Apart from being by a quality manufacturer, the next point of interest for the wristwatch collector is whether the watch casing is made of gold, platinum, silver or merely steel. Gold and platinum are preferable and an indication of top quality, though many military watches had steel cases, but are still very collectable.
A vital feature which helps determine the value of a wristwatch is its range of functions. While some merely tell the time, others – often designed for aviation or maritime use- will have a range of associated features, including stop-watch, chronograph, tachometer, even a circular slide rule.
Generally, the second-hand prices of old wrist watches of decent quality will start at perhaps £ 200 or so, but the better examples quickly move up to £ 400- £ 600, and some of the top makes that I mentioned earlier can start running to several thousand pounds quite quickly if they are rarer models.
There is also increasing collecting demand for some of the more funky-design wristwatches from the 1960s-1980s period, when quartz movements began to dominate. And more contemporary designer wristwatches from famous fashion brands such as Gucci, or car companies such as Ferrari are also sought-after.
A link to a famous person helps too – not long ago a first-worldwar pilot’ s wristwatch bought for £ 20 on a junk stall in a Welsh market was authenticated as once belonging to a Mr. T. E. Shaw, who was rather better known as Lawrence of Arabia. Value of the watch is now well over £ 10,000!
Condition of older watches is very important, for while slight signs of wear are acceptable, deep scratches, dents and stained or chipped faces seriously reduce value.
So much for the wristwatch – but what about its fore-runner, the pocket-watch?
Well, early and rare examples( usually from the late 17th and early 18th centuries) can fetch tens of thousands of pounds, but the vast majority around the antiques trade tend to be from the 19th century, and are normally worth relatively modest sums. Collecting demand is less and mass-manufacture means many examples are quite common, which also restricts value. Though high-quality or unusual types can fetch good sums, a typical routine silver example from the late Victorian era can fetch as little as £ 50- £ 100, gold examples just £ 200- £ 300.
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