Vintage Patek

[Tokei]

Hi, am new and keen to buy my first Patek Philippe.

Would like your opinions on the four watches below, quoted in SGD.

1) Are these okay, overpriced or a steal?
2) Which of the four do you recommend?
3) Do original box and warranty affect the overall price significantly?

Thanks in advance!


Patek Philippe 3718 Calatrava 150 Commemorative Limited Edition S$ 16752


Patek Philippe Calatrava 2453 Rosegold S$ 16515


Patek Philippe Calatrava 3796 S$ 14156


Patek Philippe feine Calatrava Ref. 96 von 1944 S$ 19346

[whinetime]

Hey Tokei,

First of all, welcome to the forum!

I am new here myself, since no one has replied, I can answer your questions.

1) You have not provided enough detailed information to answer this question. Price alone tells almost nothing about a vintage watch, there are many more details, such as condition and provenance that make a huge difference.

2) You have not provided enough information to answer this either. If you're asking for a recommendation here based just on looks, then it does not matter what others recommend as their taste will be different from your taste.

3) Define "significantly" first. B & P make a difference, how important that difference will be is up to you.

If I may, I think there's a few reasons you have not gotten many replies to your post:
1) Your post hints at a deficiency of initial research on your own into buying vintage watches before asking for others helps. Buying vintage watches is not easy, there are many factors to consider in terms of the watch itself and "buying the seller" (weird phrasing imo but it's a very true statement). There are some less than honest sellers out there. Caveat Emptor.

2) TRF has a few members who know their stuff when it comes to vintage watches, but not very many, this is a forum that is skewed heavily toward new watches, you may have better luck and better answers on a different site.

3) TRF is a FANTASTIC forum with tons of smart funny people (some weirdos too but ignore them), I hope you stick around and join other conversations on TRF. However, like any forum, you get what you give...A post asking for a lot of serious help for a serious purchase may get less replies if it's someone's first post vs if the questions were posted by a forum member who has been here more than 1 minute and other members recognize the name of the person asking questions and have seen them participate in other threads.

So my advice. Stick around here, introduce yourself, learn more about buying used watches by reading other threads on this forum, contribute to other threads, even a compliment to others if you see a watch you like can be nice...and at the same time also do some serious serious internet searches on your own first, read about the do's and don'ts of buying vintage watches. There is info online you can learn before asking.

Or just buy watch #3. Up to you. YOLO.

See you around new friend.

[MILGAUSS88]

All 4 watches are pretty small.
The first 2 are 33mm, the second 2 are 31mm.
So, I personally would rule out the 2nd two.
I prefer vintage, and like rose gold, but the 2453 appears to have a redone dial. So, out of those 4 I would probably take the 3718.
The 3 vintage Pateks all appear to be at the high end of asking prices.
Personally I would want a watch that was 36mm or larger.
Rare to find a vintage Patek over 36mm, more selection in that size on newer Pateks.

[jfriedkin]

Welcome to the forum. As you will find out. This forum is mainly new PP. However that are a few of us vintage guys that hang around.

It appears that you are looking at two different sort of categories. The two watches (3796 and 3718) I would put into a more “modern” category and the other two (2453 and 96) I would put into “vintage”.

Price on these watches are pretty relative and at nearly any age of the watch is more based on Condition and rarity than anything else.

I don’t think that you will ever steal a PP. Too many buyers for too few watches. However you may overpay.

First you should determine if you really want “vintage” or not?

Second, let your emotions rule your decision. Buy what you love! (it really doesn’t matter what anyone on this forum thinks about YOUR watch)

Third, boxes are nice but you’ll almost never use it. Some people like them. Others don’t care… It’s a personal choice.

Warranty is a very sticky problem. There are dealers that offer warranties on used (or “preowned) Pateks. I am not sure that I would trust my 60 year (or 6 year old) Patek to the non-qualified watch repair service of a dealer. I know they are not sending the watch to Patek for repair. So in my mind any warranty from a Non-PP dealer is nearly worthless in my eyes.

Keep in mind that most all vintage watch have not been serviced in a very long time. Also consider that watches over 25 years old are serviced in Geneva. I have two watch currently being serviced (27 weeks waiting time) and service is expensive.

Enjoy the hunt!