New for Old - New Replacements for '60/'70s & NLA Watches?

[GC8]

I am trying to make a list of likely insurance replacements under a new for old insurance policy, for a number of old watches. They are all locked away, and have been for years, but it seemed prudent to work this out as it affects my insured limits and replacement costs have risen comically over the last ten years.

I have done all of the easy ones, but these are trickier and I would welcome any insights or suggestions.

TAG Heuer 4000 automatic. Has tiny bits of gold on it and sold as 'bi-colour'. This was top of their second highest range in 1991 and this crossed over with the Sports Elegance range.

Omega Dynamic. Cal.1012 automatic. Blue silver blue dial and OEM s/s bracelet. Avant garde elliptical front-loading case which is secured onto a one piece strap using a threaded ring

Omega De Ville 192.0027 1976. Cal.1325 15j. 32kHz Megaquartz (shared with the Marine Master chronometer). When quartz movements were serious - it has more jewels than an Oysterquartz.

Omega Chronostop 146.009 1970. Cal.920. Stop-second chronograph with a motorsport theme.

Poljot Aviator. 9936 with a Cal.3133 chronograph movement. The best Russian watch ever made.
Poljot 'Classik'. A Cal.3133 movement chronograph but a cheaper watch.

I have two TAG Heuer watches: one is a 2000 auto of the type that was re-branded Aquaracer, so that is easy, but the 4000 is more difficult: it is a diver's watch and they only make Aquaracers in that style now, and the Aquaracer was a 2000. I was thinking that an Autavia would be suitable, or possibly a Link, which is what the S/EL range was renamed.

For the Dynamic I would like something a little out of the ordinary, which I think can be justified, but Im unsure as to what, or even what would fit the bill.

For the De Ville I don't think that a cheap De Ville ETA plastic quartz would be suitable, but what else is there? Rolex appear to have been the last manufacturer to offer a quality quartz and they stopped almost twenty years ago.

The Chronostop shared its movement 30yrs later with the Panerai Radiomir Seconds Counter, but that doesn't help. It is a Speedmaster calibre with the registers removed.

Poljot doesn't exist any longer and I understand that they have stopped making the movements now, too. New watches for sale now, marked 'Poljot' aren't really Poljots. You can still buy the so-called 'Classik', NOS from the eighties, on eBay from time to time for about £350, but I don't know where to start with the Aviator. It is a 'Russian Speedmaster' and a German supplied, Chinese-built faux 'Poljot' with a Seagull movement doesn't fit the bill.

Writing that has helped me to make my mind up about the Chronostop, but I am completely at a loss with regard to the others.

Less important, but no easier are : gold 1960s Oris - beautiful cream dial with gold applied hour markers but Oris don't make gold watches and it was very unusual then, too. Lanco jump hour. Swiss, NOS, but obscure and a Henri Sandoz which is a Swiss watch, made before the name was licensed all over Asia.

Any help appreciated.

Edited by GC8 on Saturday 25th July 11:19

[Murph7355]

Are you aiming to send the list to your insurers and get them to agree up front that they will accept provide those replacements in the event of a problem?

Will that ultimately work out less than the actual value of them? Wouldn't you be better off just taking the increased values on the chin? Or electing not to bother insuring one or two of them to lower the limit?

[richthebike]

"For the De Ville I don't think that a cheap De Ville ETA plastic quartz would be suitable, but what else is there? Rolex appear to have been the last manufacturer to offer a quality quartz and they stopped almost twenty years ago"

Please Google GS9F.

Chronostops are pretty common and even minty ones go for sub 1k from time to time. If you have the 12 @ 3 drivers version you can add 250 quid to that. The haven't experienced a Speedmaster or Polerouter surge yet.

I think you're best listing these with their values on your policy, and updating every year. My insurer won't take items under 2k individually so they just get added onto the total.

[GC8]

Murph7355 said:

Are you aiming to send the list to your insurers and get them to agree up front that they will accept provide those replacements in the event of a problem?

Will that ultimately work out less than the actual value of them? Wouldn't you be better off just taking the increased values on the chin? Or electing not to bother insuring one or two of them to lower the limit?

No, I am trying to calculate the replacement values. I have a new for old policy with single item, valuable property and total limits. I have to ensure that I have sufficient cover for the watches that I have, which is based on current new replacement values.

[GC8]

richthebike said:

"For the De Ville I don't think that a cheap De Ville ETA plastic quartz would be suitable, but what else is there? Rolex appear to have been the last manufacturer to offer a quality quartz and they stopped almost twenty years ago"

Please Google GS9F.

Chronostops are pretty common and even minty ones go for sub 1k from time to time. If you have the 12 @ 3 drivers version you can add 250 quid to that. The haven't experienced a Speedmaster or Polerouter surge yet.

I think you're best listing these with their values on your policy, and updating every year. My insurer won't take items under 2k individually so they just get added onto the total.

I spent yesterday afternoon trying to find the cheap ETA quartz movement De Villes that I was referring to, and they all seem to have disappeared: along with most Omega quartz movement watches. It has been quite a long time since I tried to find current replacement models.

I know how much every watch is worth, but I have a new for old policy, so it is new replacement cost which affects the policy limits and not the indemnity value... the problem that I have, is identifying current suitable replacement models.

[richthebike]

I get those points, but I wouldn't artificially raise my insured value by listing these as new for old, when that doesn't reflect their real replacement value. Each to their own though.

I did question your view that nobody makes decent quartz any more, but I understand you meant that Omega don't really have a quartz range any more.

For the Poljot, how about the Bulova Moon Watch Chrono?

[mikeveal]

I'm not sure an assessor will look at the replacements in the same way that you are.These are vintage pieces, new for old isn't really applicable.

Personally, I'd look at the replacement cost of your watches, for example an auto Dynamic on a bracelet should be £650 ish. Add the cost of a service to sort out any issues and that is - reasonably - the value of that watch and therefore what you should insure it for.

[GC8]

New for old means new for old. It is a feature of the policy and an invariable part of the contract. "Hey, we think that they can be bought cheap and new replacement are expensive, so we're reverting you to indemnity cover" is not an option for the insurance company.

They have to pay and I have to ensure that my insured limits are adequate.

[seefarr]

richthebike said:

"For the De Ville I don't think that a cheap De Ville ETA plastic quartz would be suitable, but what else is there? Rolex appear to have been the last manufacturer to offer a quality quartz and they stopped almost twenty years ago"

Please Google GS9F.

Yup, Seiko are the inventors of quartz and still make some super duper movements like the Grand Seiko GS9F. And nothing is liable to produce an Internet punch-up like a £2k Japanese quartz watch.

Except a £3k Japanese quartz watch. So you might also look at the Citizen "The Citizen", using a movement accurate to +/- 5 secs per year and some of those are pretty special looking. Love how the markers and text float above the paper dial on this one:



Or if you want to go cheap and Swiss, Longines have the Conquest V.H.P. line which is also rated at +/- 5 secs per year:
https://www.longines.com/en-gb/watches/sport/conqu...

[nikaiyo2]

GC8 said:

New for old means new for old. It is a feature of the policy and an invariable part of the contract. "Hey, we think that they can be bought cheap and new replacement are expensive, so we're reverting you to indemnity cover" is not an option for the insurance company.

They have to pay and I have to ensure that my insured limits are adequate.

Why is your broker not telling you what to do? I would be asking them, as under insurance can result in all manner of pain in the event of a claim. I assume this is a fairly specialist policy so they should be able to guide you.

I had a chat with our insurance broker as I was in pretty much the opposite situation, if my sub gets stolen I don’t want a new one and a vintage sub is obviously significantly more costly. He was adamant that NFO only applied to items that I had purchased new, he said that watches often caused problems when people did not take into account the extra cost of replacing vintage items.

[GC8]

Because I have regular insurance with quite high limits. Single item limit of £15,000 without having to declare anything. The most expensive new for old watch that I have under £10,000 so it is more than adequate.