Pre-Owned Spotlight: Showstoppers From Hermès And Piaget And A Dive Watch From Dior
For these Pre-Owned Spotlight articles, we often pick watches from fairly typical brands. That’s partially because those watches are easier to find. However, that doesn’t mean we overlook the less obvious brands. Since visiting the Hermès and Louis Vuitton manufactures last year, I’ve also started looking for pre-owned watches from brands better known for their fashion or jewelry. Today, I’ll show you some of the things I’ve found from Hermès, Piaget, and even Dior.
Finding original examples of watches from these more fashion-oriented brands is not always easy. A brand like Hermès, for example, started making its watches in 1978. Before that, Hermès would collaborate with more specialized watch brands to produce its watches. That’s why the designs from that era look a bit more generic and the movements often also come from a third party. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any nice gems to discover, though. Let’s take a look.
Image: eBay (alcustomizedial)
Square Hermès Regulator
When you search for vintage Hermès watches, you certainly won’t find designs that are as original and quirky as they are today. The dials might state “Hermès Paris” on them, but many of the watches look more or less like other dress watches from the same era. However, I stumbled upon a few regulator watches that looked quite interesting. Most of them were round and didn’t look very recognizable as a watch from the Parisian Maison. But then I also found this square example that’s for sale in the United States.
Square watches always attract me. I feel that they add something to the horological landscape ruled by round watches. This particular square and likely gold-plated case for this Hermès watch isn’t that interesting in itself. On the other hand, the designers made perfect use of the shape for the ingenious dial design. Of course, the regulator layout by itself is already interesting to see. But because of the square shape of the main dial and the rectangular sub-dials, a giant “H” appears in the open space between them. I didn’t see it initially, but once I noticed it, it seemed like such an ingenious design. The seller mentions that the dial has been refurbished, and he is asking US$980 for this watch.
Image: Leicht Juweliere GmbH & Co. KG
Piaget Gouverneur Perpetual Calendar
This next one might not have the most original design for a perpetual-calendar watch. For some reason, though, I’m drawn to it. Maybe it’s the combination of the yellow gold case and bright green alligator strap. It could also be because I’m amazed by what the designers were able to fit inside that small 33.5mm case. Anyhow, I quite like this Piaget Gouverneur perpetual calendar. As far as I can tell, this design hails from the ’90s.
Image: Leicht Juweliere GmbH & Co. KG
This particular version is for sale in Germany and has a German dial. I’ve also seen examples out there with dials in Italian and English. There’s even a simplified triple-calendar model, but I prefer this perpetual one. I also feel that if this watch were from one of the better-known watch brands, such as Patek Philippe, it would cost a whole lot more than the €9,300 that the seller is asking for now. The watch was also serviced by Piaget in 2022 and is still covered by the warranty until April 2024.
Image: Watches83
Dior Super Compressor
This last one is a bit of a long shot, but when I found it, it immediately intrigued me. Dior isn’t famous for its sports watches, especially not vintage ones. The brand’s recently reintroduced Chriffre Rouge is indeed a sports watch, but there’s still a fair degree of fashion in it. This Super Compressor dive watch that I found looks much more like an actual tool watch.
Image: Watches83
I love how well the lume has aged over time. The thick layer on top of the baton indexes and numerals has a very nice, deep yellow color to it. The case and the two big crowns on the right side are certainly not in mint condition, but a bit of wear suits a watch like this. Now, honestly, I’m not 100% sure that this is actually a watch made by or specifically for Dior. It seems highly unlikely, especially considering that the same seller offered a similar-looking Camy Super Compressor with the same reference number (35066) here. Catawiki also had a Lanco-branded one here. It’s more likely that Dior and these other companies simply rebranded a ready-made watch. Still, if you’ve always wanted to own a Dior timepiece, this Super Compressor, which is for sale for €995, might be a good deal.
Image: Watches83
There you have it — a few out-of-the-ordinary options from brands that don’t instantly come to mind when looking at pre-owned watches. Have you ever found nice vintage watches when you went off the beaten path during your search? Let me know about your findings in the comments below.
Featured image: Tajan
