A Bucket of Cold Water :-)

Joe_A

Moderator
Staff member
Enicaristi
Sherpa
Waha Watches

I discovered this site sometime ago, actually just after I bought my Sherpa Graph Mark III and an article or two I read there gave me pause. The contents of the site had me questioning my sanity. ;)

An overall theme of the place is to urge rational thinking when it comes to vintage watches. Huh?

I don't know about the rest of you, but I believe that dwelling on what some may regard as rational behavior has no place when it comes to coveting and occasionally collecting vintage watches. Double ;)

Here is the "bucket of cold water" article I have in mind to share:

Top 10 Overrated and Overhyped Watches

In a way, it is a left-handed compliment to the Enicar Sherpa Graph, isn't it?

It places our revered watches in the same neighborhood as that of the Rolex Daytona and the U.G. Compax.

If you are feeling irrational exuberance concerning the state of your collection, poke around that site for a while and it'll ground you - a bit like a boat hitting a shoal.

Afterward, to maintain good mental health, delete your browsing history and pretend you've never seen it. :giggle:
 

kazrich

Member
Sherpa
That article is total nonsense from start to finish.

The Rolex Daytona .

'Instructions manuals for Rolex chronographs before the introduction of the aforementioned pushers included a warning not to submerge the watch in water.They also described them as only resistant to humidity and perspiration on the wearer’s wrist.'.

Well, THEY TOLD YOU NOT TO PUT IT IN WATER -What are you complaining about ?

Enicar Sherpa Graph.

' Some sellers went as far as describing these watches as having a “Daytona movement”.This is not exactly true, as the movement in the Enicar was of a considerably lower grade and it had no modifications.The EPSA Compressor and Super-Compressor cases are also a desirable feature these days but the Sherpa-Graph doesn’t benefit much from that. As is the case with most chronographs, the pushers are its Achilles’ heel.'

I keep 2 of these and have never experienced a pusher problem. These watches were designed for race drivers and sportsman not professional divers and were considerably more than splash proof.
If a brand plays with or ' improves' the original manufactures movement or engine it's often at the peril of the end user. How many engine blow outs have we seen by people 'improving' their engine by adding 100 BHP ? Often best to trust the expertise of the original design team.
The 3 Valjoux column wheel movement chrono's that I keep are all well over half a century old and work as well as the day they were purchased.
Doesn't sound like a 'lower grade' movement to me.

'An example of overhyped EPSA-cased watches are the Enicar Sherpa sports models.The movements in these, just as in most of the EPSA-cased divers, were rather pedestrian, the dial finishing didn’t really go above the average and certainly not beyond what could be found in the watches by Enicar’s direct competitors, like Tissot.There are less common ones out there alright, but mostly they were made in large quantities.

So, chronometer quality movements aren't up to his standards ?

The author appears to have a hang up regarding the necessity for screw down crowns and pushers on vintage dive watches. He obviously hasn't heard of Jacques Cousteau or the Aquastar Deepstar.
This vintage chronograph has a crown and 2 pushers – neither of which are 'screw down'.
Aquastar claimed it to be the worlds first chronograph capable of diving 10 atmospheres ( 330 ft ) in static waters.
I've seen no evidence that Jacques and his team experienced water ingress in their watches.

My guess is that the author swallowed a watchmakers movement dictionary and compiled a list of 'must have' watches. These have now outgrown the size of his wallet, so he is desperately trying to convince himself that he is better off without them.
 

Joe_A

Moderator
Staff member
Enicaristi
Sherpa
Don't hold back, Richard! ;)

Vintage watches are worth what people are willing to pay for them.

That said, I don't see them as especially good investments as they may go down in value as well as go up. I'm sure Jaguar XK-E owners will attest to a shared experience.

We either buy them; keep them for a while and when we sell them, we may make a profit or else the differential between higher cost and lower selling price becomes the rental or lease fee for x period of time - and probably a reasonable trade-off. Either that or we die with them and they move on to an uncertain future like the rest of us.

I agree that the guy seems a bit full of himself and because he "knows best," he feels he's protecting his patrons from falling prey - if they would but listen. ;)

There are some good things about the site.

I watched a video on 'rebanking' or knocking - a thing I'd never heard of, haven't experienced and will most likely never experience.

He may know something about Omega watches? Or not.

Cheers,

~ Joe
 
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ejj

New member
Sherpa
Everyone has an opinion. Perhaps he is mourning the days when you could buy some of these watches for half the price. Bottom line—buy what you like and want to wear—not what you think will appreciate. I think the pristine pieces will continue to trend up in price, but the medium and OK pieces are correcting a bit.
 
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