It's been a while since we have provided an updated on our Club Plans, so this week is the perfect time to tell you what's coming next and more about the amazing events we have coming up! We'll also give you an early insight into our plans for 2023.

There is still time to sign up for the incredibly exciting event with Watches of Switzerland focussing on the Omega Watches of James Bond. This is in partnership with Britain's biggest James Bond collector, and will feature props, memorabilia and watches from the Daniel Craig films. You are welcome to join us anytime from 5:00PM on Wednesday, October 12th, but you must sign up.

There'll be plenty to look at, watches from the latest Omega range to try on, and three short talks to help you explore more about the world of Omega watches and James Bond.

This month we are also hosting two further exciting events; 

On Thursday 20th October we are having our first event solely for Women who are interested in watches. There are now enough women who come to our events to allow us to put on an event just for them, and we'd greatly appreciate it if you could highlight this event to anyone you know who might be interested. It'll follow our usual fun, friendly and informative Meetup structure, and whether you are new to watches or a seasoned collector, it'll be a great chance to come and learn more about the watch world. Sign up here.


On Thursday 27th November we are hosting a small and intimate event with IWC Schaffhausen. We have only 12 spaces for this so if you are interested let us know ASAP by signing up here.

We have a fun and varied series of events lined up for November, including with Bremont, Breitling and Oris, and a day at WatchPro Salon, where we'll be hosting tours of the show for our members.

We'll help you get up close and personal with as many watches as possible, from the simplest dive watches to the finest handmade timepieces. 

    Oris South Molton Street Store: November 24th

The Holiday Season is coming up and you might be thinking of buying someone a watch as a gift, but you aren't exactly sure what to buy them. We can help! Fill in our short online form and we will send you a list of watches that fit what you've asked for. It's called The Watch Shortlist, it's completely free, and we have had great feedback on the watches we recommend. If you'd like to try it, you can find it here.

Finally, we have mentioned it a few times already, but we will be undertaking a fundraising round over the next few months. This is to enable us to build the Club further in 2023, with the main goal of launching a paid membership. We always want your feedback so if you have any thoughts or ideas around this please let us know! We will also be conducting some more deliberate surveys to find out what you will find most useful and valuable from a watch club. 

The best thing you can do for us right now is to tell people who might be interested in our events, bring them along, and spread the word. We are here to provide accessible, fun and friendly events focussing on watches. If you know of any event partners who might like to work with us, please let us know or put us in touch with them.

Thanks for helping us build such a fun Club, we hope to see you at an event soon,

read more about upcoming events and club plans for The WCC

Upcoming Events and Club Plans September 2022

What to look our for from The Watch Collectors' Club

Many people want a watch they never have to worry about, even if they are doing something really quite adventurous where the watch may get wet, muddy, or even take a few knocks. Today's Blog Post will highlight some of the watches that will remain waterproof, take a battering, and deliver reliable performance throughout.

Military Watches and Military-Inspired Tough Watches

The evolution and adoption of the Wristwatch were driven by the needs of soldiers in World War I, and timepieces designed for military uses have a very interesting history. The common format was landed upon in the 1930s, with a dark dial and matt finish case to prevent unwanted reflections, large luminous numerals and hands to allow for easy use at night, and often a very strong strap that sometimes wrapped twice around the wrist.

There was ongoing development for military and commercial pilots that shared similar features, and these directly led to the Pilot's watches we see today. In World War II the invention of Scuba diving led to the need for specific tough watches for underwater missions. Both pilot's watches and diving watches are very interesting places to look for tough and rugged watches that could be used for all sorts of adventurous activities. 

Some brands still make watches issued by the military, such as CWC of the UK and Marathon of Canada, and some brands create watches in partnership with the military, such as Bremont. The most recent watch developed for James Bond in the film No Time to Die draws on many of these military influences, while still remaining a Dive Watch from Omega's Seamaster Professional Range. If you join our events this month with Omega and Bremont, you can see these watches up close.

The term field watch literally means a watch that can be used in the field, meaning the field of battle. This tradition comes from watches issued in the Second World War and afterwards to soldiers serving in various wars from the 1950s to the 1970s. 

The design has similar hallmarks of military use, with the main distinction being the addition of the 24 hour numbers on the dial, and increased use of luminous material. 

Today we see a variety of watches available with the Field Watch Design from multiple brands. Arguably the most famous are from the US brand Hamilton, which manufactured and produced a huge number of them for issue to US Soldiers in the Vietnam war, and today sell an up to date example. These watches remain very popular and are often seen as a very affordable everyday watch.

Today's watchmakers have a huge amount of different technologies and tactics they can use to make their watches stand up to any activity. Some even market themselves as unbreakable watches. We see Dive watches that can reach incredible depths, and these would also stand up to most activities above ground. The last few decades have seen many new approaches to making a watch tough, such as the famous Casio G-Shock which encases the entire movement in rubber. 

Some companies make extra tough cases, using a single piece design known as a Monocoque case. One very famous example of this is the Citizen ProMaster Tough, well-loved by outdoor enthusiasts and divers since its introduction, and it has a high-grade Titanium case. Many watch brands offer extra tough titanium cases for their more adventurous watches, often with high water resistance ratings to reassure buyers that the watch can withstand anything that can be thrown at it.

Today, some brands such as Rolex, Montblanc, IWC and Bremont sponsor endurance athletes and mountaineers who take their watches into the most extreme environments.

While smartwatches are only the latest evolution of nearly 50 years of digital watches, they are still regarded as fragile by many. We have now reached the point where even the most complicated smartwatches are made to be tough and suitable for many outdoor activities.

The new Apple Watch Ultra has a titanium case, a new bezel designed to help protect the screen, larger and sturdier buttons, and an amazing array of features. These include a depth gauge down to 40m allowing its use as a Dive computer, microphones designed to be used in bad weather, and a speaker to sound an alarm in an emergency. 

Samsung also makes a Pro version of their top Smartwatch, also with a Titanium case and increased protective crystal thickness. Other brands such as Suunto and Garmin make very complex smartwatches for specific sports, and these are tested to destruction by their featured athletes. 

Modern watches from reputable brands are often very well made, with high standards of reliability and able to withstand knocks and blows pretty well thanks to good movement and case design. If you want a tough timepiece to accompany you through all kinds of outdoors activities, then we recommend exploring the types of watch mentioned above. At our Meetups we often see watches of all kinds from the toughest field watch to a fancy gold dress watch, and many digital watches too. You can find more details on our Events page, and if you found this article interesting, please share it with anyone else you know who likes watches.

Which watches are tough? Which watches are good for outdoors activity?

Adventure Watches for Any Activity

We explore watches that can take a beating.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland sadly passed away last week. We at The Watch Collectors' Club offer our deepest condolences to her family and we want to add our deepest respect and admiration for her legacy and hard work over a lifetime of service.

Her Majesty the Queen was rarely seen without a watch on her wrist. On both formal occasions and on daily outings throughout her life, she was known for wearing some very fine timepieces. Today's Blog Post will look at some of her most famous watches. 

This watch is not just interesting because it was worn for Her Majesty's coronation in 1953, but also because it is a technological masterpiece. Created by Jaeger LeCoultre in 1929, it was for a long time the smallest mechanical movement ever made for a watch. It measures just 14mm long, 4.8mm wide and 3.4mm high. It is hand wound and despite it's tiny size has a power reserve of 33 hours. 

Her Majesty's example is a fabulous example that highlights the watch's incredible thinness by matching it with an elegant gold bracelet with applied round diamonds. Queen Elizabeth wore this watch on her coronation day as the white diamonds complimented her regalia (and the crown once it was on her head!), and she wanted to keep an eye on the time. Presumably this was because the coronation day schedule was so long!

Over the years of her reign, the Queen has been pictured wearing Cartier watches on many occasions. Since they are often regular occasions such as visits to watch horse races, one of her favourite hobbies, or visits to various places around the country, good pictures are not easy to find. One recently rediscovered photo was of the queen wearing a fantastic Cartier Cintree Dual Time Zone in Gold, which is both a classic piece of 1980s jewellery and a Classic Cartier watch. She is also known to have worn various Cartier Tanks and gifted them to other family members.

Queen Victoria was one of the first Royal customers of Patek Philippe buying a fantastic blue enamelled pocket watch for herself at the Great Exhibition of 1851. 

Queen Elizabeth is famous for wearing a pearl and diamond set Patek Wristwatch on many State occasions, as it suits the fine diamonds and white dresses she most often wore. This watch is the reference 4975/1G. Here is a fantastic image of it created by a friend of The Watch Collectors Club, InkDial, who can be found at www.inkdial.co.uk

Queen Elizabeth is famous for many things, and her outstanding watch collection befit her status and majesty. It will be interesting to see if the future King Charles is as adventurous as he begins his reign. We wish him all the best wishes and hope that you have enjoyed this Blog Post. If you know anyone else who might find it interesting, please send it to them.

We explore some of the watches in Her Makesty's Collection

Almost everyone wants their watch to be waterproof. We all expect that a new watch will be waterproof whatever the price point or watch type. But what makes a watch waterproof? 

Modern advertising laws mean watch companies cannot advertise their watches as waterproof. A watch made of lots of different case parts means there are gaps that water can get into, especially if the watch is old or hasn't been serviced for a while. Watch companies instead use the term Water Resistant. Use of this term is now limited only to those watches which conform to the International Standard 22810, explained further below.

Water Resistance ratings are measured in units of Atmospheric Pressure, known as Bar. When you stand at sea level on the surface of the Earth you are experiencing, on average, 1 Atmosphere of pressure. The Symbol for this is "atm". Since pressure is measured with a device called a Barometer, units of pressure are also often called "Bar", and you experience 1 Bar of pressure from the atmosphere.

Very roughly speaking, there is a ratio of atmospheric pressure to water pressure of 10m equals 1 atm. So if you go 10 metres underwater you are experiencing an additional 1 atm or Bar of pressure.

Watch designers can choose how waterproof to make their watch. The design requires the case construction and gaskets to create a very tight seal, whatever its shape. It is the strength of the case material and the use of these gaskets (usually made of rubber), that determine the water resistance of the watch. A gasket is usually just a rubber ring that helps press into the gaps between the metal and create the seal. The important thing to know is that these gaskets degrade over time and need replacing regularly to ensure your watch remains fully water resistant.

Here is a table of use that people have traditionally referred to when thinking about the different uses, which will apply to vintage watches that have been fully serviced and tested. For example, Rolex will service a 60-year-old Submariner that is rated at 200m so that it is equal to that rating today if it can. However, if you have a vintage watch and do not know its service history, it is a very bad idea to use it as the table lays out below. Rolex is an interesting example as there are many professional divers who successfully used the same Submariner dive watch across their whole career without problems, although they did get it regularly serviced.

To clear up the confusion that historical water resistance ratings created, and also to make sure that watch companies do not claim their watches are fully waterproof, the industry adopted two ISO standards for water resistance. These standards are now required for any watchmaker to meet to claim their watch is water resistant. The standard applies regardless of what the watchmaker writes on the dial. 

The ISO Standard for Water Resistance and Divers Watches

The International Standards Organisation exists to set industry-wide standards for all aspects of manufacturing and services. It has a range of standards for watchmakers including some on Water Resistance. They are very helpful and were last updated in 2010. Most notably, they include tests of activity, and the watches are tested up to 2 Bar. This means that they will be useful for almost any water-based activity other than deep scuba diving. The Standard for Water Resistance is ISO 22810:2010.

The Divers Watch ISO standard is conducted including activity to a depth of 10 Bar, or 100m or below, thus also including almost all leisure and commercial diving activities. The Standard for Diving watches is ISO 6425: 2018

You can ask a manufacturer if they make these watches to these standards, and if they do then you can be sure your watch will be water resistant for almost any activity you require. If the watchmaker claims it has a Depth rating of 1000m for a Dive Watch but it does not also claim the watch meets the Divers' Watch standard, then caution is advised if you wanted to use the watch for diving.

Almost any watch that is sold with a water resistance rating today should be held to a decent waterproof standard. You should ask if you are unsure, and if you want to really make sure of a Dive Watch's status, look for one expressly marked Diver's 200m on the dial. There are an enormous range of different watch designs and water resistance ratings out there, and a small amount of action could save you a lot of money. We at The Watch Collectors' Club recommend you check before you dive! If you are interested in learning more about how watches are made waterproof and what dive watches look like, please join one of our regular watch events, or send us any questions you may have.

Learn what water resistant means on a watch, and what different depth ratings mean for a Dive Watch.

We explain how waterproof your watch is and what activities are safe to do while wearing it.

The humble case of your watch is far more complicated than you may realise. It is the result of hundreds of years of hard work improving designs and construction techniques to produce something that protects a very delicate movement from shocks, water, dust, and damage. This week's Blog Post will examine the different types of cases and how you can find one that suits your needs.

Watches are simply small clocks, and all clocks and watches have always had some kind of case. In the 15th century, they were made small enough to be carried around as travel clocks or pocket clocks, and it was then that metal cases became really necessary. Previously they were contained in wooden cases or had none at all.

Over the following 400 years, case making got pretty sophisticated and as advanced manufacturing techniques were developed to make the cases and movements very cheaply, and pocket watches became mass market items. Expensive cases in precious metals were always made by hand to avoid waste.

By modern standards, these cases were not very good. They weren't sealed against water access, which meant they could also allow dirt and dust inside. The First World War led to the widespread adoption of wristwatches as the conditions on the battlefield made them much more convenient than pocket watches. As a result, innovations in new types of sealed cases sprang up all over the place.

Following World War One, demand for men's wristwatches boomed, and this increased the demand for both hand made and machine made cases, in volume, of many different types. There was great demand for rectangular cases, and the most famous of those from the 1930s is found on the world's first sports watch, the Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso. This case is reversible to protect the glass, and is such an iconic design it is still sold today.

We'll save a discussion on what waterproof really means for a future Blog Post, but the demands of war led to the urgent search for reliably waterproof wristwatches. A watch worn on the wrist is exposed to so much more dust, dirt and water than when kept safely in a coat pocket. The first attempts were labelled Submarine or similar, and companies such as Rolex sold them. The cases were multi-part cases that slid together or screwed together. However, they were not particularly reliable and did not take off at this point.

The Rolex Oyster was the first waterproof watch to hit the mainstream and it came about because of Rolex Founder Hans Wilsdorf's determination to create a much more robust case to house his high-quality movements. He knew his customers would love a properly sealed case, and he was right. Using stunts such as putting fish tanks in jewellery store windows with his watch ticking away in the middle, the Oyster was a great success from its launch in 1927. 

Companies such as Omega also launched their own version, in this case called the Marine. They did not have Rolex's marketing flair and these watches were not as successful. The Rolex Oyster is still the core of the Rolex brand today.

World War Two transformed the watch industry, both for the watchmaking companies and the demand for types of watch. Military watches were ordered with ever increasing standards of toughness and reliability. This required thicker cases and more screw-down backs or bezels. The famous Dirty Dozen set of watches were ordered by the British Army in 1944, where the W.W.W on the back stands for Watch Wrist Waterproof.

Following the war, there were many developments in watch functions, including the emergence in the early 1950s of Diving watches. These required thick cases with very strong seals, in order to withstand the pressure of deep dives. The first was the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, and along with the Rolex Submariner it set the marker with 200 metres of water pressure resistance, and things only got stronger and deeper from there. 

The ultra-deepwater watches required separate devices such as strengthening inner gaskets and helium pressure valves to protect the watch. Making these was a huge technical challenge but broadly by the late 1960 watches were tough enough to withstand almost anything. 

In the 1960s the race was on to create a reliable automatic chronograph, and one of the winners was Heuer. They created a waterproof square case to contain their new Monaco watch, and it was a big hit. It is still the most famous and one of the most popular square watches on the market.

Demand for watches to accompany the explosion of new leisure activities such as mountaineering (the Rolex Explorer), dangerous hobbies like cave diving (the Rolex Explorer II), or scientific experiments like withstanding the vacuum of Space (the Omega Speedmaster) saw watch case development accelerate rapidly. 

Broadly speaking, what we call a watch case has three parts: a core case with integrated lugs, a caseback, and a bezel to secure the crystal or provide a useful function. Almost every case you'll find today is engineered like this, however some notable alternatives exist.

These watch cases do not have a detachable caseback, so the case is all in "one block" which is what the word Monocoque means. The watch movement is placed in from the front and the crystal and Bezel then screwed down onto the case to create the seal. This makes for very very strong cases, but is not a particularly common design.

 Some case makers split the case further, so that the mid part which holds everything in place is separate to a frame that includes the lugs. This allows for more varied and innovative lug designs (the lugs are the parts which stick out and the strap is attached to). It also allows the different parts to be made of different materials, or be in contrasting colours and finishes.

    Cases with cut-out or see-through sections

Modern case materials are extremely sophisticated, and the development of ever stronger sapphire crystals has allowed watchmakers to have see-through parts to their cases to allow the appreciation of the movement or other watch functions. This has been seen mostly at the high end of watchmaking, but clear and see-through casebacks are now available even for microbrands and the low end of the mechanical watch market.

Fortunately for the modern watch lover, there are cases of every conceivable shape size, material and finish available on the market today. From precious metal cases on dive watches, to carbon fibre curves, to see-through sapphire, ultra-strong titanium, and environmentally friendly plastic, anything is possible for watch designers. 

Some brands have made case design part of their DNA. The fascinating Trip Tick case from British watch brand Bremont is a good example of what an innovative design-led watch brand can do. It has a central barrel section that can be customised and finished in different ways and textures, to either stand out or blend in. It is flexible enough to be used in many different styles of watch and still be a signature of the brand. This exploded image shows the parts which combine to protect the watch movement in a Trip-tick case.

Watch cases are often praised for their beauty but under-appreciated for their variety. There is as much to focus on case design as there is when we talk about dial design and manufacture. We at The Watch Collectors' Club enjoy looking in-depth at all aspects of the watches we love, and hope to help you learn about every part of them. Find out more by joining one of our watch events, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! 

What makes watch cases so interesting? What makes for a good watch case?

A history and guide to different watch case designs, including some historic lots of examples and different styles.

The Watch Collectors' Club runs regular events where we teach members a little about watches, watchmakers, watch

A club for everyone who likes watches.

Watchmakers and brands are constantly looking to bring something new to their catalogue. This means they often look to celebrate historic milestones in their past with anniversaries in the present. To do this they create special one-off watches to celebrate the anniversary of something, such as the year the watch was launched. They can also commemorate famous events connected to a watch, or simply broader anniversaries of the company or something connected to the company. We are not talking about watches bought as an anniversary gift for someone, but a watch that celebrates an anniversary important to the watch brand. This year (2023) contains many anniversaries of important watches, including Casio G-Shock, Swatch, Blancpain and even Rolex, who have never yet made an anniversary model, but who knows if this year is a first?

Anniversary watches often celebrate the anniversary of the company that makes them. Patek Phillippe, the high-end Swiss Manufacturer has celebrated their company founding date repeatedly, producing a limited edition timepiece for their 150th Anniversary in 1989, and in 2014 they introduced their most complicated wristwatch in production, the Grandmaster Chime for their 175th Anniversary. It has 21 different functions and in order to order one you have to pass an interview with the company in Geneva. To get that interview you have to already be a really big client. They even made pop star Ed Sheeran have an interview (yes really!). 

Another great example of a series of famous anniversary watches is the Omega Speedmaster range. They have created a very large number to commemorate anniversaries of different versions of the Apollo space missions for which they are most famously associated with, being the first watch on the moon and the first watch on a long spacewalk. It's quite entertaining to see just how many special edition Omega Speedmasters there are, but this large number is great for collectors as there are some very cool dial designs. Omega has produced a new limited edition celebrating the Apollo XI mission that landed on the moon every five years since the 20th anniversary in 1989, so that's seven just for one mission! 

50th Anniversaries are a very common reason for watch brands to celebrate their historic models. The Jaeger LeCoultre Polaris dive watch relaunch on its fiftieth anniversary was a particularly well-received highlight of a popular function, the alarm, in the very stylish dive watch design. The range is still doing very well for them today. 

2023 sees many watch models have their 70th anniversary, including two of the most important and famous dive watches of all time; the Rolex submariner and the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Rolex does not do "anniversary watches" but the world is eagerly anticipating their new models for the year to see if they commemorate the Submariner's first year of production in 1953. Luxury brand Blancpain has already released their new version of their famous Dive watch, the Fifty Fathoms, with an interesting new complication, a three-hour timer for divers using high-tech rebreather technology. This fun update is the latest addition to their very popular (but also very large and expensive) dive watch range.

Some brands celebrate the anniversaries of their own collaborations, including Patek Philippe. At the end of 2021 they created what is probably the most hyped watch ever to celebrate the Anniversary of their relationship with US Jewellery Retailer Tiffany & Co., a version of their Nautilus model with a Tiffany Blue dial.

Even young brands can create anniversary watches. The British watch brand William Wood, which makes firefighting-themed watches, used its five-year anniversary to create and sell a brand new watch for charity. This auction was a great success and the watch is truly unique, in both colour and dial design.

Anniversary watches are and interesting and quite common way for brands to dream up new versions of past classics. If there is a  brand or watch model that you particularly love it is worth searching for any anniversary models to see if they have interesting designs. It's also worth noting any coming up that you might want to reserve buying power for! Anniversaries are a fun and interesting discussion point for collectors of all kinds. Keep your eyes open at this year's Watches and Wonders watch show at the end of March for any interesting ones to go alongside the Blancpain. 

We explain anniversary watches and special watches made for anniversaries

What are Anniversary Watches?

We explore the watches brand use to celebrate significant historic anniversaries.

Many watch brands talk about the “finishing” of their watches, but what does that mean? Simply, it means the decoration applied to part of a watch. High horology brands talk a lot about their fine finishing, often applied to the case, hands, and movement. A previous blog explored the finishing that you can find on watch dials. 

This blog will briefly explore the various type of movement finishing that watch brands use for their movements.

All watches have movements. Some of these are very simple, and some are very complicated. Some are powered by quartz movements, whilst others are automatic. There are lots of ways in which movements can differ. How a manufacturer finishes the movement is just another one. 

Finishing is simply decoration of the movement. Sometimes manufacturers just use simple finishing, usually completed by a machine, to keep costs down. Other manufacturers might employ highly-skilled watchmakers to finish movements by hand. 

The way in which a watch manufacturer finishes a watch usually reflects the quality of the watch. Really high quality and expensive watches will often have movements finished with a variety of patterns, whilst cheaper watches will have simpler movement finishing. There are obviously some exceptions to this where cheaper watches have really beautiful movements.  

 A simple way to finish a movement is to polish it. It is unlikely that the whole movement will be polished, but some of the component parts might be. The bridge is a part that is commonly polished. 

Some watchmakers will spend a huge amount of time polishing parts of the movement by hand until they have a mirror-finish. This is very striking and requires a lot skill to achieve. Grand Seiko watches often have mirror-finished components to their movements, as you can see in the image below. This type of polishing is called Some polishers are able to create an effect called black-polish. This is achieved when metal is polished to such an extent that it appears black. It is very impressive to see!  

The opposite to polishing is graining, or brushing a movement. Like dragging a rake through sand, a machine with a sharp edge is dragged over the metal. This leaves it with tiny etches, giving the metal a matte finish. The grain is often in a straight line, however, there are various patterns that watchmakers might grain or brush a movement in, such as circular or Geneva stripes. 

Watchmakers achieve another matte effect by sandblasting the movement. This involves blasting compressed air and sand against the metal in order to cover it with lots of tiny craters. This is a very smart finish when combined with polished components. 

Cotes de Geneve, or the Geneva stripes, are a high-end brushed finished that you often see on watch movements through crystal case-backs. To create the effect, the watchmaker either uses a lathe, or a rectifying rule (a bit like the arm of a turntable). This is incredibly difficult to execute cleanly and evenly, so this finish is mostly used on expensive watches. It is also a useful finish, as it hides any marks on the movement, and traps small particles of dust.

Like Cotes de Geneve, perlage is a difficult effect to achieve. The watchmaker uses a rotating head, pressing it onto the metal to create an overlapping pattern of circles on the movement. It is very difficult to achieve a consistent pattern across the movement, so this finishing is often only used on expensive watches. 

Anglage, chamfering, or bevelling the edge of a movement component all mean the same thing. It means to polish the edge of a component, typically on a 45degree angle, to stop the edge of the component breaking off and damaging the movement. The top of a bevelled component is usually brushed in contrast to the polished, sloping sides. See picture below.

Guilloche is one of the most difficult movement finishes to achieve. It involves carving extremely precise patterns into the metal using a rose engine lathe. The lathe operator has to been incredibly skilled to achieve a consistent pattern. The process needs to be completed perfectly first time – so it is only used on the most expensive watch movements. 

At The Watch Collectors’ Club, we don’t have a favourite movement finish. We enjoy seeing the wide variety of finishes that watchmakers use to decorate the movements they put into their watches. They highlight the talent of watchmakers, and the pride that manufacturers take in the quality of their engineering. The best way to see some of the different movement finishes is to come to one of our events. 

The Different Finishes On Watch Movements

Buying pre-owned watches can be a fun, affordable and exciting way to add to your collection, but many people are wary of buying anything other than new watches. There are many reasons to be cautious of pre-owned watches as you can't know for sure how they've been used or treated by previous owners. They might not come with the original paperwork and packaging or any indication of when they were last serviced and what time they keep.

One solution to this problem is to buy a certified pre-owned watch; one that has been through an authorised service centre of the brand in question and therefore has been guaranteed to be both the watch it is supposed to be and has a guarantee of accuracy following a service.

There are many ways to buy a pre-owned watch. Firstly, remember that the category has many other names, including second-hand, vintage, antique and collectable. All of these terms mean a watch that's not being purchased brand new from a retailer or brand. There are a huge number of ways to buy one, including from dealers, online platforms, auction sites, auction houses, watch forums, and retailers with a pre-owned section.

We recommend caution when buying a pre-owned watch of any type or age, and of course, the more valuable or old the watch, the more caution needs to be taken. The older a watch, the more time has passed in which things could have gone wrong, or more dodgy things could have been done to the watch (for example the use of non-standard parts during a service). For very valuable watches, there is more incentive for unauthorised parts to be used, or even for the whole watch to be fake.

The most important thing to remember is the phrase "Buy the Seller not the Watch". Carefully analyse whether the seller seems credible, has a good track record and good reviews, and is accurately showing everything you need to know about the watch. Never be afraid to ask questions. If a seller is unwilling or unable to answer your questions, that may be a bad sign.

When it comes to dealers and retailers selling pre-owned watches, they will often have stores where you can go and look at the timepieces, and these stores lend a large amount of credibility to the sale. However, you still must do your research, make sure they do not have bad reviews or claims that they are selling dodgy watches, and satisfy yourself that they have a good reputation.

This is what we call a watch that has the highest possible guarantee of originality and value when it is pre-owned. This is for two reasons; the first is that the watch has been serviced in a service centre authorised by the same brand or manufacturer that made the watch. This means that the brand sets standards and processes the service centre must follow when servicing a watch under this scheme and then audits the service centre to make sure they are staying up to those standards. Every watch service is different, and the resulting standard depends on the type and age of the watch, but the brand standards indicate the level that should be achieved to maintain the brand's reputation. For example for Rolex, the testing that they do on a watch after a service using specialised and expensive machinery is to a higher standard than other brands.

The second is that watches serviced in an authorised service centre have to be authentic, and when serviced only authentic parts from that manufacturer can be used to repair it. This means that any watch that's gone through the process can be seen to be as close to 100% authentic as possible for a pre-owned watch. 

The reason it is called Certified is that then the retailer is essentially offering a certificate of service to state that these two things are true. The watch is as close to 100% authentic as possible and it is fully serviced to the brand's standard for that model and age of watch.

Where can you find Certified Pre-Owned Watches?

There are three main places to find these watches. The first is at certain brand boutiques themselves. For example, Vacheron Constantin have sold pre-owned models in some of their main boutiques for a while now, including in the London Bond Street boutique. The second is at authorised dealers that also have an authorised service centre for a brand. Longines have multiple authorised service centres across the UK. If you buy a pre-owned Longines watch from one of the Authorised Dealers that have an associated approved Longines service centre, then you can be sure the watch will be certified pre-owned. It will likely be sold with an official Longines service receipt, or you can ask to see it before buying. 

Finally, there is a new scheme from Rolex, recently launched in conjunction with the retailer Bucherer. This scheme is important because while Bucherer has always offered officially authorised servicing of Rolex watches and a certified pre-owned service for the watches it sells from a variety of brands, the new scheme involves official Rolex paperwork and guarantees authenticity. Unlike many other watch brands, Rolex do not offer any extracts from their archives to authenticate a watch, or provide any way of authenticating a watch other than an official service. Rolex believes that this scheme will provide anyone looking for a pre-owned Rolex the best possible experience, and the scheme is simply called Rolex Certified Pre-Owned.

Are they more expensive than other pre-owned watches?

Across the pre-owned market, watches trade at a premium for exceptional quality and the most interesting provenance (which means its ownership history). They also trade at a premium when they have the original box and papers, which means things like the original user manual, guarantee certificate, and even the receipt from the retailer they were bought from. 

Similar to the watches themselves, all of these things get damaged or lost over the years, and they can be faked, so it is normal that a pre-owned watch of any age with the correct papers will be more valuable than one without. 

If a watch has been serviced at an authorised service centre and is therefore known to be fully accurate and reliable, it will also trade at a premium to similar watches that have not been serviced at one. The new Rolex scheme comes with a new set of paperwork and tags that adds to this guarantee. It is therefore fair that these watches may trade at a premium to those of similar quality but without the certified servicing process.

Generally, the more that is known about a watch's past and service history the more valuable it will be compared to similar models. We see similar effects in markets for other pre-owned goods such as cars or antiques. The size of the premium will always be dependent on the market, but it is fair to say that the entire category of certified pre-owned watches should trade at some premium to the rest of the market. 

Buying certified pre-owned is just one way to buy pre-owned watches and you should expect to pay a premium for a watch sold this way versus the same model sold in other channels. The Certified pre-owned market can certainly give the highest level of peace of mind, and the watch may not require servicing for many years. The Watch Collectors' Club is here to help those who love all kinds, of watches, new and old, certified or of uncertain provenance, and we are happy to run events that explore all different aspects of the watch world. If you have any further questions about buying certified pre-owned please do not hesitate to get in touch.

How to buy a certified pre-owned watch. Why you should buy certified pre-owned watches.

Buying Certified Pre-Owned Watches

We explain what it means to buy a Certified Pre-Owned Watch

Join us at our first event with Europe's largest pre-owned watch retailer Watchfinder for an evening exploring their Royal Exchange Store in the City of London. On Thursday 27th April from 6:00PM you'll learn all about how Watchfinder works, what they stock and what to expect when you buy or sell from them. We'll also give a short talk on the History of the Rolex Submariner and have a special selection in store of recent models. You'll be able to try them all on and finally decide which Submariner suits you best!

There are only 20 spaces at this event so please sign up ASAP and please also let us know if you change your mind or can no longer make it. We will not admit anyone not signed up, so if you have friends who are interested please ask them to sign up here.

Join us to see a large range of Rolex Submariners and learn the history of the watch.

Rolex Submariner Event, History of the Rolex Submariner

Exploring the Rolex Submariner

Exploring the Rolex Submariner with Watchfinder

Join us on Thursday April 20th from 6:00PM for a new format of event at Mortimer House, a stylish member's co-working space in London's Fitzrovia. At this event we will give a talk all about how to get started with watch collecting, exploring the different types of collecting, what to look out for, and how to talk about your love of watches in an interesting way. After the talk, we will mingle and you'll be able to share your watch stories, learn from other watch lovers, and get a taste of what our regular Meetups are like. 

Mortimer House is a smart co-working club in Fitzrovia set in a fabulous art deco building, and we'll have the upstairs bar area and terrace to enjoy for the evening.

Join us for an Introductory talk on watch collecting at a fabulous art deco Members Club in London's Fitzrovia.

A Simple Guide to Watch Collecting Event at Mortimer House

Rolex's Post War Innovation Explosion Online Event. Join us on Zoom on Monday 18th April for the second in our series looking at Rolex's fantastic history and this time we will talk about the introduction of their most famous tool watches in the 1950s and 60s like the Submariner, Explorer and Daytona. We'll give a short online talk and then open the floor for a fun discussion of what we like bout them and why they've stood the test of time.

We will send out the Zoom details to all those registered approximatley one hour before the event starts at 8:00PM

Join us on Zoom to explore Rolex's legendary models such as the Day-Date, Submariner, GMT and Explorer

An online Zoom event to discuss Rolex's post war innovation

Exploreing Rolex's Post-war Innovation Short Talk and Discussion

Exploring Rolex's Post War Innovation - Short Talk and Discussion

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