, but it's a time of the year when we think about what we have to look forward to. Of course, in the world of watches, one starts thinking about a new watch for the new year. Having said that, have you had an experience where once you start looking for a particular watch, they seem to have been readily available before, but they have all mysteriously disappeared once you started the search? The Rolex Day-Date is exactly that thing for me. 

The more I try searching for the "perfect" Day-Date, it just gets more complicated. Do I want a yellow gold for a drastic change or should I stay with a more subtle white gold one? Do I want the classic ref. 1803 or the single-quickset ref. 18038 or even the double-quickset ref. 18238? Do I want the baton markers or am I ok with the small Roman numerals on the outer track? 

After all the overthinking, it feels like this ref. 18039 in white gold makes the most sense. This reference is right in between the vintage and modern era of Day-Dates. It still has the same proportions in terms of the case size at 36mm which is perfect on my wrist. And it has the updated movement caliber 3055 with a higher frequency at 28,000vph which allows for greater precision and accuracy. It's one of those things you wouldn't really notice day-to-day, but it's something that makes me feel good knowing it's ticking away inside. I am partial to applied indexes and the eggshell patina on the dial makes the watch come alive. And honestly, if it weren't for my colleague, I wouldn't have thought to pair this watch with a bright chartreuse green strap which made me realize that this watch is a chameleon, and would work with so many strap options.

What is your perfect one-watch collection? If you ask me, I think this Day-Date is a strong contender.

2023 marks the 70th anniversary of Blancpain's best-known watch, the Fifty Fathoms. Just yesterday, the brand announced a celebration of this occasion with the 70th Anniversary Act 1 in an all-new 42mm case. The watch I am writing about here is not a Fifty Fathoms, not a diver, and not in a 42mm case – yet, this Villeret Chronograph is, a Blancpain. In the eyes of Jean-Claude Biver, the industry veteran and former Talking Watches guest who relaunched the brand in the late 1980s, this Villeret Chronograph is far more true to the brand than the Fifty Fathoms released yesterday.

Cased in 18k yellow gold with a wrist presence of 34mm diameter by 8mm thickness, the ref. 1185 chronograph was introduced in the early 1990s adding to a catalog of complicated and classically styled wristwatches with a keen eye for horological innovation and value. Marketing materials of the time, and really the whole brand strategy, were based around a single slogan "Since 1735 there has never been a quartz Blancpain watch. And there never will be."

Of course, the caliber 1185 inside the Villeret Chrono is not quartz powered but rather the world's thinnest mechanical chronograph movement at the time, holding that crown until 2019. This was the work of Biver's partner in purchasing and reviving Blancpain, Jacques Piguet. The son of the ébauche movement manufacturer Frédéric Piguet, Jacques used his familial expertise to lead the innovation behind Blancpain. This brand comeback is considered by many to be the ultimate response to the quartz crisis and is largely credited with ushering in a modern era of highly technical mechanical watchmaking that exists to this day.

The example we have here is in excellent condition with a nice strong case and its accompanying box and open papers. From an era of Blancpain and watchmaking history that is only getting more and more interesting to collectors today, this is an excellent opportunity to add a piece of real watch world innovation to your collection. Check it out right here in the H Shop.

I love the Speedmaster Mark II. It's my favorite of the Mark series of watches from Omega, and I think you should love it as well. First, it's a Speedmaster. Second, it's unlike any other Speedmaster. Self-contradicting statements aside, what it retains is all the best elements of what makes our beloved Speedy great and adds just the right amount of '70s funk to the mix. What was kept, is the rock-solid reliability of the 861 movement, and classic Speedmaster legibility and layout. What we gain, is the beefier tonneau case with an incredible radial brushed finish and added harder-wearing mineral glass crystal. Today, we have something even more special as this particular Speedmaster comes in the more colorful racing colorway. 

Interestingly the Mark II was launched in the same year as the Flightmaster, which makes a ton of sense to me. Visually the similarities are obvious, with their large and in charge cases, and the brushing of the cases. More importantly, these felt like two parts of the new vision Omega seemed to be headed for in the '70s. In this decade we saw a ton of tool watches for the brand, from the precision-focused, electronically-driven Seamaster Marine Chronometers, to the ultra-deep ProPlof, and a litany of Speedmaster variants. This, in my mind, was all kicked off by Omega adding a chunkier case and more robust features to their already most-proven watch. Get all of the Mark II's details right here in the H Shop.

Questions? Send us a note, or let us know in the comments. Want to sell your vintage watch through the Hodinkee Shop? Email us at vintage@hodinkee.com with some photos. Want to sell your pre-owned watch? Click here.

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New Vintage Watches In The Hodinkee Shop

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