[motoikkyu]

I shop the secondary market for nearly every aspect of my life. This is not just cheapness, although my stingy nature plays a role. Why limit myself to what is available in the mall or retail department store when I have the entire 80-year history of consumer goods to play in? Example: cookware. Every few years, a new craze, an "ultimate" product -teflon-aluminum to cephalon to ceramic, none of them last and health benefits are found to be questionable. I cook in 100-year-old cast iron: the health benefits are documented and it holds the heat evenly.
Vintage watches are the same thing: you get to choose from your favorite designs of the entire previous CENTURY of production. Yeah, some of them have patina, sometimes that adds to the charm, sometimes it detracts (a little). It's just part of the game: if it looks too horrible, you can update or restore. I've had cast-iron bead-blasted and had new "patina" on it within a fortnight.