You Can’t Drink A Vintage Clock

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Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

The term “vintage” has been dominating the collecting world for the last twenty years. It doesn’t matter what you collect – there’s bound to be a vintage era that is highly desired. One of the reasons “vintage” has been coined is to keep some sort of level playing field for collectors. Although “vintage toys” might have a value nearly identical to “antique toys”, “vintage clocks” usually are worth a lot less than, say, an antique grandfather clock.

Organically grown Term

The antique clock collectors of the planet didn’t just have a huge get-together one day and decided to use the term “vintage clock” to distinguish a valuable, attractive older clock no longer made but isn’t as old or expensive as an antique clock. If they did have this big get together, they didn’t invite us.

Just as “toilet paper” was suddenly replaced with “bathroom tissue”, the term “vintage clock” popped up to replace “not-quite-an-antique clock”. As the nation got older, so did their clocks and other beloved collectables. It is unknown which group of collectors started the term “vintage” to denote one thing more desirable in your collection than another similarly-looking thing. It was probably a dealer or vintage clocks.

Those who collect toys as adults tended to view their toys as nothing but toys when they were kids. As they got older, they realized that they wanted their toys back, but to admire and collect and become more valuable rather than to take out of the box and play with it. And no one wanted to admit that they had grown older.

No – they grew better, instead, like a fine wine or a vintage. One of the biggest market for toy collectors is for the original Star Wars toys that came out in the late 1970’s. Although the most recent and most ignorant generation may classify 1977 as “antique”, legally, anything made in 1977 does not qualify as an antique. Therefore, it is vintage. Because you are not old – you’ve just improved with age.

Still A Pretty Penny

Although vintage clocks are generally not as expensive as antique clocks, they still will cost more than the average old clock on eBay or in a flea market. This is because vintage clocks are so desired. They’re more affordable, attractive and often can be repaired so that your collection actually can tell the time and not just look pretty. Because of the laws of supply and demand, expect to pay a stiff price for any vintage clock, especially if it still works.

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