Collecting Watches - Time to get a Library
If you are thinking of
learning more about vintage watches then you need to hit the books. There are
many book out there which purport to be comprehensive guides to this crazy
market but in my experience you need several. If we look at vintage watches as
a whole then we include every model from hundreds of manufactures over say
what? 100 years. That is a lot of information.
There are also books
out there that claim to be a buyers guide to pricing. Well in my opinion that
claim is a tall order. The market moves differently in different countries,
then there is how the market is broken up, chronographs, mid century bumper
autos, character watches. There is just too much info to be contained in one
book and so, here is my recommendations of books that can and will help with
clarifying information.
NOTE: If you are not a collector these books are amazing quality for the money. They are not hugely geeky and the pictures of these old engines are very good.
Looking along my
reference shelf.
A Time Capsule * Omega
Speedmaster – Kesaharu Imai
Absolute must for the
fan of the Speedmaster, also it makes a great read historically about the Space
Race.
Availability - Ebay, a private sale or try Omega direct.
Vintage Rolex Sport
Models - Skeet & Urul
This is a concise
pectoral index of the Rolex sport watches. A must for a Sub guy.
Availability - Amazon.com
Omega Designs – Anton
Kreuzer
Not the best book
about Omega but it does cover a lot of ground.
Availability - Amazon.com
Breitling – The
History of a Great Brand of Watches 1884 to Present – Bennd Richter
A very good reference
book about Breitling, well written with a cobbled together list of ref: and
serial numbers as Breitling’s own archive was destroyed.
Availability - Amazon.com
Chronograph * To Stop
Time – Gerd R. Lang & Reinhard Meis
If you like
chronographs this is a total must have book which essentially covers all of the
brands, all of the types of movements, all types of watches and the historical
development of my favourite kind of watch. Just a Brilliant book.
Availability - Amazon.com
(amazingly).
Sub 300T * A History
of the DOXA Dive watch – Dr. Peter McClean Millar
A labour of love this
one, produced by a fellow WIS Peter spent a long time collecting pictures of
these watches from every collector on the planet. (A couple of mine are in
there.) A well researched book about a very cool watch brand by a good guy.
Great!
Availability
- Speak to Peter at his site here: http://www.doxa300t.com/
Wristwatch Annual * Abbeville Press – Peter Braun
This is available
every year and is a catalogue of models and prices of New watches. Available even from
Waterstones in the it is always wise when spending serious money
on vintage to be aware of what is being produced today.
Availability - Amazon.com
or Waterstones
Military
Timepieces 150 Years Watches and Clocks of German Forces - Konrad Knirim
The complete guide to
German Military watches an amazingly detailed body of work.
Availability - From Konrad's site here http://www.knirim.de/
Wristwatches - Gisbert L. Brunner, Christian
Pfeiffer-Belli
I
haven’t read this one myself but I believe it is very good.
Availability - Amazon.com
Complete
Price Guide to Watches – Cooksey Shugart, Tom Engle, Richard E. gilbert
This
book has an unbelievable amount of watch shots. More of a telephone book type
registry. Thousands of small black and white shots listing movement and market
price. As I have said before, price guides are almost always ‘way’ out of date
but still good for overall reference.
Availability - Amazon.com
Well
that is about it from me, if anyone has found a book that they think should be
on this list then add it as a posted comment.
Cheers
and good hunting!
Alistair
Gibbons @ ATG