1981 - a bad year for watches?
Discussion
I've set up an email alert on Chrono24 for all watches from 1981 in the hope that something interesting eventually comes up. For some reason 95%+ of the watches are Rolexes. Is there some reason why they're so prolific in the early 80s? Was hoping to find an Omega, IWC or JLC, but without success.
BobToc said:
I've set up an email alert on Chrono24 for all watches from 1981 in the hope that something interesting eventually comes up. For some reason 95%+ of the watches are Rolexes. Is there some reason why they're so prolific in the early 80s? Was hoping to find an Omega, IWC or JLC, but without success.
Early eighties was the beginning of the yuppie era. Rolex sales sky rocketed as it was all about showy wealth. 
Bad year for watches? You could say that! 
The Quartz Crisis was in full swing by then and the Swiss watch industry was on it's knees waiting for the apocalypse to put it out of it's misery- SSIH (Omega, Tissot conglomerate) failed in '81 and ASAUG (Longines, ESA/ETA conglomerate) heaved it's last breath around the same time. Rolex were relatively unaffected by the crisis as their prestige was such that the influx of accurate eastern quartz watches wasn't gunning for their market, and their Quartz watches were just as expensive as their mechanicals anyway IIRC, but the big guys were eaten alive as their foundation was devoured.
There will be watches around from then, but a lot will be quartz (it was a very cool new thing back then, why use a Nokia once the iPhone was out?) and thus treated as junk these days. Mechanical Ingeniers exist from around then, but were really unpopular (and thus now very collectable) & Speedmasters should still be around, I might be wrong, but I think JLC brought back the reverso in 82 (I think) but I'm pretty sure they were almost all quartz back then- JLC made lots of quartz stuff too.
The Quartz Crisis was in full swing by then and the Swiss watch industry was on it's knees waiting for the apocalypse to put it out of it's misery- SSIH (Omega, Tissot conglomerate) failed in '81 and ASAUG (Longines, ESA/ETA conglomerate) heaved it's last breath around the same time. Rolex were relatively unaffected by the crisis as their prestige was such that the influx of accurate eastern quartz watches wasn't gunning for their market, and their Quartz watches were just as expensive as their mechanicals anyway IIRC, but the big guys were eaten alive as their foundation was devoured.There will be watches around from then, but a lot will be quartz (it was a very cool new thing back then, why use a Nokia once the iPhone was out?) and thus treated as junk these days. Mechanical Ingeniers exist from around then, but were really unpopular (and thus now very collectable) & Speedmasters should still be around, I might be wrong, but I think JLC brought back the reverso in 82 (I think) but I'm pretty sure they were almost all quartz back then- JLC made lots of quartz stuff too.
Edited by glazbagun on Friday 11th March 22:59
To give you an idea of how times have changed, a Submariner was £408 ($950USD in 1980 dollars)
The 1981 Speedmaster on the right of this brochure is quoted as being £294, the white dial seamaster is £328.
The two gold plated quartz DeVille's on the right of this image which look like something your grandad might have worn are (R->L) £325 and £345, respectively. They would be a very poor investment!
Having said that, the good news is that the automatics on the same page as the speedmaster are all going to be a fraction of the cost of an equivelant year Rolex. I'm no Omega buff, but they'll probably be Omega ~1012 movements which, while they're not as nice as ye olde Omega movements, are decent enough timekeepers and there's quite a few parts still out there for them.
Looking at these reminds me of how cool I thought my friends Dad's calculator watch was. My Nephew probably thinks the same about smart watches.
The 1981 Speedmaster on the right of this brochure is quoted as being £294, the white dial seamaster is £328.
The two gold plated quartz DeVille's on the right of this image which look like something your grandad might have worn are (R->L) £325 and £345, respectively. They would be a very poor investment!
Having said that, the good news is that the automatics on the same page as the speedmaster are all going to be a fraction of the cost of an equivelant year Rolex. I'm no Omega buff, but they'll probably be Omega ~1012 movements which, while they're not as nice as ye olde Omega movements, are decent enough timekeepers and there's quite a few parts still out there for them.
Looking at these reminds me of how cool I thought my friends Dad's calculator watch was. My Nephew probably thinks the same about smart watches.
Edited by glazbagun on Friday 11th March 23:41
I'd take a small bet that these, in time to come, will appreciate nicely.
http://www.watch-wiki.net/index.php?title=JLC_630
Different times, and unlikely to see the likes again from a Manufacture.
ETA. Oops, I'm a bit late to the party - circa 1987
http://www.watch-wiki.net/index.php?title=JLC_630
Different times, and unlikely to see the likes again from a Manufacture.
ETA. Oops, I'm a bit late to the party - circa 1987
Edited by tumble dryer on Friday 11th March 23:42
tumble dryer said:
I'd take a small bet that these, in time to come, will appreciate nicely.
http://www.watch-wiki.net/index.php?title=JLC_630
Different times, and unlikely to see the likes again from a Manufacture.
ETA. Oops, I'm a bit late to the party - circa 1987
A small, bi-colour meca-quartz chrono? I can't see any resurgence in demand for these, these were a struggle to sell 25 years ago. Can't see these becoming desirable.... My 2c http://www.watch-wiki.net/index.php?title=JLC_630
Different times, and unlikely to see the likes again from a Manufacture.
ETA. Oops, I'm a bit late to the party - circa 1987
Edited by tumble dryer on Friday 11th March 23:42
Depends if your looking for something from 1981, or something "from" 1981...
You can buy a Sub originally sold in any year from the 50's onwards, an Oyster from the 40's (?) onwards, a Santos or a Reverso from the 20's onwards.
But is a Sub sold in 1981 really from 1981, or is that a 50's watch?
Here are just a couple "from" 1981.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/172111831161?
Early 80's stuff isn't generally what we'd currently consider elegant today. But, there is certainly retro cool stuff to be had. It's the era of multi function LCD.
You have data bank watches, calculator watches, game watches, music alarm watches, ana-digi combos...
You can buy a Sub originally sold in any year from the 50's onwards, an Oyster from the 40's (?) onwards, a Santos or a Reverso from the 20's onwards.
But is a Sub sold in 1981 really from 1981, or is that a 50's watch?
Here are just a couple "from" 1981.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/172111831161?
Early 80's stuff isn't generally what we'd currently consider elegant today. But, there is certainly retro cool stuff to be had. It's the era of multi function LCD.
You have data bank watches, calculator watches, game watches, music alarm watches, ana-digi combos...
glazbagun said:
To give you an idea of how times have changed, a Submariner was £408 ($950USD in 1980 dollars)
The 1981 Speedmaster on the right of this brochure is quoted as being £294, the white dial seamaster is £328.
The two gold plated quartz DeVille's on the right of this image which look like something your grandad might have worn are (R->L) £325 and £345, respectively. They would be a very poor investment!
Having said that, the good news is that the automatics on the same page as the speedmaster are all going to be a fraction of the cost of an equivelant year Rolex. I'm no Omega buff, but they'll probably be Omega ~1012 movements which, while they're not as nice as ye olde Omega movements, are decent enough timekeepers and there's quite a few parts still out there for them.
Interesting information, thanks.The 1981 Speedmaster on the right of this brochure is quoted as being £294, the white dial seamaster is £328.
The two gold plated quartz DeVille's on the right of this image which look like something your grandad might have worn are (R->L) £325 and £345, respectively. They would be a very poor investment!
Having said that, the good news is that the automatics on the same page as the speedmaster are all going to be a fraction of the cost of an equivelant year Rolex. I'm no Omega buff, but they'll probably be Omega ~1012 movements which, while they're not as nice as ye olde Omega movements, are decent enough timekeepers and there's quite a few parts still out there for them.
A Speedmaster would be about £1200 at today's prices and a Sub around £1500!
I started work in 1981 and I think I earn about 40 times what I did then, so either would have been FAR out of my reach!
Makes you think...
M
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