Antique Watches

Antique watches are a popular collectible – especially those made of gold. My dad had a watch like that, one that he wore each night when he dressed for his job as a security guard. The watch was solid gold, in good working order, and had belonged to his grandfather.

Dad worked the 3-11 shift, and when we kids were little, we’d ask as he was going off to work, “Daddy, can we hear the tick-tick?” My dad would take out his grandfather’s pocket watch and hold it to the ear of each child. Unfortunately, we were too small to remember the decorative detail on the case, which was less important to us than the sound.

Collecting antique watches

Watches with some age on them, especially pocket watches, used to be a popular collectible. Pocket watches were made in larger sizes for men and smaller for women. Some were made with sterling silver cases and can command prices in the low four figures. A solid gold pocket watch in working order is rarer and can command anywhere from four to six figures at auction, although some antique pocket watches in reasonable condition can still be found at prices in the low three figures. Much of what would be found and collected today, though, is plated and may not be in good working order.

Cases are usually decorated, and not all have the gold face cover that my dad’s had. Decoration on the case can have depictions of trains and other scenes but more commonly have Art Nouveau floral and leaf designs. Today, even the best antique pocket watches may show some minor wear on the case consistent with their age and use.

Wrist watches from the 19th and early 20th centuries and even earlier can cost as much as an antique pocket watch, especially wrist watches made by companies with names such as Rolex, Piaget, Patek Phillipe, and Breguet. The latter company dates from 1775 and produced timepieces for Marie Antoinette and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Pocket watches were also made by American companies with more familiar and well-known names such as Elgin, Illinois, and Waltham. Abe Lincoln reportedly was given a Waltham pocket watch after his Gettysburg Address.

The year 2022 was the 70^th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who was still mentally robust but, at age 96, physically frail in the few photos taken of her this year. As it turned out, and as so often happens with close couples, she also died that same year, after losing her husband, Prince Philip, the year before. Not many have lived, as they did, to celebrate 74 years of marriage!

Elizabeth reigned for 70 years, nearly the lifetime of many Discover Vintage America readers, including me! That made her the longest reigning monarch in British history. As we know, those seven decades were tumultuous, not just in terms of what was happening in the world in general (first hydrogen bomb test, discovery of DNA, the Berlin Wall, etc.) but also within the royal family itself (divorce, tragedy, castle fire, etc.). Amid all the controversies, consternations, and calamities that would befall her family during her reign, Queen Elizabeth kept her royal counsel and her self-possession. Her unflappability, not to be confused for a moment with a lack of feeling, appears to have been part of what endeared her to so many of her countrymen: she was an emblem of stability even amidst unstable times.

Royal Collectibles

Collectibles devoted to British royalty have long graced the antique trade. In fact, Queen Victoria and her lifelong devotion to her deceased husband, Prince Albert, whose life departed from hers after 21 years of marriage, inspired an entire era in the latter 19^th century that was named after her. Victoria had one of England’s longest reigns, although, at 63 years, still short of Elizabeth’s. Examples of Victoriana can still be found in the antique trade, ranging from china to furniture. Victorian furniture even has a distinct look, heavy and made of dark wood and wood stains, that seems to reflect Victoria’s grief.

Among the commemorative items most found in antique stores are plates and mugs celebrating coronations, marriages, and royal births. Somewhat less often seen are pieces of commemorative silverware. There is also a collecting market for images of British kings and queens adorning coins minted in the era in which they reigned. Then, of course, there is the ephemera related to royals, from photographs to autographs. Due in no small part to both her glamor and her early demise, Princess Diana commemoratives are especially popular.

Because Elizabeth is the only British monarch to have reached the milestone of a Platinum Jubilee on the throne, collectibles related to that milestone are expected to increase in value. Second to her image in future value are collectibles celebrating the marriage of Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and the late Princess Diana. Biscuit tins, however, are common and not terribly valuable, though they could still be an interesting collectible for those more interested in what they commemorate than what they cost (https://www.hobbsonlinenews.net/most-demand-royal-memorabilia/).

She was not your typical buyer. She looked more like my inner stereotype of a “biker chick” in her leather jacket, boots, and dark makeup. I had my doubts that she’d be a paying customer when she came into the Antiques Collaborative, where I was temporarily working as a desk manager and cashier while the owners, Bill and Isabel Bradley (featured in my last month’s article), were away attending a family wedding in Isabel’s homeland, Great Britain.

The young woman – let’s call her Sally – seemed scattered and unfocused. Adding to the impression she gave of flightiness were the number of pieces she wanted me to call the dealer and “make an offer” on. But I made it a point to be courteous and friendly to her as I and the other staffer opened cases for her to inspect merchandise.

The offers weren’t a small annoyance; as we neared closing time, a couple of other customers heard her making offers and saw me and my fellow staffer making phone calls to dealers. So they decided they’d like to make offers, too (In those cases, we could not reach the dealer, and the customers bought the items anyway). 

Meanwhile, Sally left the building to chat with her husband, a few times and for lengthy periods, about the things she was considering buying. Once or twice, she seemed to disappear altogether from the parking lot! We had just about decided that she’d left without buying anything at all when she finally returned with her husband and his checkbook – and bought just under $2,000 worth of items! For me, the experience was a lesson in not making assumptions about other people based on their appearance or behavioral quirks.

Merchandise Vetting Matters

I made it a point to greet everyone who came through the door, to welcome them, and to ask if they’d ever been in before so that I could direct their traffic to all three floors if they were first-timers. And, as it turned out, more than half of them were new to the shop.

I also made it a point to say a cordial goodbye and thanks to browsers as they left, and several told me, in commenting on the merchandise, how much they appreciated seeing an antique shop that actually is one. They said they’d never seen anything like it for the age and quality of the offerings. This is consistent with my own shopping experience, where the majority of antique shops I’ve visited are actually not much above an old-time second-hand shop, where “antique” just means more than five years old. (I’ve written at length on this topic in other articles for this column, so I won’t beat the hobby horse to death again now!)

Years ago – actually, more years than I can count! – I worked at the Antiques Collaborative, off Exit 1 of I-89 on Route 4 in Quechee, VT, as the front desk manager. That high-end business www.antiquescollaborative.com/catalog is still owned by the couple I worked for then, Bill and Isabel Bradley. Having myself reached the post-retirement age of 71, it was my pleasure to make myself available in late August this year to run the multi-dealer shop, widely and affectionately known as “the Collab,” while Bill and Isabel take a much-deserved vacation.

What makes this shop unique among all those I have visited in my career as a collector is the age and quality of the merchandise. Much of the inventory in the three-story mall, artfully renovated from an old farmhouse, is genuinely antique (as in, past the 100-year mark) from the 18th through the 20th centuries. Bill himself specializes in merchandise made of pure silver, but other dealers feature furniture, glass, old books, and almost anything else of fine quality that may come to mind. While the inventory is deeper and there seems much more of it than I remember from my earlier days at the Collab, it still manages to be artfully displayed, avoiding the “tossed in” effect of so many multi-dealer displays in other shops.

For years, the Antiques Collaborative has done a healthy business in fine paintings by name New England artists, the most famous of which sell quickly. Bill and Isabel also feature high-end Native American pottery and artifacts as well as a collection of fine Oriental rugs, historically a big seller for the business.

Bill reports that one of the changes in inventory is the increased percentage of consignment merchandise at the shop; there aren’t as many dealers buying and selling directly. Since he and Isabel vet all the merchandise, the quality remains high whether consigned or brought in by dealers for their own displays. I did notice that on small items such as jewelry, many prices were more affordable than I remember from when I first worked there. Famous names and high-end stuff (e.g., Georg Jensen silver jewelry) still command the premium, but there’s plenty of quality stuff there also for those focused on affordability.

COVID Impact

Like most Vermont businesses, the Collab was shut down from mid-March through latter May in 2020 as COVID struck. Bill still went to the shop nearly every day, making Facebook posts on the shop’s inventory and conducting web sales. The shop was open to one occasional customer at a time and did some curbside business as well, but Bill reports the volume was nowhere close to keeping the business afloat. Government COVID subsidies helped keep it going.

Remarkably, the business didn’t lose dealers during the shutdown despite the quietest two months of the year. Now, two years later, a larger percentage of the business income is from consignments rather than dealer rental spaces.

Thanks to the state’s handling of the pandemic, Vermont had the lowest COVID rate in the country, and Bill reports that, when the doors reopened, customers “came flocking in.” The Bradleys have noted a change in the customer base since I first worked there.