RIP vintage Rolex hobby?

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Originally Posted by sennheiserz

I'm really happy this has been posted as I feel it is the most important debate in vintage Rolex today.

I've always loved watches since I was very young, and I arguably still am having recently turned 30. In the last handful of years I have be fortunate enough to have some disposable income to spend on this hobby, so I began to buy, and sell, and buy again. I was mostly interested in newish watches as I didn't know much about vintage and wanted to make sure I was wearing something I could truly rely on.

However the vintage stuff began to captivate me: the plexiglass crystals, the different shades of patina, silver date wheels, open 6's and 9's and all the different types of history of the buyers and the time they were made. So recently I totally changed my collecting strategy, selling anything I had that was new and I didn't have significant attachment to, in order to focus on vintage.

Simply put, I know I can buy any of the new models for the next few decades, but I feel we are in the last stages of being able to ever own the classic models from the 60s and 70s without the kind of investment I know I won't be comfortable with, especially for something so easily broken, stolen or damaged through the years.

That said, I wouldn't buy them if I didn't truly love them and want to WEAR them every day. Do I consider them a form of an investment? Well, I guess you could ask my savings account that. But one of the great thing about any Rolex is that it is a way to park money while enjoying it every day.

Would I cash out my 401k in order to pick up a some serious vintage pieces? Even if it might be a much better investment in the long run, I absolutely would not. Part of this hobby is understanding the opportunity cost, the fact that each time you choose a new piece, it means all the others will have to wait. Its part of the fun and chase. This is especially pertinent in vintage watches where there is a real possibility they will be much more expensive by the next time you have saved up again.

But there is another part of this hobby I've begun to understand which I find to be an important part of it. ThomasPP once said to me,

He's absolutely right. Enjoy what you have while you have the time to. I bet art collectors in the mid-20th century were annoyed that they could no longer afford decent Picasso's for their own collection. Now it seems incredible anyone could have these hanging on their dining room walls.

Fine watches are becoming no different, except you can enjoy them during every part of your day. The older ones are of course more rare, and to some more beautiful, but at the end of the day most of us get enjoy some of each, old and new. For how much longer who knows, I'm not looking to find out, which is why I'm placing emphasis on them now.

Picasso loved his Pateks:

Now that you mention it, I never realized until just now how much Picasso and Patrick Stewart look alike...