{"id":577884,"date":"2026-08-23T14:12:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T14:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/577884\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T14:12:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T14:12:22","slug":"the-9-uk-vintage-watch-dealers-we-trust-and-the-best-models-to-buy-from-rare-rolexes-to-undervalued-omegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/577884\/","title":{"rendered":"The 9 UK Vintage Watch Dealers We Trust (and the Best Models to Buy, From Rare Rolexes to Undervalued Omegas)"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story originally appeared in About Time<\/a>, Esquire’s free weekly newsletter dedicated to the world of luxury watches. To get it free into your inbox every Sunday at 8am, sign up here<\/a><\/p>\n

Modern watchmaking is obsessed with its own past.<\/p>\n

Everywhere you look, brands are digging through the archives: reviving old references, shrinking cases, bringing back forgotten dial colours and case shapes, and generally making new watches that look quite a lot like old ones.<\/p>\n

Which raises an obvious question for buyers: if vintage is the look you\u2019re after, why not go straight to the source?<\/p>\n

Plenty of people are. Sales of pre-owned watches \u2013 from nearly new models to genuinely vintage pieces \u2013 reached $16.7 billion [\u00a312.8bn] in 2025, up 36 per cent in a year. And when it comes to genuinely old watches, there\u2019s something a reissue can\u2019t quite reproduce. An original 1960s or \u201970s watch has age, proportion, patina and the simple fact that it has already lived a life.<\/p>\n

Vintage shopping also opens up whole corners of watchmaking that no longer exist. Rolex once made rectangular watches. Omega made watches for the RAF. Audemars Piguet made all sorts of beautiful things that weren’t Royal Oaks. There are smaller watches, odder watches, watches from defunct brands, as well as completely unfamiliar versions of names you thought you knew.<\/p>\n

And with vintage, every watch is slightly different. As collector-dealer Eric Wind<\/a> puts it: \u201cI love the history and unique elements of a vintage watch: the patina, the aesthetics, the story, and the survival of the watch over decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there is the hunt. Walk into a modern watch shop and you probably know roughly what will be there. Vintage doesn’t work like that. You might go looking for a 1960s Rolex and come out wanting a 1980s Piaget you’d never heard of. The more you look, the more you learn!<\/p>\n

Of course, vintage comes with a few things to watch out for. Parts get changed, cases get polished, dials get messed around with and paperwork doesn\u2019t always prove what people think it proves. Which is why who you buy from matters almost as much as what you buy.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, this week About Time spoke to nine of the UK\u2019s best vintage-watch dealers about what sets them apart, what they wish more buyers knew, and the watches in their current stock they\u2019re most excited about.<\/p>\n

Some have been doing this for decades; others belong to a much newer generation. Some specialise in one brand or period, while others will sell you something really, really off the beaten track.<\/p>\n

Between them, they show that vintage is less about looking backwards than finding watches you simply don\u2019t come across anywhere else.<\/p>\n

\"goldThe Vintage Watch Company<\/p>\n

A c.1989 Rolex Day-Date ref. 18038 in 18ct yellow gold with yellow lacquer \u2018Stella\u2019 dial, from The Vintage Watch Company<\/p>\n

The Vintage Watch Company<\/p>\n

The Rolex dons<\/p>\n

There are vintage Rolex dealers, and then there is The Vintage Watch Company<\/a>. Asked what sets the family-run Burlington Arcade institution apart, co-owner David Silver points to more than 30 years concentrating on a single brand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose our standout feature is our dedication and commitment to one brand and one collection,\u201d he says. The result is what Silver says is the largest collection of vintage Rolex on display anywhere in the world \u2013 enough to make customers \u201cjump on a plane and come visit\u201d. \u201cOne collection in one place housed in the Burlington Arcade in London,\u201d he says, \u201ca landmark within a landmark, as it were.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn’t start that way. When his father John established the business, vintage watches barely constituted a market. The shop bought on design rather than dial name: rectangular watches, round watches, officer’s watches, from Hamilton, Omega, Patek Philippe, Rolex and Longines.<\/p>\n

The customers, in effect, made the decision for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cRolex would always outsell everything else because it was so mind-blowing,\u201d Silver remembers. Customers couldn’t believe The Crown had once made rectangular watches that looked like Cartier Tanks. \u201cSo the eureka moment was: \u2018Well, what if I focus on the one brand, Rolex, and then create the largest collection we can?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Today that collection runs to more than 2,000 watches. The depth is enough to make your head spin: the Submariner selection alone runs to tens of examples, spanning everything from 1950s \u201cJames Bond\u201d models to later tropical-dial and Tiffany-signed pieces. Three decades of photographing the watches passing through the shop has also created an extraordinary visual archive and the basis for Silver’s Vintage Rolex books<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His advice to collectors is pleasingly straightforward. \u201cBuy what you love and not what you believe to be rare,\u201d he says. One of the biggest mistakes buyers make is choosing something because they’ve read that it’s valuable: \u201cIt almost always remains in the drawer and never gets worn.\u201d Silver applies the same test to his own stock. \u201cIf I don\u2019t love it neither will you!\u201d<\/p>\n

Their pick: Early-1950s Rolexes. \u201cCurrently I love the classic pieces from the c.1950s,\u201d says Silver, who characterises the period by slim cases, elegant lugs and a wide variety of dial designs.<\/p>\n

Tortoise Watches<\/p>\n

The tool-watch nerd<\/p>\n

Arwind Jhand was a collector for a decade before turning the obsession into a business. Tortoise<\/a>, based in London’s Grays Antique Market, specialises in vintage tool watches from the 1960s and \u201970s \u2013 before drilling down into an even narrower speciality.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe even go further and would say we are the best place on the planet for vintage Zenith El Primero watches from the 1969\u20131974 era of the first calibre 3019PHC,\u201d Jhand explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a collector for a decade before opening a shop, a lot of others in the scene know me as a nerd that loves these watches,\u201d he says. \u201cI feel this mindset of collector first has translated into the way our customers experience shopping with us. We spend much more time researching and discussing watches than actually selling them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jhand is blunt about the premium attached to vintage \u201cfull sets\u201d. \u201cThe box and papers being valuable is a myth. Please just buy the watch you see and like, the condition of that is much more important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or, to put it another way: \u201cYou can’t wear the box on your head like a hat. Nor are the papers a substitute for a shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their pick: 1980s Zenith Port Royal Moonphase ref. 95.0102.418. \u201cThis is without a doubt my all-time favourite piece,\u201d Jhand says, having even begged Zenith to revive it. The titanium case keeps it light, the bracelet \u201cfeels like satin\u201d, and although it measures 40mm, the stepped case wears more like 37mm. He loves the way the matte dial \u201csucks in light\u201d while the applied markers catch it, as well as the flashes of red, full calendar and moonphase. \u201cSo much packed into so little a space! Wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"elegantSubdial.<\/p>\n

Patek Philippe Calatrava ref. 5196J-001 in 18ct yellow gold with silver dial and small seconds, at Subdial<\/p>\n

Somlo London<\/p>\n

The Omega authority<\/p>\n

Somlo London<\/a> has been around for 57 years and three generations, but its unique calling card arrived in 2008, when it became the first \u2013 and remains the only \u2013 official Omega Vintage Store. That means, Daniel Somlo tells us, it is \u201cthe only place in the world where you can buy a vintage Omega watch that has been verified by the Omega archives\u201d, with its date of manufacture and original country of delivery supplied.<\/p>\n

The relationship came about after Swatch Group founder Nicolas Hayek noticed something odd: Burlington Arcade was already full of vintage-watch dealers, but hardly anyone was selling vintage Omega. He approached George Somlo and a partnership followed.<\/p>\n

The current stock gives a sense of the range. There\u2019s a 1959 Railmaster, first-generation Seamaster 300s, an early-1960s Speedmaster, a 1975 Flightmaster and, at the more eccentric end, a yellow-gold 1952 Carr\u00e9 bumper automatic.<\/p>\n

Somlo’s interests extend much further \u2013 its wider collection spans centuries of horology \u2013 but the business deliberately tends not to trade in Rolex<\/a> sports models or many watches newer than the 1970s. \u201cWe pride ourselves in being collectors as well as dealers,\u201d Somlo says, \u201cso we enjoy guiding customers through every purchase to find them the perfect watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somlo is also sceptical of treating watches as investments. \u201cWe always advise people should buy with their heart rather than thinking what they will be worth next year,\u201d he says. If it appreciates, great; if it doesn\u2019t, \u201cyou still have something that you love and can enjoy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Their pick: 1960s Omega Constellation. Somlo calls these \u201ccriminally undervalued\u201d, particularly the pie-pan dial models with dog-leg lugs. Just avoid over-polished examples: round off those angular, faceted lugs and \u201cit loses much of its appeal\u201d.<\/p>\n

Subdial<\/p>\n

The collectors’ clubhouse<\/p>\n

Subdial<\/a> is what happens when the vintage-watch dealer is reimagined as a tech platform, service centre and members’ club. <\/p>\n

Founded by Christy Davis and Ross Crane in 2018, its physical heart today is the 4,500 sq ft Clubhouse in London’s Farringdon.<\/p>\n

Asked what people come to Subdial for, Davis has a simple answer: \u201cThe emotion of watches.\u201d Collecting, he says, is \u201ca mad thing that people do purely out of passion\u201d, so the aim is to make discovering watches exciting \u2013 highlighting \u201cunder-appreciated pockets of collectability\u201d, telling the stories behind them and bringing collectors together.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Clubhouse has become the centre of the watch community in London,\u201d Davis says, \u201cwhere you can go beyond the watches to meeting collectors and building friendships.\u201d It’s a very different proposition from peering through a Mayfair shop window \u2013 and evidence of how much the vintage-watch business has changed.<\/p>\n

His most useful buying advice is considerably more mundane. Check the bracelet fits. \u201cA bit embarrassing,\u201d Davis admits, but he was so excited about his first few vintage purchases that he panic-bought them, then endured \u201csix months of sifting through eBay listings looking for extra links before I could actually wear the thing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Their pick: Cartier Tank Normale in platinum. \u201cIt’s completely timeless, feeling both modern\/futuristic and also classic at the same time,\u201d Davis says. \u201cThe bracelet transforms it into a completely different watch.\u201d He wants one for his own collection, too: \u201cWorking in watches can be painful!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"vintageFinest Hour Timepieces<\/p>\n

Omega WWW \u201cDirty Dozen\u201d British Army wristwatch, c.1945, with MoD replacement dial and cal. 30T2 movement, from Finest Hour Timepieces<\/p>\n

Finest Hour Timepieces<\/p>\n

The military specialist<\/p>\n

If you want a vintage military watch, go to someone who is obsessed with vintage military watches. Chris Herbert founded Finest Hour<\/a> around a decade ago and today deals exclusively in British and German military wristwatches and clocks from the Second World War onwards. A glance through the stock tells the story: RAF-issued Longines and Omega<\/a> Weems watches sit alongside the likes of 1970s Hamilton military chronographs.<\/p>\n

What sets it apart? \u201cI would like to think it’s a combination of passion and professionalism,\u201d Herbert says. \u201cFinest Hour evolved 10 years ago from my deep-rooted love and obsession with vintage military timepieces. They are my life’s passion and work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sell nothing else,\u201d he continues. \u201cWe are collectors first, dealers second, and we genuinely appreciate the extraordinary history behind the watches we sell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herbert also wanted to create the kind of dealer he’d wished existed when he was a novice collector himself. \u201cFrom the outset, I wanted to offer the best and rarest pieces I could find,\u201d he says, while providing the level of professional service he felt had often been lacking.<\/p>\n

That’s particularly important with military watches, where tiny details can be the difference between something historically significant and something that merely looks the part. Herbert’s advice is to research heavily and \u201cbuy the seller, not the watch\u201d. He compares it to buying a Porsche: why go to a generic car dealer when you could go to a Porsche specialist? \u201cPatience is most definitely a virtue, and cheap can often prove very dear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their pick: Omega \u201cWeems\u201d Mk VIIA. Herbert calls it \u201cthe ultimate pilot’s watch of the Second World War\u201d. Only 2,000 were issued to the RAF in 1940. \u201cIt evokes a powerful surge of emotion in me when I think of who may have worn it, and what they might have witnessed during the dark days of the Battle of Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch Brothers London<\/p>\n

The neo-vintage specialist<\/p>\n

Watch Brothers London<\/a> grew out of Ben Dunn<\/a> doing what good watch obsessives tend to do: disappearing down increasingly obscure rabbit holes. Before becoming a full-time dealer, he wrote detailed reference guides to watches he couldn’t find enough information about, including Audemars Piguet’s ref. 14790 and Patek Philippe’s 3940.<\/p>\n

Research eventually turned into a business where a platinum Patek Philippe 3970 perpetual-calendar chronograph can sit alongside an early-\u201990s Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar and a 1940s Vacheron Constantin made in aluminium. In other words, slightly more interesting territory than another row of steel sports Rolexes.<\/p>\n

So what does Dunn think people specifically come to Watch Brothers for? \u201cHopefully there are a few things!\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

First is the personal approach. These days the \u201cBrothers\u201d bit is finally literal: Ben’s brother Rob has joined him. \u201cMy brother and I are at the end of every WhatsApp, FaceTime or in-person meeting,\u201d Dunn says. \u201cWe genuinely enjoy getting to know collectors and keeping things relaxed and friendly, rather than operating as a faceless buy\/sell business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there’s the curation. \u201cWe\u2019re completely obsessed with neo-vintage, particularly perpetual calendars and complications from that era. It\u2019s a very specific corner of the market, but one we genuinely love and spend a huge amount of time researching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike many dealers operating largely on consignment, Watch Brothers also owns the vast majority of its stock. \u201cWe actually put our money where our mouth is,\u201d Dunn says, which gives the business more flexibility when buying and selling.<\/p>\n

His advice is to remember the bit between acquiring and selling. \u201cEnjoy not just the hunt or the sale, but the ownership too. Make memories with the watch, maybe add a little mark or two along the way \u2013 unintentionally, of course \u2013 and just relax and enjoy the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their pick: Patek Philippe ref. 765 pocket watch. \u201cI\u2019m slightly obsessed with it!\u201d Dunn says. With guilloch\u00e9 across both dial and caseback, a multi-step bezel and gold dial, it makes his wider point nicely: \u201cYou can get a serious amount of watch for your money when you start looking at pocket watches. It\u2019s a really fun corner of collecting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"rectangularMaunder Watch Company<\/p>\n

Cartier Tank Basculante ref. 2390, a mechanical stainless-steel model with silver guilloch\u00e9 dial, from Maunder Watch Company<\/p>\n

David Duggan Watches<\/p>\n

The old-school connoisseur<\/p>\n

David Duggan<\/a> comes from an era of the vintage-watch trade when finding stock meant provincial markets, Portobello Road and the Bond Street Antiques Centre rather than Instagram and WhatsApp. He remembers “Paul Newman” Daytonas sitting unwanted at \u00a3350 apiece, and an Italian dealer friend eventually persuading him to broaden his focus from Rolex into Patek Philippe.<\/p>\n

That wider taste still shapes the stock. You’re as likely to encounter the familiar Rolex territory \u2013 Submariners, Explorers and Datejusts \u2013 as something more patrician from Patek or Vacheron Constantin. Ask Duggan what gives his business its USP and the answer is straightforward: \u201cOur experience, expertise and integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

He began dealing in the 1970s, while Tony, Richard and Ian, who make up the rest of the team, have each worked with high-end watches<\/a> for at least 35 years. \u201cCombined, that adds up to over 160 years of buying, selling, repairing and restoring watches,\u201d Duggan says.<\/p>\n

That experience has also left him with a contrarian streak. Duggan has long advocated looking at what other collectors are ignoring: rectangular Pateks, time-only Vacherons and Audemars Piguets from the 1950s and \u201960s, and vintage Longines chronographs. He also has a weakness for alarm watches, particularly the Vulcain Cricket. \u201cWith many modern alarm complications, you need the ears of an owl to hear them,\u201d he says, \u201cwhereas a Cricket will have you up and out of bed in a flash.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their pick: Patek Philippe ref. 5970R, 2006. \u201cMy favourite watch currently in stock must be the 5970R,\u201d Duggan says. \u201cNot the most expensive, but a gorgeous rose-gold perpetual-calendar chronograph, perfectly proportioned, with a magnificent movement.\u201d His conclusion: \u201cProbably the best piece from Patek Philippe so far this century.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maunder Watch Company<\/p>\n

The quality-control freaks<\/p>\n

Maunder<\/a> is another family-run Burlington Arcade business, but rather than specialising in one brand or era it deals across vintage and modern watches<\/a>. That can mean anything from a double-red Rolex Sea-Dweller ref. 1665 to a diminutive yellow-gold Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people come to us for a combination of knowledge, attention to detail and, most importantly, trust,\u201d Maunder Watches tells us. \u201cWe\u2019ve spent many years building a strong reputation for offering some of the very best examples of important vintage watch references.\u201d<\/p>\n

That experience, the company says, means being \u201cvery particular about what we buy and sell\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cCondition and originality are everything,\u201d they say. Too many buyers overlook exceptional vintage watches simply because they don’t have the paperwork, when a genuinely original and well-preserved example is ultimately more important. \u201cWith vintage watches, you\u2019re buying the watch first and the accessories second.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their pick: Rolex Military Submariner ref. 5513. \u201cAt the moment, it has to be the full-spec 5513 Military Submariner, or \u2018Milsub\u2019,\u201d the company tells us. This example retains the key details: original 60-track bezel insert, sword hands, engraved caseback and fixed spring bars. \u201cFinding a Milsub with this level of specification, originality and overall quality is increasingly difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"vintageWatches of Knightsbridge.<\/p>\n

1950s Heuer \u201cPre-Carrera\u201d chronograph ref. 404T in stainless steel, with Fab Suisse dial and red tachymeter scale, at Watches of Knightsbridge<\/p>\n

Watches of Knightsbridge<\/p>\n

The trend spotters<\/p>\n

The Sutton family’s roots in trading go back more than 50 years to Morris Sutton’s antiques shop at 91 Portobello Road. His son Simon \u2013 who initially pursued a career as a professional downhill skier \u2013 followed him into antiques before his passion for watches took over. Simon and his son Toby founded Watches of Knightsbridge<\/a> in 2011, and today the business combines direct and private sales with its specialist auction operation.<\/p>\n

The breadth is half the attraction. A military IWC Mark 11 can share space with an elegant Breguet Classique, a vintage Cartier Baignoire or a sculptural 1970s Piaget.<\/p>\n

When we ask what separates one vintage dealer from another, Toby Sutton’s answer is \u201ccuration, quality and knowledge\u201d. Between him and his father there are more than 50 years’ experience, which allows them to range across the obvious collector staples \u2013 \u201cDay-Dates\/GMTs\/Tanks\/Genta designs\u201d \u2013 while keeping an eye on what’s coming next.<\/p>\n

That currently means things such as \u201cstone dial Piaget\/vintage Calatrava\/Rolex Bubble Backs\u201d. As Sutton puts it: \u201cWe have found being early and moving with collector trends helps keep our inventory up to date and more interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their pick: 1980s Piaget Polo in solid gold with onyx dial. Sutton calls it \u201cthe ultimate Piaget model and so much better than the new version!\u201d Also on his radar is a DeLaneau Octagonal with a malachite-and-diamond dial designed by Jean-Claude Gueit soon after he left Piaget: \u201cvery similar design aesthetic and quality but still fly under the radar in terms of current market value.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story originally appeared in About Time, Esquire’s free weekly newsletter dedicated to the world of luxury watches.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5218,284547,8368,207184,2116,111,139,69,284546,251090,145],"class_list":["post-577884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-content-type-default","tag-contentid-5e003a00-c366-481f-9242-fab7c4b41b40","tag-displaytype-long-form-article","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-shorttitle-the-9-uk-vintage-watch-dealers-we-trust","tag-sponsored-false","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}