Hello everyone. My name is Norm. I like vintage watches. A lot. I spend my free time engrossed in watch books and in online watch forums, talking watches, in watchmaking classes, attending GTGs and auctions, and viewing far more Instagram posts than I should. You can roughly tell my personal interest in collecting based upon the references highlighted on Alpha Hands, which is largely 60s chronographs, though ranges to earlier complicated pieces as well. I haven’t taken the dive into modern pieces yet, but perhaps one day.
I created this website with the goal to provide the following:
- A stolen watch registry that is free for collectors to both search prior to purchase, as well as to submit information
- Serial number projects of all known pieces along details of their appearance with price trend charts
- Deep-dives into particular references for what we expect to see from original pieces
- Advice on how to buy and care for a vintage watch
- Listing of events such as watch auctions as well as speaker events/gathering
- Links to watch resources such as websites, podcasts, production dating tables, import codes, and watchmaking schools
- Watch-related accessories and books
Information available on Alpha Hands is based on knowledge from the watch community, so by all means…shoot me an email with additional resources to share, suggestions and feedback! I try to attend the auctions in New York each year, so if you happen to go, do say hello!