In 1997, I waltzed into a vintage watch shop in Milan and thought I’d died and gone to horological heaven. In 2002, I was strolling along the Ponte Vecchio in Florence and my jaw went slack as I gawked at the amazing vintage watches for sale on that famous bridge. Venice mid-aughts, same.
Rome and Florence just last year, and the vintage watches just keep coming. For decades, Northern Italy ’s major cities have been positively overflowing with vintage watches. As pre-owned watches age into neo-vintage status (20 to 40 years old), which in turn are becoming vintage watches (over 40 years old), there appears to be an endless supply of collectible timepieces in the top half of the Boot.
Italy’s horological riches are no secret to serious collectors around the world. In fact, some of the world’s most renown watch collectors—people like Guido Mondani , Sandro Fratini , and Auro Montanari (a.k.
a. John Goldberger )—are Italian. Italy’s vintage watch riches are also no secret to ambitious dealers of vintage watches, who go on regular buying trips there, hitting up estate sales and off-beat auctions to replenish their stock.
The question I’ve long pondered is why is Italy so full of amazing vintage watches? How did this happen? I’ve come across various flimsy theories. One I’ve heard a few times is so lazy and circular that it cracks me up: Italians are just so stylish! (Yes, that’s the whole theory.) Some more journalistic theories exist, however.
One suggests t.