The Watch Collectors' Club runs regular events where we teach members a little about watches, watchmakers, watch

A club for everyone who likes watches.

The Watch Collectors’ Club exists to help our members to learn more about the world of watches. Like us, you may not want to keep your watches forever. You might want or need to sell a watch. This short guide will help you find the best place to sell your watch, and will help make the process as simple as possible for you. 

The first thing you should do when you decide to sell a watch is to assess what type of watch you are selling. The questions you need to answer are: 

Do you have the box and authenticity papers?

What condition is it in? Does it have scratches on the case or the glass?

These factors all contribute to the price you can expect to receive for your watch. Once you have established these things, it is worth researching the price of similar watches. You can do this by using online marketplaces, such as Chrono24. 

Once you’ve worked out what you are selling and how much you might be able to sell the watch for, you need to decide where to sell the watch. The following sections explain the types of watches that you could sell via each channel, and what to expect when using them. 

Sometimes called grey-market dealers, these companies typically specialise in selling nearly new watches. If your watch is a current model from one of the big Swiss brands, a second-hand dealer might be interested in your watch. People buy watches from these dealers because they will often guarantee the authenticity of the watch, they might provide a warranty, and they will often be able to source watches that have long waiting lists (such as the Rolex sports models). 

You can sell your watch directly to them, or you can sell it on consignment. This means that they will advertise your watch in their store, and will pay you when someone buys it from them. Bear in mind the price you see a second-hand dealer sell a watch for is not what you will get by selling a watch to them. Typically, you would expect to pay a 10-20% commission to the dealer when you sell on commission. If the dealer buys your watch straight from you to sell onto their customers, they will aim to make a margin of between 5% and 30% of the value of the watch. This will depend on how quickly they expect to sell your watch. 

You will get the best price from a second-hand dealer if your watch has box and papers, have recently been serviced, and is in good condition.

If your watch is old, unusual or rare, you might find that a specialist dealer is able to pay you the highest price. This is because their customers will trust them to verify the provenance of a watch. This means that they will investigate the watch’s history, particularly whether parts have been replaced. This can drastically affect the value of the watch. These dealers are often experts in particular brands or ages of watch. 

Somlo in London’s Burlington arcade is a great example of a specialist vintage dealer. They are world-leading experts in vintage Omega watches and are the only vintage dealer with an official relationship with Omega. They are also renowned dealers of other high-end vintage watches. Like other dealers, they will sell on commission, or buy directly from you. 

You can also use an online platform or forum to sell your watch directly to a buyer. Some of the most popular are Chrono24, collectingwatches and eBay. These often provide a verification service to give buyers piece of mind that they are buying an authentic watch. Whilst the watch might not sell for the same price that a second-hand dealer would charge, you might end up making more money selling a watch this way, as the sales commission is typically lower. Ed, our Co-Founder, has sold multiple watches on Chrono24, and has found the process very simple. You can also sell directly to a collector using one of the specific watch collector online forums. 

Whether you use a platform or a forum, is vital to provide high-quality pictures – we’ve written about how to take pictures of watches. You must also write accurate descriptions of the watch that you are selling, including highlighting anything that might affect the price of the watch. This might include damage or replacement parts. Follow any guidelines for the platform to reduce the risk of being scammed and make sure that when you do sell a watch, that you package it very securely before posting it – you don’t want it to arrive damaged! Most platforms will now use an escrow service to reduce the risk of fraud from either the buyer or seller. If you are selling an expensive watch it might be worth the security of using a platform to provide marketing, verification and escrow services. 

Selling a watch is easier than many people think. There are plenty of resources to help you understand the value of your watch, and a wide variety of dealers who can sell it for you. You can also use platforms to connect directly with buyers, however, it might take you longer to get a sale. We’ve sold watches using all of the different channels that we’ve explored in this blog. There is no single best way to do it, as it depends on the watch you are selling. It’s important to explore the options specific to your watch and to work out what is best for you. Don’t forget to check out our latest series of watch events. Come and join us to learn more about the world of watches. 

The name Abraham-Louis Breguet is one of the most important in the history of watch-making, and his innovations are still found in the watches we wear today. Many of the features we take for granted all came from this one workshop over a period of around 50 years between 1775 and 1820. His success in selling to Royal Families across Europe created a trend for complicated watchmaking as a status symbol that continues to this day.  

A company named after him still exists to sell fine watches, focused on some of his inventions and modernising his style. Read on to learn more about the master of watchmaking and France's greatest ever inventor, commonly known as Louis Breguet.

While the history of watchmaking is mostly a long series of continual improvements, rarely does one man invent so many different things as Louis Breguet. He was a true innovator, continuing to look to solve problems experienced by watch owners of the time. His focus on practicality and usefulness was different to other expensive watches of the day, which often had decoration, jewels, or impractical case materials such as porcelain or gold. 

He not only invented various mechanisms we find in many watches today, such as a device that automatically winds the watch using movement, but he was also highly influential in watch dial design and innovative materials.

Breguet watches were easy to read. His design ideas for dials, hands, and numerals or numbers, led to features that have been in use ever since. His watch dials were made from metal or porcelain, and were very simple. He used a process called engine turning to create the effects that show the watch functions so well. Dials made like this are less reflective even when made of gold and easier to read. His design for a power reserve, a function that tells you when you next need to wind up the watch, is a classic wedge shape that has been replicated on watches ever since.

He invented a new font for numbers, and they are now known as Breguet numerals. He invented a hand design that made it easy to precisely see what minute it was on a watch with only one hand. These are called Breguet hands by everyone who uses them and they can be found on the current Breguet company's watches.

Breguet designed watches and his workshop of craftsmen made them. They used stock parts made in Switzerland and added the complications, or functions, in the Paris workshop. This allowed for many complications such as calendar features showing the date or day of the week, moonphases, and sounding mechanisms such as the minute repeater. Making these functions reliable and beautiful made Breguet the must-have watch for the rich and famous across Europe. 

The company did not just make watches for the rich. The workshop came up with a clever way of making very high-quality watches for middle-class customers, albeit at a high price. This watch was called the Breguet Souscription. In modern English, it means Subscription, as the watch was paid for with a deposit of a quarter of the price in advance. To keep costs down, the company made them very simply and made them in batches. Both of these ideas were unusual at the time. There is one hand, which is quite long and has a signature "Breguet circle" halfway along to help you see it quickly, which points to a fine track that allows time telling pretty close to the minute. 

In a 50 year career, the number of technical improvements Breguet invented is too many to list, so we will consider three here:

Overcoil Balance Spring: The beating heart of a watch is called the Balance, and this contains a spring. This spring needs to be very reliable in its "springiness" so that the time-keeping is reliable. Making the final "coil" of the spring slightly higher and a different shape from the rest of it allows the main body of the spring to keep its shape more consistently over time. You can see in the picture below the higher final coil going over the rest of the spring, hence the name overcoil. Breguet discovered this and it has been widely used in Balance and Mainsprings ever since.

Tourbillon: A Tourbillon is a very clever device that serves to offset the impact of a pocket watch always being kept vertically in a pocket. It rotates the entire escapement, which is the time-keeping part of the watch mechanism. This means that gravity acts on the spring evenly over time, regardless of the watch's position. today, this complication is unnecessary given improvements to the regulation of other parts of the movement, but when it was invented it was very helpful to keep the watch accurate. The name Tourbillon is French for Whirlwind, as the whole thing looks like a blur of motion when it is moving. 

Self-Winding System: Breguet did not invent the self-winding watch but did make the first reliable mechanism, as he improved on an invention by the great Swiss watchmaker Perrelet. This used an oscillating weight to tick back and forth winding up the mainspring that powers the watch while the user walked around. A variety of this still powers most of the automatic watches we use today.

At this time top watchmakers were very well known across elite society in the country they lived in. Breguet was more than this. He not only survived the entire French Revolution and restoration of the monarchy, he managed to sell watches to everyone involved, including a large number to Napoleon's family. He was made Master Chronometer to the French Navy and even sold watches through a branch in Russia. His workshop sold over 6,000 watches while he was alive, and his son sold at least another 7,000. Breguet was the first true genius of both watch design and watch marketing. 

The next time the industry saw anything like this was the foundation of Patek Philippe in the mid 19th century and their immediate success and sales to the British Royal family following the Great Exhibition of 1851.

It is widely known that the very first record of a wristwatch comes from Breguet's workshop, although sadly the watch itself was lost long ago. The workshop records contain an order and manufacturing process details for a watch to be worn on a bracelet ordered in 1810 for Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples. It is sadly not known what happened to this watch. It is also not understood why this was the only order of its type!

The company Breguet today was resurrected in the 1990s. It is owned by the Swatch Group and is one of the top Haute Horologie manufacturers in the world. Their watches today are based on the fine craftsmanship of Breguet's original workshop, and their technology focus is extremely interesting, creating complications and mechanisms that are at the very top of watch industry engineering. As a result, Breguet watches can be very expensive but are always worth looking into thanks to their fine detailing and incredible craftsmanship.

Abraham-Louis Breguet founded an incredibly productive and important watch workshop. There are so many innovations and inventions to explore that we could write many future Blog Posts on this issue! The Watch Collectors' Club is here to help you explore all areas of the watch world, including the most famous figures of the past. If you like this kind of thing please look out for our events to discuss all this and more with other enthusiasts and collectors. 

Abraham Louis Breguet Innovative watchmaker and inventor. Who was Louis Breguet?

Was Abraham-Louis Breguet the most innovative Watchmaker of all?

A Short Introduction to Louis Breguet

When you look at a modern watch, there is a good chance that it has one of the calendar functions. There are a variety of calendar functions, but they all serve the same purpose: to tell you the date, the day of the week, the month, or the year. This blog will provide you with a brief overview of five of the calendar functions you can find on a watch, in order of how complicated they are, and therefore, how expensive they are likely to be.  

Date watches are the simplest, and most common type of calendar watch. The date function tells you which date of the month it is. The first date watch was patented by a watchmaker called Hammerly in 1915. The date was displayed in the outer-ring of the watch, where the minute and hour indices were. The date was pointed at by an additional hand. This is called a “pointer-date”. However, the date did not adjust automatically. It needed to be adjusted every day by the wearer. 

The next evolution of the date watch was the introduction of a little window to show the date. This is unsurprisingly called the date-window. The first watch to use the date-window was a watch by a now-defunct brand called Mimo, in the 1930’s. It wasn’t until Rolex released the Datejust watch in 1945 that a watch with a date-window automatically updated the date every day. The Datejust is Rolex’s biggest selling watch to this day. Now, you can find the date displayed in a variety of ways on a watch dial; however, the most common methods are the pointer-date, the date-window, and a sub-dial. 

The day-date function is also very popular and widespread on watches. It combines a date display, with an additional window or sub-dial that displays the day of the week. The first watch with a day-function was released by Hammerly, at the same time as they released a watch with a date function. This was the first day-date watch. The most famous day-date watch is the Rolex day-date, which was released in 1956, and has been worn by a string of US Presidents. If you want to read more about day-date watches and how they work, we’ve written a blog, which you can find here. 

A triple-calendar combines a day-date function with a month indicator, which means the watch will display the date, the day of the week, and the month. A triple calendar needs to be adjusted five times a year, as it displays every month as having 31 days. That means that every month with fewer than 30 days needs to be manually adjusted for: February, April, June, September and November. It is believed that the first triple calendar wristwatches were released by Rolex and Vacheron Constantin in the 1920’s. Vacheron Constantin is still know for making beautiful triple calendar watches, based upon a model they released in the 1940’s during a period of great popularity for triple calendar watches. 

Some triple calendar watches also include a moonphase indicator, which displays where the moon is within its monthly cycle. When a moonphase is included, then the triple calendar watch is often called a complete calendar. Hamish, our CEO, has a beautiful Jaeger-LeCoultre Complete Calendar watch. 

Like a triple calendar, an annual calendar watch displays the date, the day of the week and the month. However, unlike the triple calendar watch, and annual calendar will automatically adjust between displaying 30 or 31 days in the month, without the need for adjustment. This means that an annual calendar watch will adjust from the 30th of April to the 1st of May automatically, and then from the 31st May to 1st June, again, without the need for human intervention. An annual calendar watch will need to be adjusted on the 28th of February to either the 1st of March, or the 29th of February during a leap-year.  

The annual calendar watch is relatively new compared to the other types of calendar watch. It was invented in 1996 by Patek Philippe. The watch was the Ref: 5035, and was actually designed by a Swiss University student as a year-end project. The student went on to work for Patek, who released the watch commercially. You can read more about annual calendars and that particular watch here. 

The most complicated calendar watch that we’ll briefly explore in this blog is the perpetual calendar. Like the annual calendar, they display the date, the day of the week and the month. In addition, they also display the year, which means a perpetual calendar can also adjust for leap-years by automatically displaying the 29th February once every four years. This is an incredibly challenging mechanical feat, which means perpetual calendars are usually very expensive watches. 

Patek Philippe also created the first perpetual calendars in wristwatch form. A one-off special order was created for a client in the 1920’s, and then the first serially produced perpetual calendar watch was released in 1941. This was the Patek Philippe Ref: 1526, and is considered by many collectors to be a holy grail watch due to is limited production run of 210 pieces and historical importance.

We at The Watch Collectors Club are here to help you learn more about different types of watches. Calendar watches are very useful, and often beautiful. If you want to see some in real-life, make sure to sign up to our next in-person event. You can find the details here of all of our upcoming events. 

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, please send it on to anyone you know who likes watches. This is a club for everyone who likes watches. 

What are they, and how do they work?

Introduction: A Guide to Calendar Watches 

Join us for a fun, friendly, and relaxing chat about all things watches. We'll show you a couple of the watches from our collections and we'd love to see some of yours. You can send in a pic or we can just load it up on the night. If you'd like to just listen in, that's fine too. You'll see some watches you might not have seen before and maybe even learn something new!

Join us on Zoom to share your watch stories

Online watch meetup, online wathc showcase

WCC Virtual Showcase May 2022

Join The Watch Collectors' Club as we visit The Design Museum in Kensington, London, to see the temporary exhibition of the Oak Collection. This collection of 100 watches is sure to include many rare and fascinating models. We will meet at 2pm outside the front entrance, visit the exhibition, then go to a nearby pub for a drink. Expect an interesting afternoon with fellow watch lovers.

For more details on the Exhibtion, please see the Museum website, here: https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/the-oak-collection

Please register using the link below so that we know to expect you.

Fun, friendly, and relaxed Meetup to explore the watch world and share your stories.

The Watch Collectors' Club visit to see the Oak Collection

WCC visits The Oak Collection

The Oak Collection with The WCC - May 21st 2022

Our Meetups continue to grow and go from strength to strength, so please join us on May 12th for our next in-person General Meetup; from 6:30PM on Thursday 12th May, Central London. It will be a relaxed evening in a private space where you can come and share your passion for watches with like-minded people. We will give two short talks to help you learn more about this fascinating space, and there will be refreshments available. We keep being very pleasantly surprised both by the watches brought along and by the diverse range of people we are getting to know.

Everyone is welcome, whether you have been collecting for years or are just getting started. We are creating a place to share knowledge and help each other out, and you don't even need to own a watch. Please register via the form linked below, and details of the venue in Central London will be sent out the day before the event.

What is a watch meetup? Where is the London watch meetup?

Watch Collectors' Club May Meetup 2022

The Club

Hi everyone. Following on from Hamish’s email last week I wanted to introduce myself to our new members. My name is Ed, and I co-founded The Watch Collectors Club with Hamish. I’ve been collecting watches since my teenage years, and you can read more about some of my favourite watches here. 

As we start 2022, I have been reflecting upon my collection: what I like about it; what I want to change; and how I am hoping to add to it this year. 

Recently my partner was lucky-enough to collect her new Explorer from our local Rolex boutique. Despite writing a blog about why people should and do love Rolex I have never properly considered buying one myself. However, this changed when the new Explorer arrived in our house. I instantly fell in love. My partner’s new watch is a combination of steel and yellow gold, which is a bit of a contradiction for a tool watch such as the Rolex Explorer. Many watch commentators disliked this watch when it was first released but grew to love it over time. Interestingly, this watch is the only time-only tool watch that Rolex has ever made in a precious metal, and I think it’s a great reflection of what Rolex is all about: reliable, robust luxury watches. If you want to learn more about Rolex, make sure to sign up for our Rolex virtual event here.

I hope 2022 is the year that I buy my first Rolex. I’ve put my name down for the most popular Rolex model, the DateJust; however, as is the case with my entire collection, I’ve gone for something a bit out of the ordinary and have ordered a green palm dial version. The dial is created by laser-etching a series of tiny holes into the dial and the palm motif is created when light hits the holes. 

We wrote a series of blogs on independent watchmakers last year, covering the oldest brands and the young upstarts. Whilst I found the stories fascinating, I hadn’t been able to try many on for size. That changed when we attended the WatchProLive event in London, and I was able to try on a wide variety of watches from independent brands – highlighting the value of events! 

Two watches have been playing on my mind since then, and I’m considering buying one of them. 

The first is the Czapek Antarctique Passage de Drake. This recently re-established brand launched a stainless steel sports watch last year, as demand for that type of watch was so high. I particularly like how Czapek have created a watch that has exceptionally high finishing standards, but also has a unique design in a crowded market. To my eyes, it is the modern-day Royal Oak, and hands-on inspection shows that it compares well. Additionally, so few are made that they feel special when you see one. 

The second watch is the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda Chronograph. Again, this is a stainless steel sports watch, but executed in a very classical way. The case and lugs are curved so that they hug the wrist and give the impression that the watch is much smaller on the wrist. I am fascinated by the different brushing techniques used on the case, and the delicate machining of the dial. Overall, I think the watch looks particularly beautiful for something that is designed to go everywhere. 

Like all things, watch collections change over time. I have sold many watches over the past decade, replacing them with watches that are kept for a few years before being sold to other collectors. The watches that I want to buy in 2022 are expensive, so if I am going to buy any of them, I will need to sell a quite a large portion of my existing collection. I’m starting to prepare for that now by rotating my watches daily to see if there are any that I no longer enjoy wearing. I get very attached to watches, so this process usually takes a few cycles through before I decide what to sell. 

During that process of rotating my collection I will probably change my mind and decide that the three watches I’ve talked about won’t give me as much joy as a cheaper watch. Experience tells me that is probably going to happen, as the watch I wore most in 2021 was one of my least-valuable: A Mido Oceanstar Decompression Timer. 

Join us on 20th January for a casual in-person event in central London to tell us what you want your collecting journey to look like in 2022. You must sign up to attend.  

We need people to build this community. If you know of anyone who likes watches, of any kind, please let them know about us, and tell them about our events. It'd be great to have them along.

A Word From Our Co-Founder

Hi, it's Hamish the CEO of The Watch Collectors' Club. I'll start by wishing you a Happy New Year and I hope that you got a good break over the holidays. This blog post is to tell you what we have planned and how you can help!

2022 is going to be a big year for The Watch Collectors' Club as we host a series of fun and engaging events here in London. We will continue our online Showcases and Virtual Talks. We will develop our educational content, bring you a variety of interesting things from around the watch world, and help you learn more about timepieces, no matter what kind of watch sparks your passion.

We can't do this without you. We want as much feedback as you can give us, whether it's on a Blog Post, Event, or simply a question you'd like answered. We're here to help you in any way we can.

We have so many ideas that we want to try, and to know what works we need you to tell us what you liked and didn't like. We won't be offended, it's all part of growing as an organisation. We've already had excellent feedback from our in-person and virtual events and you can be sure that we take it into account for our next efforts. If anything springs to mind at any time, please let us know.

We hope that you find our blog interesting and useful. People tell us they enjoy them and are learning a lot, so if you have something you've always wanted to know about in the watch world, please let us know and we will write it! We will ramp up our educational content this year so please look out for more on our Social Media Channels and Website, including video!

When we have enough followers, we intend to launch an online community where we can talk to each other, share our timepieces and our passion, to learn from each other as well as from Club materials. We don't know what software we will use just yet, but I can assure you we will make sure it is a safe, welcoming and fun place to spend time. Online forums can be intimidating, and Social Media overwhelming. We intend our community to be easy to use, and a friendly place to be.

The COVID pandemic has led to huge restrictions on our ability to hold events, and more clearly, a drop in interest for people to try new events as they worry about infection. 

We feel that with the worst stage of the pandemic behind us, 2022 is the time to experiment with different kinds of watch events. Some will be educational, some will explore the fringes of the watch world, some will help you meet other watch lovers, and some will focus on brand new watches. We want to move away from stuffy boutiques and strict brand guidelines. We want to experiment with locations that make learning fun, make it easy to enjoy the watches and get to know people. We want to do it all safely and in a way that welcomes people from all walks of life.

Do you have an idea for an event you'd like us to put on? What do you want us to do? What kind of thing is watch related and might be fun? We have no monopoly on ideas, and the watch world is so conservative almost nothing has been tried. We're here to change that, so do let us know your thoughts.

We are holding an in-person and a Virtual Event this month, and indeed every month in 2022. The in-person Meetup will be relaxed and intimate, somewhere in Central London. We will ask all attendees to register a negative lateral flow test before attending. It's on Thursday, January 20th from 6:30PM and you can register here.

Our next Virtual Event is A Short History of Rolex, hosted by yours truly, where we'll run you through just a tiny part of the Rolex story to help you understand how they have maintained their quality and reputation for so long. It'll be on Zoom, it's completely free, and it's at 8:00PM on Monday 24th January. Please register here.

The more people who can help us build this community, or if you know of anyone who likes watches, of any kind, please let them know about us, and tell them about our events. It'd be great to have them along. 

What does the Watch Collectors' Club do? What is the Watch Collectors' Club?

Watch Collectors' Club Plans for 2022

What to expect from The Watch Collectors' Club in 2022

A key part of The Watch Collectors’ Club offering is holding regular in-person events, for our members to get together to share their watches and learn something new. We paused in-person events for 18 months during the pandemic; however, we are pleased to be back to running monthly events. Here are some of the watches we saw, and a brief overview of what we learnt last night at our in-person event in Central London. Make sure to check your emails or our website for upcoming events. 

As with all of our events, our members wore a really diverse set of watches, at a range of price points and rarity. However, every single watch had a great story. Here are some of the highlights. 

One of our members brought this spectacular Rolex Daytona to share with the group. The Daytona is one of the most popular and coveted sports watches amongst collectors at the moment. If you want to find out more about why sports watches are so popular, we’ve written a short blog explaining it.  What we particularly love about this watch is that whilst it looks like a steel Daytona, it is actually made of solid white gold. Rolex make their own gold for their watches – the white version has a warmth to it which distinguishes it from the colder, ‘bluer’ look of steel. This particularly model has a deep blue dial, which makes the hands very legible. A truly beautiful watch! 

We love hearing some of the great stories behind watches, and this watch has one of my favourite stories. It’s a Tag Heuer Formula 1 Gulf Edition from approximately 2012, and was gifted to the owner by his father for his 21st birthday. The owner was due to move to Dubai, and his father thought this watch was related to the Persian Gulf, and would be an appropriate present. He hadn’t realised that the watch was a collaboration with the Gulf Oil company, a major motor racing sponsor from the 60’s and 70’s. You might recognise the colours from the Porsche that Steve McQueen drive in the film ‘Le Mans’. We love the combination of two great motor racing heritages into one unusual watch. You can read about Tag’s racing heritage here, and a history of Gulf Oil’s sponsorship here. My favourite part of the story is that the owner is now an oil trader! 

 We know that our members love pilots watches, and that a few of them are amateur pilots. One of those amateur pilots came along to the event and showed off the watch that he takes flying with him. This is a Citizen Promaster Skyhawk A-T. Modern planes are full of very clever instruments to help the pilot, but amateur pilots of smaller aircraft always need a back-up set of important and accurate functions in the event of an emergency. This Citizen has lots of functions, but the most important is the slide rule around the outside of the bezel. This functions as a calculator and allows the pilot to calculate some vital values, such as fuel consumption and ascent/descent rates. Like all Citizen watches, this one has lots of useful functions for telling the time, including: countdown timers, two alarms, a chronograph, multiple time-zones and a perpetual calendar. This is an incredibly useful watch for pilots, and it was great to see it in real life. Despite its large size it was very comfortable on the wrist. 

At each in person event, we do a few short talks, with the aim of teaching something to our members. This event saw us explain why we think you should consider buying a vintage watch, and a few tips to get you started. You can read our guide to buying vintage watches here.  

In-person events are a great way for our members to get together and learn about their watches, and those of other members. 

In-person events are a core part of what we offer our members. They are a great way to have a look at a wide variety of watches, share your passion with others, and learn a little. The next in-person event will be a tour of the “Oak Collection” at the Design Museum on Sunday 12th December. The Oak Collection is one of the greatest watch collections of all time, and this is the first time it has been seen in public. 

The Watch Collectors Club aims to make the watch world accessible, and we know that many of our members can’t get to Central London. Until we offer events in other cities, we will continue to run virtual events. The next virtual event is on Monday 20th December. Remember to check your emails for the invite. 

If you know anyone who might be interested in learning more, or has some great watches to share, please let them know about us. Communities are always better when they have lots of members.

Our Second Event In Central London

A Return to Regular Events – The Watches We Saw

Before the outbreak of the Covid-19, we held three test events with friends and family to refine our format. Whilst there were restrictions on holding in-person events in the UK, we held regular virtual events, which were a great way for us to connect with our members and a forum for them to learn a little about watches and share their passion. 

Last night, after a two-year delay, The Watch Collectors Club held its first in-person event. It was a fantastic evening in Central London. It was filled with interesting conversation, lots of learning, and one or two surprises. Thank you to all our members who joined us – we had a lot of fun, and we hope you did too. If you couldn’t make this event, don’t worry, we are holding another in-person event on November 18th, in Central London. 

At each in-person event, we do two short educational talks. At this event, Hamish our CEO ran two talks. The first covered how to appraise and appreciate a watch. The second covered how to collect watches. Below we have included a short overview of the first talk, which we encourage you to try out whilst reading this blog.    

Firstly, have a look at the face of the watch. This is called the dial. What colour is it, does it have a pattern? Is the text printed, or does it stick out from the dial? What about the indices, or hour markers? What shape and colour are these? Are they easy to read? What colour and shape are the hands? Are they solid, or skeletonised?

Now have a look at the case of the watch. How big is it? What material is it made of? Many watches are steel, but yours could be gold, platinum, titanium, or plastic. Is it heavy or light? What shape is? Round watch cases are the most common; however, watches can be a variety of shapes. Hamish wore a watch with a rectangular case whilst giving this talk. Turning the watch over in your hands – study the finishing of the case. Is it shiny, or matte? How many edges does the case have, and are they rounded or sharp? 

Finally, what bracelet does the watch have? Is it metal, leather, rubber or plastic? How does the watch feel when you wear it?

The attendees then launched into lively discussions with the people closest to them. They talked about what their favourite features were, and what they had just noticed for the first time. Try this at home and see if you notice anything new about the watch you are wearing. 

One of our favourite things about in-person events is being able to compare the same watches from different years. The Rolex Submariner was introduced in 1953 and is seen by many as the quintessential diving watch. Rolex focus on continuous improvement to their watches, so there are scores of different iterations of the Submariner dating from the 1950’s up to the current catalogue. Two of our members wore submariners, with a 20-year age gap. It was fascinating to see the subtle differences between the two. The smaller model dates from 1999, whilst the larger model is from 2018. Despite both being Rolex Submariners, they felt and wore very differently.  If you want to find out more about the different varieties of Submariners, Hodinkee have written a comprehensive guide here. 

One of our members brought a Grand Seiko watch with him. Grand Seiko is the high-end brand of the Seiko group. You can learn more about it here. The case and the movement are finished to an incredibly high standard, which lots of facets to the case, and beautiful engraving on the movement, as you can see in the pictures below. 

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was that one of our members had a new Casio Pacman watch delivered to the event. This was a very cool watch, with vintage styling and an amazing laser-etched Pacman case-back. 

In-person events are a core part of what we offer our members. They are a great way to have a look at a wide variety of watches, share your passion with others, and learn a little. The next in-person event is on November 18th, in Central London. The Watch Collectors Club aims to make the watch world accessible, and we know that many of our members can’t get to Central London. Until we offer events in other cities, we will continue to run virtual events. The next virtual event is on Sunday 7th November. Remember to check your emails for the invite. 

Review of The Watch Collectors' Club In-Person Meetup October 2021

In-person Meetup October 2021

Over the last few months, we have highlighted Microbrand watches and explored the world’s largest watch groups and what benefits they bring to watch lovers. We hope you have enjoyed exploring many of the amazing watches these companies produce. This week we bring you a short update on The Watch Collectors’ Club and what we are planning next. 

Here in the UK, the restrictions over social events are coming to an end and we are preparing to return to in-person events. This has always been the core reason the club exists, and we cannot wait to get started.

We are planning to host one in early November, somewhere in central London. It will be a relaxed evening for you to come and explore some fantastic watches, share your watch stories, and learn a little from us as we give a couple of short engaging talks. We will send all the details out via email, but also please keep an eye on our Events page.

We are hosting another Virtual Showcase, on Thursday, September 23rd at 6:30pm, and we encourage you to get involved with a watch from any brand from the large watch companies. This covers a long list of some of the most famous brands in the watch world, and we are really excited to see some of your examples. 

If you have a watch from one of these brands you would like to talk about, please let us know as soon as possible via email or on our social media channels. As usual, it will be a relaxed session where we get to share the stories behind our watches, how we got them, and what we like about them. You can read about some of the watches featured in prior events here and here.

You should notice an uptick in our Social Media activity this month. We will create more informative posts on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn based on our blog posts and advertising our events. You should also look out for a new weekly roundup of five awesome articles from around the watch world. They will highlight the most interesting content from magazines, blogs and news outlets that will help make the watch world simple. Expect a wide range of topics, watches and viewpoints, all brought to you by us. You will start to receive this automatically but will be able to opt out if you’d like.

We at The Watch Collectors’ Club are here to educate, entertain and help. We are so excited to be hosting events again and hope you are excited to join in. The more we can help you the better, so please keep sending feedback, ideas, and any issues you have, so we can keep making the club something more people will want to be a part of.

If you have any ideas for events you’d like to come to or want to know more about what we plan to do, please get in touch! If you know anyone who might like to come along, please make sure they follow us either by signing up to our email list or on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Club progress and plans in September 2021

The Watch Collectors' Club Progress September 2021

Club plans and a return to in person events!

An Update on Club Progress September 2021

We are delighted to announce our new website is up and running. You can see our new colours, logo and layout here. We hope that you like it. 

The Watch Collectors’ Club exists to bring people together to learn, explore, and share their passion for watches. We aim to add more resources over time as we grow, and as we ramp up our events we will have lots of interesting material to share. Here are the new highlights:

The Blog page is now fully searchable and categorised by topic. This will make it easier for you to find what interests you.

We’ve created a Dictionary, or Glossary, of the most important watch terms so you can master all the basics. The pictures are simple and clear, and we have tried to make the definitions as straightforward as possible. We want to make everything in the world of watches easy to understand and accessible, and our website will be a great resource for our members.

We have a new Events page, where we will list all upcoming events, both Virtual and In Person. If you miss what we are up to via our social media or email, then check here to make sure you can be involved. Soon we will also make it so that you can register directly on our website.

Finally, we want to highlight our Club Plans page. We are a young business, so our plans will evolve constantly. Many of them are ambitious and exciting, so we want to share with you what we are aiming for.

We cannot do well for our supporters and members without feedback. Please give us any and all feedback on the new website, the content, and our ideas. Only by responding to what you tell us can we improve what we do. Anything goes, please! Just let us know via email or on social media. 

We are so excited to launch this platform as we enter the next phase of our growth. Most importantly, this will include a return to in person events, as well as continuing our virtual events via Zoom. The next virtual event is a Microbrands Watch Showcase on Thursday July 22nd at 6:30PM BST. 

We hope to see as many of you as possible at these events as we can really start to grow the Club. Isf you like what we do and know anyone else who might be interested, please let them know where to find us. We are active on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and via email. We hope to see you soon.

An Update from The Watch Collectors’ Club – New Website Launch

I first became interested in watches through my Dad and his extensive collection. Then extended my watch knowledge through my partner. It’s pretty uncommon for women to collect watches, and those who do were probably, like me, introduced to the joy of watches through a male figure in their lives.

That’s not always been the case. Watches are tools for women as well as men. There have been lots of famous women who have used watches as they achieved amazing things. Amelia Earhart wore a Longines when she flew across the Atlantic. Mercedes Gleitze wore a Rolex Oyster as she became the first British woman to swim the channel. The marketing that resulted from this feat helped popularise the Rolex Oyster, and started Rolex’s long association with watches designed for adventurers.

However, nowadays it makes sense for watch brands to focus their marketing on men, as two thirds of Swiss watch sales are made to men.

One of the reasons for this is the current style of ladies watches. There is not much variety in women’s watch designs. They are often small, many will have diamonds, they often don’t have any additional features, and they are almost always powered by a battery, rather than an automatic movement. There is nothing wrong with these features, but the lack of variety makes it difficult to build an interesting collection.

My first watch was a Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso – I still love it to this day. One of the reasons I bought this watch (other than the fantastic service and welcoming environment of the JLC boutique at Harrods), was that it was one of the first women’s watches I found that looked different. It was a manual wind watch, with a pretty plain dial. The rectangular case can be flipped over, so that the dial is protected. This feature was designed in the 1930s for polo players, to stop their watches being damaged. The design has been so successful that it has not changed since.

This was the first, and only watch that I have bought brand new. I struggle to find watches that are the right size for me, and that don’t need the battery replacing every five years.

I stumbled across an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak on Cara Barrett’s Instagram page and fell in love. She has also inspired my next 3 watch purchases and is definitely worth following.

My wrist is very small (as was my budget) so I couldn’t buy the watch new. When I found my watch on the Watchfinder, I was overjoyed. It’s 33mm in diameter, and it is stainless steel. It feels indestructible, and the bracelet hugs my wrist perfectly. The face is plain and very easy to read. My watch is from the early noughties, with an automatic movement.

Audemars Piguet stopped making small automatic Royal Oaks shortly after my watch was built, putting a battery-powered movement into the model instead. They have recently listened to their buyers and have just released a new small automatic Royal Oak – which has been very well received.

Which brings me on to my final watch. A 30th birthday present from my partner – a gold vintage Omega 30T2.

My second, second-hand watch. My first vintage watch. This again is the perfect size for me, as vintage men’s watches are generally smaller. Like all of my watches, it is really simple and a classic design. It’s also another manual-wind watch.

Unlike the two other watches that I’ve spoken about, this one was not designed to be robust. I have to be careful not to wear it near water, or doing any activity where it might get bashed on something. But as a dress watch, it’s perfect. I can change the leather strap to a variety of colours, with each different colour making it feel like a different watch.

The watch industry is slowly starting to improve the quality of its offering to women, as more high-profile women are displaying an interest in watches in the public eye. As I mentioned, Audemars Piguet have started to widen their offering to those with smaller wrists. Other brands are starting to launch high-end watches in smaller sizes, targeted at women. A Lange and Sohne have the Little Lange 1, MB&F have the legacy machine, and Patek Philippe have replaced the quartz movement in the Twenty Four range with a new automatic movement, and a round case.

The watch industry could do more to encourage women to buy and enjoy watches. The Watch Collectors Club is for everyone who likes watches, and we want more women to be a part of the club. Please send this on to any women that you know who like watches, or who might like to learn more. 

I first became interested in watches through my Dad and his extensive collection. Then extended my watch knowledge through my partner. It’s pretty uncommon for

I'm a female and I like watches

We invite you to join our community, a club that educates people and helps them navigate their way around the world of watches. 

This blog will start the journey for you, educating you on many different aspects of the world of watches, starting with the very basics. We hope you enjoy it, and if you do, please spread the word.

We are really excited to meet you. If you have a moment, please follow us on Instagram (link at bottom of blog), or join our mailing list. 

The online platform will be broad, easy to understand, and useful to members who want to learn in an informal and interactive environment. It will cover watches, watchmakers, watch brands, and the history of the industry. There will be a lively forum, and many useful services presented via partners to members, to meet their needs as watch collectors.

When people feel comfortable, we will restart our events. Members can come see some interesting watches, and meet other members to share and learn. Each event includes a short talk on an area of interest in the watch industry. 

We understand the concerns around the Coronavirus and will take all possible precautions, including choosing our venues very carefully, as we have always done.

Event quality will not be compromised, regardless of the partners, location or attendees

Education and sociability are the core of the club


Every member can access the same resources

My Collection in 2022

Club plans for 2022

A Return to Regular Events – The Watches We Saw

Our First In-Person Event

An Update on Club Progress September 2021

An Update from The Watch Collectors’ Club – New Website Launch

I'm a female and I like watches

Introducing: The Watch Collectors Club