Starting a Collection of Antique Watches

Antique watches are available in all varieties, ranging from the pocket watches to the wrist watches.

The difference of these watches from clocks is that they do not have a striking mechanism like a chime or a bell. Moreover these watches are portable, unlike the clocks, and you can carry them along all the time. They also have a personal history associated to them. If you are a person who enjoys taking care of valuable objects, and also one who loves to keep memories of the past, a collection of antique watches would be the best choice of hobby for you!

Instructions and Tips

You should be able to distinguish between mechanical watches and quartz crystal ones. In the mechanical type, almost 130 parts are powered using the method of regular or daily winding. Some of them can be wound using the hand, and some others are wound automatically, when the user moves his wrist. Whereas the watches made of quartz crystal are electronic ones and they get the power form small batteries. Most of the antique watches belong to the category of mechanical watches; though some of them are quartz type.
The price of watches can vary from hundreds to thousands of dollars depending upon various factors. So one needs to know the budget he has to spend on his watch collection.
Make a study on the types of Swiss watches, watch companies etc. This is because the Swiss watches have been very famous for a long time in providing the best and good looking watches.
Have an idea about the different brands in the industry, their age in the watch industry, and also the type of watches available in each brand. Some of the very popular brands that have been in the field for many years are the Timex, Rolex, Omega and Buren. The older watches from these companies may be antique pieces now.
Shopping around at antique shops for the best watches available at reasonable prices is a very good method to collect the best antique watches. They will have both vintage watches and antique watches. You can also seek advice form the shopkeeper at the antique store and get some tips on starting a collection of antique watches.
You need to know how to take care of your precious belongings. Even if you do not plan to use the watch, maintaining it at a good state is always necessary as the older ones may have more chances of going into a non-repairable state, if not cared for properly.

Warnings

The best idea would be to buy the antique watches that are broken or under repair, for cheaper price than what they originally cost, and then learn to repair it yourself, so that you can keep it or sell it for a higher price later on.