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Koen Verseveldt

vintage watch specialist & watchmaker

“Since a very young age I have been interest in technique. At the age of 15, I bought some old mechanical watches at a flea market. I dismantled these watches to discover how they worked and started to learn about watchmaking. I bought my first tools and books, searched the internet and learned from other watchmakers.

“After learning about watchmaking and working on hundreds of vintage watches, I also started to learn more about the history of these watches and how they were made. Learning about the history of watchmaking and watch brands provides you with a ton of information which makes you understand the current market. Especially when it comes to technological innovations that were made by watch brands. In many cases, these watches are still icons nowadays.”

“There are a few things I especially look for in watches I buy. First, I like the condition to be as good as possible, but especially as close to original as possible. When key parts have been altered like a reprinted dial or an over polished case, changes are big I’m not interested. Secondly the quality of the watch in general should be good. Throughout history, a lot of low quality watches have been made, so i focus on the watches that were high quality the day they were made and still are today.

A third important factor is the history of the watch. Generally speaking, buying a vintage watch is like buying a piece of history. Every vintage watch tells a different story and is therefore unique. Some models represent technical achievements which are extremely important in the history of watchmaking. Sometimes designs were revolution in it’s days and these watches often have an iconic status nowadays.