Watch Spotting: Crazy Vintage Watches at the Miami Beach Antique Show
Significant Pateks, Cartiers, and more at the world's biggest antique show
I got a “post too long for email” notification as I put together this ‘sletter, so click the headline above to scroll through the photos of these very significant and rare watches.
Last weekend, I made my way down to Miami to catch some sun and watches at the Original Miami Beach Antique Show.
A number of notable vintage dealers toted their wares to the Miami Beach Convention Center to enjoy Miami Beach’s famous fluorescent lighting and drafty convention centers. The conditions may not have been ripe for snapping magazine-worthy photographs, but Rescapement opted for this digititzed ‘sletter format because it’s raw and unfiltered.
Besides watches, there are an unfathomable amount of diamonds, jewels, and stones casually strewn about — I was told the show had over $1 billion in inventory. It’s pretty wild, but honestly one becomes numb to it all pretty quickly, breezing past what could’ve been the Queens’ jewels to grab a bottle of water.
Despite those poor photo shooting conditions, your intrepid correspondent still got some photos of the insanely rare watches on scene. It’s 2015-ish H stuff, so let’s hit the way-back machine and look at some vintage watches.
Let’s start with, to me, the highlight of the weekend: A Patek Philippe ref. 3970P. Produced from 1986 until the early 2000s, it’s the neo-vintage perpetual calendar chronograph from Patek. Honestly, I’d never thought much of it in photos, but putting on this 36mm platinum watch had me quickly reconsidering, and the 3970P has quickly jumped to the top of my “maybe one day” grail watch list. I never knew a perpetual calendar chronograph could be so wearable.
Next up, a charming little oddity from Patek Philippe. Manufactured for the 100th anniversary of the Canton of Geneva in 1914, it features a case with beautiful enameling of Lake Geneva, and an equally beautiful enamel dial on the flip side. Produced in 1914, it would’ve been worn as a brooch.
Here’s something that I had no idea existed. It’s a necklace made by Patek Philippe in the middle of the century. Apparently, Patek made a small run of necklaces featuring the Zodiac signs. The chain is equally beautiful, completely soldered together.
Who doesn’t love a tropical Speedmaster with a caliber 321 ticking inside? This one was originally sold in South Africa.
A curious Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date signed Honda and given to the winner of a motocross race sponsored by Honda in the 1980s and engraved on the back. It’s the only Rolex with a Honda logo we’ve seen.
If you’ve followed this little ‘sletter for a while, you know I love a simple retailer-signed watch, and none more than a Rolex Air-King signed by Tiffany & Co. Here’s an Air-King ref. 5500 with that “look closer” detail. Usually, these references just say “Precision” at 6 o’clock, so it’s truly one of those details you only notice on a second glance.
One more double-signed watch, this one with the Winn Dixie logo, given to “safe drivers” for the grocery store chain, as you’ll see reading the full stamp. Rolex, bring back the company-signed watch!
Just a vintage Certina Argonaut with a bright red dial. This is one of those watches that looks a bit big and bulky in photos, but wears quite well in person. And it’s just affordable and a ton of fun.
A tray of interesting and gorgeous vintage watches from Patek Philippe.
A pocket watch with a gorgeous texture that Patek Philippe itself actually later soldered lugs onto the back of so it could be worn as a watch (seriously, the lugs feature the Patek Philippe hallmarks). check out the Nato strap it’s on in the above photo.
This gold bracelet absolutely melts on your wrist. I’d stack this watch as a bracelet and never even set the time.
A crispy vintage Gallet “Decimal” chronograph on a strapping young lass. These vintage Gallet chronographs are ridiculously comfortable on the wrist and representative a relative value.
This photo doesn’t fully capture it, but this Heuer Carrera 2447 is actually an extremely rare eggshell dial that’s developed a beautiful, even patina. These eggshell dials are more of a pure white/cream as compared to the more commonly seen silver dials. It’s hard to capture the differences in photos, but this was one of my favorite watches from the weekend.
A couple more mid-century chronographs, this time from Universal Geneve: A “Nina Rindt” Compax and “Big Eye” Uni-Compax.
A Zenith Uni-Compax chronograph with a Universal Geneve caliber. The watch features a case with Swiss hammer 166 hallmark, meaning that the case was made by Henri Jeanneret in Peseux. Some have speculated that Jeanneret was related to famous architects and designers Pierre Jeanneret and Le Corbusier (born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret). Looking at the sharp, architectural lugs of this case, I wouldn’t doubt it.
Of course, Charlie Dunne showed up strong, wearing this crispy vintage Jaeger LeCoultre. I also played with his award-winning alarm watch collection, but this simple steel time-only is a favorite. Speaking of, for more watch spotting from the Miami Beach Antique Show, check out Charlie’s photo report.
Now, for the Tank section of today’s ‘sletter. First up is a neo-vintage Cartier Tank from the CPCP collection in platinum.
Next up, an unfortunately blurry photo of a gold Tank with a rare porcelain dial. Usually, vintage Tanks have enamel dials, so the porcelain dial has a striking effect.
Finally, a platinum Tank Cintree from 2019, a limited edition of 100 to celebrate the model’s 100th anniversary (note the red cabochon on the crown, commonly used by Cartier for anniversary models). Another beautiful watch, and even on my dainty wrist, the long, curved case wears surprisingly well.
Andre Zibach was one of the most important watchmakers of the early 20th century. He worked at Patek Philippe as a régleur, an esteemed title for watchmakers responsible for regulating movements to the highest precision. Not only that, he was also the inventor of the Gyromax balance, an important technology that improved the functionality of Patek’s balance wheels. This watch, signed Andre Zibach on the dial, seems to have been the watch the régleur actually wore, a real piece of horological history.
A vintage Audemars Piguet with beautiful claw lugs and powered by AP’s famous 13VZ movement. The 13VZ was a large movement, typically found in more complicated watches, so it’s fascinating to see the caliber stripped down to produce an extremely precise and powerful time-only watch.
Just a gorgeous Patek Philippe 2508 in yellow gold.
Finally, you know we love coin watches, and here’s a beauty from Patek Philippe. When you see how small and thin these coin watches really are in person, you begin to understand the craftsmanship that goes into making them.
The show was a spectacle, unlike anything I’ve attended. It’s fun to see people come up to a watch booth with a backpack of watches in tow, trying to pawn off some of their finds to the dealer behind the counter. Sometimes, they’ve got a legitamtely clean and original watch, and there’s a sale.
I also loved the variety of watches. Sure, there’s Rolex, Patek, and Cartier, but there were also low-key brands; given the show’s jewelery focus, I saw all kinds of crazy watches from brands like Van Cleef & Arpels and Piaget with beautiful diamonds and stone dials. Stuff that doesn’t get much attention online, but is absolutely beautiful in person.
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god please stop saying "'sletter"