A guide in buying vintage Day-date

[Verdi]

Hello fellow vintage lovers,

Long story short, my ultimate dress watch would be a vintage day-date on a leather strap. Not interested in the jubile bracelet as I am only looking at wearing the watch on leather to go with a black suit whenever I need to attend a function etc.

Having said that I have started to look around. By all means Im in no rush. It might take me months or it might take me a few years to acquire this watch as some critaria have to be met.

I intend to buy an original condition piece, all elements to match the period. It's a must not be overpolished and an exotic language day wheel would be a bonus. However the most important thing is the condition and.......price.

Kind of did my homework and read the history of the model, referance numbers, movements etc.
However nothing can replace your advice and opinions. What to avoid, what to look for and all that jazz.....
Pls be my guest in sharing similar experiences, ownership experience and any other views that you have on the subject.

The usual questions would be:
-shall I look for a post 77 model with a quick set date? Is that important?
-plexiglass vs sapphire
-hack vs non hack
-yg vs wg.....(I personally prefer yg for this model)
-when was the watch sold on leather?




Thanks

[Haywood_Milton]

If you're not hung up on the vintage aspects of acrylic glass, pie-pan dial etc (= 1803 and similar) then I would definitely suggest going for the 18038 series.

The first five-digit models brought sapphire glass which is so much more resistant to general wear but far more important and practical is their 3055 calibre movement that has the single quick-set feature. This makes the short months of the year a lot easier to cope with, or setting the watch for one of the dress occasions you say you will wear it for.

White gold versions have their attraction but it's a bit of a specialised area. You'll find it a lot easier and cheaper to find a yellow gold version.

I believe that all five-digit watches were originally sold on bracelets, but it is these which fail first so you should easily be able to find a head whose bracelet has been scrapped, or with a tatty bracelet that you could scrap yourself.

While there are periods where Day-Dates were not offered on straps, there were times when they were / are and I wouldn't get too hung up about it. It will work, just ensure the dial and strap colour work well together. Black dial / black strap or silver dial / brown strap could work well.

No relevance to you, but I recently picked up a parcel of about thirty NOS silver / diamond dot dials for 3x55 calibre Day-Dates. Might take me a while to use them all but in this climate the man with parts has power!

Haywood

[dysondiver]

33 dials ,,,, wow

[Haywood_Milton]

Originally Posted by dysondiver

33 dials ,,,, wow

There were about 150 NOS silver Datejust / diamond dials I picked up at the same time. Have to take your chance when these things come up!

Haywood

[crowncollection]

Originally Posted by Verdi

Hello fellow vintage lovers,



Long story short, my ultimate dress watch would be a vintage day-date on a leather strap. Not interested in the jubile bracelet as I am only looking at wearing the watch on leather to go with a black suit whenever I need to attend a function etc.



Having said that I have started to look around. By all means Im in no rush. It might take me months or it might take me a few years to acquire this watch as some critaria have to be met.



I intend to buy an original condition piece, all elements to match the period. It's a must not be overpolished and an exotic language day wheel would be a bonus. However the most important thing is the condition and.......price.



Kind of did my homework and read the history of the model, referance numbers, movements etc.

However nothing can replace your advice and opinions. What to avoid, what to look for and all that jazz.....

Pls be my guest in sharing similar experiences, ownership experience and any other views that you have on the subject.



The usual questions would be:

-shall I look for a post 77 model with a quick set date? Is that important?

-plexiglass vs sapphire

-hack vs non hack

-yg vs wg.....(I personally prefer yg for this model)

-when was the watch sold on leather?









Thanks

Originally Posted by Haywood_Milton

If you're not hung up on the vintage aspects of acrylic glass, pie-pan dial etc (= 1803 and similar) then I would definitely suggest going for the 18038 series.

The first five-digit models brought sapphire glass which is so much more resistant to general wear but far more important and practical is their 3055 calibre movement that has the single quick-set feature. This makes the short months of the year a lot easier to cope with, or setting the watch for one of the dress occasions you say you will wear it for.

White gold versions have their attraction but it's a bit of a specialised area. You'll find it a lot easier and cheaper to find a yellow gold version.

I believe that all five-digit watches were originally sold on bracelets, but it is these which fail first so you should easily be able to find a head whose bracelet has been scrapped, or with a tatty bracelet that you could scrap yourself.

While there are periods where Day-Dates were not offered on straps, there were times when they were / are and I wouldn't get too hung up about it. It will work, just ensure the dial and strap colour work well together. Black dial / black strap or silver dial / brown strap could work well.

No relevance to you, but I recently picked up a parcel of about thirty NOS silver / diamond dot dials for 3x55 calibre Day-Dates. Might take me a while to use them all but in this climate the man with parts has power!

Haywood

All 1800 and 18000 series daydate a could be bought on a strap new, In fact you got two straps. Cheers

To the op I would suggest a 18000 series for daily wear.

[Haywood_Milton]

Ha-ha! This is right up Crowncollection's street; he can smell a post about gold models at 50 paces!

I wonder if the strap option was offered in all territories.

Don't remember seeing the 3155 calibre 182xx series offered on straps in the Uk.....but am sure you'll know for sure.

Glad that we concur on the advice to the OP. I always found an 1803 hard to live with, the setting being something of a faff.

H

[crowncollection]

Originally Posted by Haywood_Milton

Ha-ha! This is right up Crowncollection's street; he can smell a post about gold models at 50 paces!



I wonder if the strap option was offered in all territories.



Don't remember seeing the 3155 calibre 182xx series offered on straps in the Uk.....but am sure you'll know for sure.



Glad that we concur on the advice to the OP. I always found an 1803 hard to live with, the setting being something of a faff.



H

As a daily wear I concur with you completely 18000 is more durable and easier in general to deal with.

[Boaters]

Haywood you never cease to amaze me 150 dials wow your the vintage man

[JustinK]

I definitly agree for a daily the 18038 is more practical but the 1803's seem to have a lot more dial variations. For some it's a sin but I keep my 1803 on a winder so I can just grab it and go. If you wear it daily it would be of no use but in a rotation it's much more convenient not to have to set it.

Here are mine on straps the blue 18038 and black is an 1803. Happy hunting!

[JustinK]

Ipad

[crowncollection]

Originally Posted by JustinK

I definitly agree for a daily the 18038 is more practical but the 1803's seem to have a lot more dial variations. For some it's a sin but I keep my 1803 on a winder so I can just grab it and go. If you wear it daily it would be of no use but in a rotation it's much more convenient not to have to set it.

Here are mine on straps the blue 18038 and black is an 1803. Happy hunting!

I have to disagree 18000 had the greatest range of dials for any date date series

[tomilg]

JustinK,

Both of those on Suede Straps look fantastic!!!

Well Played my friend, Well Played!!!

[JustinK]

Originally Posted by crowncollection

I have to disagree 18000 had the greatest range of dials for any date date series

All the different minute track and marker combinations on the 1803 is what I was basing my opinion on. I also like the matte dials which I have not seen on the 18000's.

Thinking about it now I agree the 18000 does have pages of dial options.

[JustinK]

Originally Posted by tomilg

JustinK,

Both of those on Suede Straps look fantastic!!!

Well Played my friend, Well Played!!!

Thanks! They are my favorite type of strap to wear with gold.

[Verdi]

Wow.
Great replies! Thanks very much.
It is exactly the info I was hoping to get.

Yes, I do have the option of buying a watch with the original bracelet that is overused and neeeds replacement. I'd scrap it for cash and that would bring the price down a bit. Only interested in the head as explained.
How much would a bracelet bring if scraped? Need to consider this aspect.

Dial wise, I'm looking mainly for a black, silver or white dial (love the blue ones though). Easy to read. I find champagne dials a bit hard to read so I'd rule them out. Same goes for any diamond dials.
Anything I should know about different colors?

[waspy1]

Originally Posted by Verdi

Wow.
Great replies! Thanks very much.
It is exactly the info I was hoping to get.

Yes, I do have the option of buying a watch with the original bracelet that is overused and neeeds replacement. I'd scrap it for cash and that would bring the price down a bit. Only interested in the head as explained.
How much would a bracelet bring if scraped? Need to consider this aspect.

Dial wise, I'm looking mainly for a black, silver or white dial (love the blue ones though). Easy to read. I find champagne dials a bit hard to read so I'd rule them out. Same goes for any diamond dials.
Anything I should know about different colors?

There's really no need to scrap a bracelet unless totally wrecked. Even a badly worn bracelet should get over 2000usd which would be more than scrap value. Refurbishment costs around 1000usd and it would be good for many more years.

[Verdi]

Ok, so around 2k usd in a bracelet regardless how used.
I know Michael Young refurbishes them for 1k.

Good, I can factor in a 2k $ overall cost reduction if I buy a watch on bracelet.

[crowncollection]

Originally Posted by Verdi

Ok, so around 2k usd in a bracelet regardless how used.
I know Michael Young refurbishes them for 1k.

Good, I can factor in a 2k $ overall cost reduction if I buy a watch on bracelet.

Here are some 18000 series dial choices in the colours you specify

[Verdi]

Thanks a lot gents!

Another aspect I would like to touch on is the price. From where I stand the way I look at it, the watch has to cost no more than 8k $ (quick set model).
The new Day-Date 36mm on leather can be bought NIB for 15-16k $. Used ones go for around 13-14k $.
Am I making sense? The vintage has to be lower than 8k $ to make sense financially.

[JustinK]

Not sure about Dubai but in the states I see the 18038 head only starting just under 6K. The double quicks are a little more but you should be able to find something nice for under 8K.

[Verdi]

From my research, vintage Day-date starts at 5k $ mark. These are usually early models, non hack, non quick set movements.
The upgraded Day-date with crystal sapphire and quick set go for 6-8k $ depinding on condition, service, box and papers.....
States are the biggest watch market ane prices are a bit lower.
Im not taking Dubai as reference.


Based on your valuable feedback, gents, I did decide that an upgraded
model is what I want and I am focusing in 18000 serials.

[michael067]

Check HQ Milton in SF, they have a bunch of vintage DD's, I picked up a 72 DD with Sigma Linen Dial a few months ago, love it.

[motoikkyu]

One of the advantages of the non-quick, IMHO, is the possibility of getting the Wide Boy dial and hands. I think they look awesome, and you can't get that on the later variants. It looks vintage because it IS vintage.

[Verdi]

@michael
Thanks. I'll be looking around at various vintage dealers.

@Motoikkyu
That's right. Those dials have a certain charm that I do like. But the upgrdes on the later models are equally important to me. Quick set and sapphire glass are great.

[swish77]

Despite the advantage of the quickset movement, I vote for the acrylic model. Not sure you can beat it as a cool vintage dress watch, especially on a strap. (A little too blingy for my taste on a gold bracelet.) I had a WG model (1964) for a while, and loved it. Try to get one that has been serviced recently. The movements on DDs are especially expensive to service. Good luck in your search.

[Verdi]

@swish
Thanks for sharing. Your watch is in pristine condition.

I must be honest. If I find one like yours for the right moneu it would be hard not to pull tje trigger.
Strap only for me too.

[crowncollection]

Originally Posted by Verdi

@swish
Thanks for sharing. Your watch is in pristine condition.

I must be honest. If I find one like yours for the right moneu it would be hard not to pull tje trigger.
Strap only for me too.

If you need to see some strap choices let me know.

[el1125]

Buy low and sell high! 😉😉

[waQstar]

Originally Posted by JustinK

I definitly agree for a daily the 18038 is more practical but the 1803's seem to have a lot more dial variations. For some it's a sin but I keep my 1803 on a winder so I can just grab it and go. If you wear it daily it would be of no use but in a rotation it's much more convenient not to have to set it.

Here are mine on straps the blue 18038 and black is an 1803. Happy hunting!

Wow, awesome piece.. The blue is so nice...

[Verdi]

Hi everyone,

As I mentioned in my earlier posts I'm kind of set on a 18000 series piece. I've been looking on various websites and forum sale section.
Prices are between 8.5-11.5 in average. (Head only it starts at around 7k usd). Difference is made by the existence of box, papers, service done or not.

I have decided that I want a watch in as good condition as it gets, not polished if possible and the papers would be a bonus. What should I pay for this? One thing is the asking price and another thing is the real market value.

Also, is it ok to think that I can easily outsource a different dial if I buy a watch that ticks all the boxes apart from the dial color? Would you do that? Is it reasonable to do such thing?