Most all of our learning has come through watch forums, and lots of them. Below are a few that we frequent.
Note that many forums with the title of a specific watch manufacturer also have sub-forums dedicated to other brands. You can head to Omega Forums, for example, to chat about vintage Longines.
Forums of interest to us, in alphabetical order, include:
– Breitling Source – Vintage Breitling
– Chronocentric/ChronoTrader (CT)
– IWC Collectors’ Forum – Vintage Timepieces
– Omega Forums (OF), not just Omgea
– Paneristi
– The Rolex Forums (TRF), includes non-Rolex watches
– Vintage Rolex Forums (VRF)
– The Hour Lounge (Vacheron Constantin)
– Watchuseek (WUS)
* Visitors have asked about TimeZone, so as an FYI – I do not recommend TimeZone due to the terrible moderation of the site and treatment of visitors/members. Given the much better quality of other forums, I would highly recommend spending your time elsewhere and not wasting it there.
Brand (or model)-focused
– Patek Philippe: Collectability from John Reardon
– Heuer: OnTheDash (OTD)
– Omega: Speedmaster 101
– American Pocketwatches: American Pocket Watches: A Primer For The Wristwatch Collector
Blogs and magazines
– Hodinkee. Don’t forget to watch the videos, which we really enjoy. The site is not focused on vintage watches, but has had some exceptional in-depth vintage articles, though sadly these are becoming less and less common as the company has transitioned into an AD for a number of manufacturers. We do wish they would stop with the Phillips butt-kissing and do an article on all of the swapped-parts and polished-up vintage dealer pieces sold at auction.
– WatchTime – Vintage Watches
Other blogs and magazines that are not as specific to vintage watches, but are worth following:
– Watches by SJX
– The Naked Watchmaker – the Deconstruction section is particularly awesome
– Revolution
Cool random sites
– Bazamu
– Timeline.watch
Educational videos to check out
– Horological Society of New York: Lecture Archive (you’ll need to be a HSNY member, but worth it and a great way to support the HSNY and the art of horology!
– [DE]CONSTRUCTED: Watchmaker Breaks Down Swiss vs Japanese Made Watches via WIRED