Horological Meandering

Friends, What is NEO-vintage? Is it the same as “vintage” … No. This is an excellent article on why there is growing interest in this segment … www.acollectedman.com

At WristScan we introduced a special category for Neo Vintage and Classic watches. My opinion is that this category of collecting will continue to gain momentum and the definition of the era will continue to evolve.

Neo vintage were the glory years for the swiss watch industry IMHO. Those that remained from the quartz crisis and those that started. They were brave and they used modern design tools and documented it. And yet, the artisanal aspects. They also generally... 

Spider dial, tropical dial, etc etc it's just M A R K E T I N G These are just vintage watches in good conditions, sometimes too good for their age (because they've been serviced but that's usually omitted). Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeexxxxxxxxxxxxxt

Between vintage and neo vintage. Read the article? 😉

Nothing more, nothing less. The same when a store, auction house or else aims to promote their newly discovered hidden gem. I

what you mean … What is a “commercial”? 🤔

I like to say that Neo Vintage is a mix of modern ( sapphire ) and old ( tritium ). Typical example? The Rolex Transitional ( 16570 / 16550 / 16760 / 16800 / 16660 / 168000 are in this vein.

Going to say that guys 40-60 are neo vintage and everyone else is… well you know.

We put sundials and water clocks in that category ok? >: )

we don't love relic watches so much (no waistcoat in which to properly stow a pocket watch) and we do like the designs and case sizes of the post quartz crisis era. oh, and the low numbers makes them a bit special too.

It’s a unique time for the Swiss watch industry. Unlike today when many brands have are mass producing watches and raising MSRPs while claiming exclusivity.

High end clothing is the same. Lots of parallels in other industries exist.

On what you mean by “doing the same.”? Do you mean heritage or re-issues? Thanks.

For cars, perhaps they can claim “better”transmissions and such. But for watches, we see more of the same at much higher MSRPs. ADs playing their games where some feel the need to thank their sales associates for giving them the “opportunity” to buy the w... 

Pieces. 1960s and earlier A whole different category with specific challenges. For me, 1990s …: neo vintage. ☺️

That is part of the problem. Too many interpretations of what is neo vintage. I’m 54. And independent of my age, the period should not be referenced relative to MY age 😄 IMHO I agree that it was a transitional period. One foot in the past and one foot in ... 

Anything before my birth year is vintage. Anything after until I could actually afford anything is neo vintage. Everything else is new. This works for me. But on a serious note I do agree it’s nice to have some definitions. As long as they aren’t fixed in... 

If I said the renaissance period … you would know what I mean. So neo-vintage is a reference to a certain period or slice of time. Not relative to the current date and time. Anyway …. Watches from the neo vintage has some lovely pieces. Let’s hope people ... 

Current production watch in 1990. In 2024, it could not be called so. This is independent of one’s age. Anyway, I hope folks can tell the difference between the term vintage and neo-vintage because they are quite different in so many ways. If the definiti... 

For example if you look at art, everything we discuss is modern. If you look at wine, anything over 20 years old is usually considered aged. So I’m not sure if there’s a definition everyone will accept.

But some definition is good to have, yes? They can call it the “fried chicken” era for all we care 😄 I think the main problem is that many collectors are cautious about vintage. We know why. And that is true. So when neo-vintage is put into the same categ... 

When I look at Roger dubuis and parmigiani from 1990- early 2000 these watches looks better than what they produce today And I’m not talking about the design where Duibuis went from great it a disaster. The movement in their Chronograph “homage” is lucht ... 

I would add Daniel Roth as well. The DR from the 90s is sooo different from the ones from the 2000’s and beyond. When compared to collecting 🖼️, it makes a lot of sense to collect neo vintage. Why get a “reprint” when you can get the original at the same ... 

My question / criteria is Can you get parts? If not, the watch may as well be 100 years old aka Vintage and it ends up in a case like this. I don't thihnk you really KNOW a watch until you have taken it apart (or watched someone else) and it's been put ba...  

Thanks for your detailed response. I can’t speak for RD or DR for parts but no issues for GP for me. I’m referring to GP Swizerland. And there are a few 3rd party resellers wotj original GP parts and hands etc like this chap Joseph Gisbert. So RD and DR …... 

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