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Finding a watch at your local Goodwill or community rummage sale sparks a certain kind of euphoria in a watch collector that’s hard to capture from any other source or stimulus. My watch collecting journey started at a local flea market with two Timex pieces found in a basket of old silverware, buttons, and thimbles. At age twelve, I still can’t identify what made those watches stick out to me like sore thumbs––or why I decided to invest my hard-earned leftover $5 allowance money on them––but that feeling like I discovered a diamond in the rough is a high I continue to chase into the present day. Why does finding and purchasing a watch second-hand from a local sale or thrift store feel so incredibly rewarding? To support my theories with some examples, I invite you to take a trip down my own personal memory lane and look at some of the timepieces I’ve picked up at thrift stores, yard, garage, rummage, estate, and community sales throughout my years of collecting. For those keen-eyed readers out there, you may have noticed I skipped over a classic locale for second-hand goods: antique stores. I want to save that lengthy discussion for another day, as there is a far deeper discussion into the idea of price vs. value vs. availability that will take far longer than a side tangent to be included here. Putting antiques aside for another day, let’s discuss what makes a thrift find feel so valuable.
The Thrifty State of Mind
Everyone loves a good deal. Do I really need to buy the $1.49 hot dog and drink combo every time I step foot into a Costco, especially when I just bought enough food for my household of one to feed a small rural town? No. Do I? You bet your bottom dollar I do. As someone with a collection of well over 100 watches, you can see how my rationale on getting a good food deal translates into my hobbies. I’ve purchased so many watches from thrift stores and local sales that I knew I didn’t need to own, but when the opportunity presents itself at an unbeatable price, it’s hard to say no. It never helps that there’s always the “well, I could always sell it down the line and make some money out of it” get-out-of-jail-free card that the devil on the shoulder presents almost every time an unneeded watch acquisition is made. At the end of the day though, you and I both know that watch will instead lay in the comfort of dusty watch boxes and drawers long before the difficult decision is made to list it on an online auction website.
Outside of good deal hunting, it’s imperative to not overlook the feeling of being a psuedo-savior when it comes to purchasing thrifted pieces as well. It’s practically impossible to see a Casio watch laying on a table next to 14 crocheted placemats, a 2009 copy of Scrabble, 4 Jazzercise VHS tapes, and numerous brutally battered Little Tikes toys and not immediately rescue it from the clutches of its previous, neglectful owner. However, there have been times where I’ve realized that maybe someone will start their collecting journey based around buying this watch at this yard sale, and in those circumstances, I made the difficult decision to leave the watch there in hopes that I have a hand in the creation of another collector’s journey. Let’s be real though: if the deal is far too good or if I don’t already own the watch, I will be leaving that sale with yet another piece for my collection.
Real-World Personal Examples of Thrift and Local Sale Finds
The Watch: 1970s Timex SSQ LCD
The Price I Paid: $2.50
This is one of the two watches I mentioned that started it all for me. While this is not the exact example that I own (mine is somewhere lingering in one of my parts bins), this is the same model and variant, featuring the burgundy burst dial instead of the other blue burst finish. When I brought it back home that afternoon, I researched how to change the battery of a watch. After the arrival of the cheap watch repair kit I asked my parents to order online shortly after purchasing these Timex pieces, I popped the snap-on case back off, installed a fresh A12 button cell battery, and the rest was history. Not only did I save the watch from being tossed away, but this SSQ sparked an interest in watches that has stayed strong to this day. There’s zero doubt in my mind that my $5 was well spent that day on those watches. Maybe I should take a look in that parts bin and rescue that watch…
The Watch: 1998 Seiko Kinetic 5M43-0819
The Price I Paid: $10.00
Every year, my family and I return to the same flea market where my watch collecting journey began to see what new vendors show up. Around 8 years after I first purchased those two Timex pieces, I came across this Seiko Kinetic at a booth with costume jewelry and Avon brooches galore. The elderly couple I bought it from told me they’d had it for years but never got the “battery” changed, which is why the price was so low. For those of you unfamiliar with Kinetic Seiko movements, these watches are powered by kinetic energy transferred through the movement of the wearer’s wrist and into the movement via a rotor and capacitor. After years of use, a kinetic movement’s capacitor will need to be replaced, similar to that of a button cell battery. I kept this watch in my collection for a number of years with the hopes I’d buy a new capacitor and get it working again, but during the COVID-19 pandemic when I began thinning out my collection, this was a piece that didn’t survive the purge. While I had made a decent profit from the sale, with the auction final price ending at $56.99, I still regret never changing the capacitor myself to honor the many success stories that took place courtesy of that flea market. I can only hope its current owner was able to revive it like I had originally intended to.
The Watch(es): 1973 Pulsar P2 2900, 1970s Westclox, 1950s Benrus, and 1940s Bulova
The Price I Paid: $50
In the South Side of Pittsburgh, an event called the Neighborhood Flea is held a few times a year. Featuring dozens of vendors with an eclectic assortment of vintage goods, one-of-one artwork, handmade jewelry, and more, visitors from all over Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas come out to shop and partake in the festivities. While jewelry was a central theme of many vendors present, watches weren’t very prevalent. However, one of the last tables I stopped at on my way out surprisingly had a sizable assortment of beat-up timepieces. While most were cheap minimalist quartz pieces, the watches seen above lingered in the mix. Of course, the Pulsar was the first watch that caught my eye. Having known how rare these watches are, I placed it in my pile and continued the hunt. Shortly after, the other mechanical pieces seen in the lot were found and added to my stack. I gathered them up, asked how much they were, and was told $50 for the whole set––I couldn’t say no. None of them are in working condition unfortunately, but the Pulsar had the original magnet tucked away in the bracelet clasp, a rare and delightful surprise. One day I’ll get these up and running, one day…
The Watch: Luminox Space SXC GMT 5027
The Price I Paid: $7.99
This is from a Goodwill location I frequent rather regularly for vintage apartment décor and clothing. While I’ve purchased a few beat-up Casio and Timex watches here in the past, nothing like this Luminox had ever shown up here before. When I saw it in the case that morning, I had figured it would be priced for $30 or more (still a great price compared to the over $300 MSRP). When I asked the cashier to take it out of the glass case so I could get a hands-on look, I flipped the watch over to reveal the “$7.99 NO DISCOUNTS APPLY” sticker on the case back. Little did they know their price was already a discount, a heavy one at that. A battery change, deep case and band cleaning, and crystal diamond polish treatment helped get this watch back up and running again for a fraction of what it costs new.
Do you have a notable thrift store or local sale wristwatch story you would like to share? Feel free to post it in the comments below!
