I noticed on Polo's Rugby blog that there was a post about the vintage watches being offered at the company's East Hampton store. Though not the focus of the original post - a shot of some vintage sunglasses in a display case - questions rolled in about the great watches displayed on ribbon bands alongside the sunglasses.That's a great example of the emotional power of watches, vintage mechanical ones in particular. I have a few vintage watches, some are family heirlooms and some were purchased. Each one is special and satisfies a particular aspect of my personality. Even the modern watches that I own are almost all mechanical - manual wind or automatic - and tend to be unique rather than flashy.
While traditional leather straps ans steel bracelets are just fine, certainly when they are original to the timepiece, a classic preppy ribbon strap can add flair and Ivy League panache to your wrist. British brand Smart Turnout makes a great version that's based on the rugged NATO strap design. They come in a range of colors representing English military units and several American Ivy League colleges.
Smart Turnout Watch Bands
When it comes to vintage watches, you can head off to East Hampton, N.Y., and visit the Rugby store or you can track down dealers closer to home. Believe it or not, you can also hit the web in search of sites with good deals and equally important, a good inventory. The great thing about vintage watches is that when you finally find what you're looking for it is a very personal score.
Here are several websites that I like keep an eye on to see whats coming onto the market. I cannot offer you any guarantees or standards, but the companies below already have excellent reputations.
Cool Vintage Watches
Tic-Tock.com
Yorktime
Second Time Around
If you want to see some exceptional early vintage watches, from say, around 1914, check out Old Wrist Watches.
So take a look around and give it a try; vintage mechanical watches and preppy ribbon straps are great ways to bring some stylish elan to your summer wardrobe.
Rule of Life:
ReplyDeleteAn inherited, quality wrist watch (or one that can plausibly be claimed as such) is better than ANY new one!
I like old style of watches, but those styles are rarely available now and are expensive too. So I got a simple and stylish watch from Princeton Watches.
ReplyDeleteThere ias actually a great website/blog dedicated completely to high-end vintage watches. It's www.hodinkee.com. Pretty cool site really.
ReplyDeleteto anonymous,
ReplyDeletethanks for the shout out, hodinkee is an aggregator of the best vintage watches in the world. we're based in manhattan and we love what we do, take a look and we guarantee you'll find a great watch.
Hodinkee
Nothing but the best and finest would do for me. Perpetual calendar ones; Patek Phillippe. Musical ones; Charles Reuge.
ReplyDeleteAnd I prefer pocket watches.
For vintages watches collectors, there is this website dedicated to high quality watch boxes and watch winders. It's www.watchvaults.com. Pretty cool site, great products check it out.
ReplyDeletewow its looking cool, i love to wear watches and bracelets and this time i was looking for some new collection for watches, i never seen these styles in watches, and i am happy to see this collection, i really want to thank u, you have done a great job and i am sure you will get a high rang of customers for that,
ReplyDeleteBest of luck