Are they going extinct?

[Ammar]

Hello everybody,

I was servicing a Seiko 6309  and I thought to my self will the spread of this hobby in the past five years eventually lead to the extinction of those retro Seikos, Orients, Citizens etc... that newbies like to tinker with and most likely destroy a couple before getting used to watch parts? I certainly have destroyed a couple myself.

I know there're millions of these watches but I can't help thinking will a day come where we find our selves calling those watches rare and collectables? it's kinda sad actually.

[Neverenoughwatches]

13 minutes ago, Ammar said:

Hello everybody,

I was servicing a Seiko 6309  and I thought to my self will the spread of this hobby in the past five years eventually lead to the extinction of those retro Seikos, Orients, Citizens etc... that newbies like to tinker with and most likely destroy a couple before getting used to watch parts? I certainly have destroyed a couple myself.

I know there're millions of these watches but I can't help thinking will a day come where we find our selves calling those watches rare and collectables? it's kinda sad actually.

Difficult to say Ammar, I've been having those same thoughts since i started. I guess still a lot of folk that have them stashed away in their bedroom cabinets. Old folk that have no idea of our watch repair/collect community or ebay or how to use a computer or how to sell them. They will remain there until passed down to their children most of which wont want them thats when the used market will be flooded with 50s 60s and 70s watches. Tbh i think its only just beginning for those eras.

[Ammar]

51 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Difficult to say Ammar, I've been having those same thoughts since i started. I guess still a lot of folk that have them stashed away in their bedroom cabinets. Old folk that have no idea of our watch repair/collect community or ebay or how to use a computer or how to sell them. They will remain there until passed down to their children most of which wont want them thats when the used market will be flooded with 50s 60s and 70s watches. Tbh i think its only just beginning for those eras.

Didn't think of it this way, I hope what you said is true and we don't lose those beauties I actually prefer them over Swiss watches I think they're nicer to work on.

[Neverenoughwatches]

3 hours ago, Ammar said:

Hello everybody,

I was servicing a Seiko 6309  and I thought to my self will the spread of this hobby in the past five years eventually lead to the extinction of those retro Seikos, Orients, Citizens etc... that newbies like to tinker with and most likely destroy a couple before getting used to watch parts? I certainly have destroyed a couple myself.

I know there're millions of these watches but I can't help thinking will a day come where we find our selves calling those watches rare and collectables? it's kinda sad actually.

More sad when you think about all the hundreds of millions of watches that went into landfill a few years after the quartz crisis hit when the price of battery watches blew them out of the water How many people threw away mechanical watches to make way for the new modern technology that was cheaper more accurate and reliable. 

[Ammar]

22 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

More sad when you think about all the hundreds of millions of watches that went into landfill a few years after the quartz crisis hit when the price of battery watches blew them out of the water How many people threw away mechanical watches to make way for the new modern technology that was cheaper more accurate and reliable. 

That's absolutely heart breaking, what annoys me even more are those terrible pin leaver movements from that era, I know they were trying to compete with the quartz watches but I think those pin leaver movements made the situation even worse. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 minutes ago, Ammar said:

That's absolutely heart breaking, what annoys me even more are those terrible pin leaver movements from that era, I know they were trying to compete with the quartz watches but I think those pin leaver movements made the situation even worse. 

Haha not good. Not that i have anything against pin lever escapements i have a few sat on my bench waiting to be looked at. Much older and better quality though. Oris in fact were extremely good at them up until they were allowed to use a jewelled pallet. 

[Ammar]

Just now, Neverenoughwatches said:

Haha not good. Not that i have anything against pin lever escapements i have a few sat on my bench waiting to be looked at. Much older and better quality though. Oris in fact were extremely good at them up until they were allowed to use a jewelled pallet. 

I've seen those Oris movements, they're nice, I'd like to try my luck on one of them someday. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Ammar said:

I've seen those Oris movements, they're nice, I'd like to try my luck on one of them someday. 

They're good to work on and actually the second brand i repaired also my favourite maker. Oris were an in house brand for a long time so made everything themselves, independence is something i respect. Always brand labelled inside and calibre marked so you know exactly what you have. Also dial badged with variations of spelling - Siro and Oriosa are a couple there are one or two more., so look out for those. The Oris pointer has an unusual date indicator seen only on a few brands. Quite cheap to come by as well here in the UK. 

[Ammar]

6 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

They're good to work on and actually the second brand i repaired also my favourite maker. Oris were an in house brand for a long time so made everything themselves, independence is something i respect. Always brand labelled inside and calibre marked so you know exactly what you have. Also dial badged with variations of spelling - Siro and Oriosa are a couple there are one or two more., so look out for those. The Oris pointer has an unusual date indicator seen only on a few brands. Quite cheap to come by as well here in the UK. 

Thank you for the info, I'll keep an eye out.