Today we spoke to Daniel Matatov also known as Vintage Watchfam or Danny’s Vintage Watches. Danny is someone who was born into the jewelry industry in New York’s Diamond District, that only recently found himself working as a vintage watch dealer. We talked about his background and his views on the sector.
VintageWatchfam a.k.a. Daniel Matatov
Andres Ibarguen: When you were just getting started, what attracted you, particularly, to vintage watches?
Daniel Matatov: Aesthetic comes to mind when looking at vintage watches. It’s immediate, even polarizing at times to see a vintage watch that you’ve just never seen before that makes you go “What is that?!” I’m not alone as many other collectors believe that looks are a ton of the charm when collecting and handling vintage watches. I’m all about the look. I’m not a technical guy at all. I value design over fancy movements any day of the week.
AI: You’re based in New York, what’s the vintage watch scene like there?
DM: When you think of vintage watches, NYC has one of the best watch scenes in the US, if not the world. The Diamond District in Midtown Manhattan is famous (or infamous to some) as the place to be when buying, selling, and trading vintage watches. Yes, the block is dominantly modern watches, but there are still old watchmakers and dealers hiding insane goodies for watch geeks to discover, from building to building. Besides the Diamond District, the watch community is strong here. A lot of other local dealers and collectors on Instagram meet each other all the time.
AI: When did you first get into watches? What about vintage watches?
DM: I grew up on 47th Street, as I have family in the diamond business. Diamonds were never my thing, but when heading to my dad’s office, I couldn’t stop noticing all the shiny watches in the display cases as we passed by all the time. Watches, especially vintage watches, felt more personal and enjoyable to handle, as opposed to stones (leave that to the girls).
Danny’s vintage Wittnauer with a tropical dial
AI: What was your first vintage watch?
DM: When I was 15, I had a garage sale in my grandpa’s house, we discovered this old gold-plated manual wind Croton. My grandpa said we should sell it, but it interested me. I held onto it. I need to find that thing now that I’m mentioning it! I wore it proudly and it was the topic of conversation in my public speaking class. My first ‘serious’ watch was a Rolex Datejust ref. 1603 in blue (cliché, but I love the thing).
AI: How and when did you start buying and selling vintage watches? Did you always aim to grow your business to the size it is at today?
DM: I started selling vintage watches at around 19. I was always the youngest at trade shows. Dealers would chuckle and ask why I wasn’t in school. I actually did skip school when attending these shows, but it was totally worth it. I remember selling my first watch: a vintage Bulova Aerojet I found in a flea market. It was a crazy feeling knowing that I sold a watch for more than what I paid. That led to vintage Timex, Omega, and ultimately vintage Rolex. Towards the end of senior year of college, I started taking dealing more seriously as I was doing more volume, growing my Instagram etc. but I never thought it would lead to where I am today.
A Le Marc CASD Chronomaster sold by Danny
AI: What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of starting off as a vintage watch dealer?
DM: Sourcing exceptional watches. It’s easy to find vintage watches anywhere, but the condition and quality is the hard part. Also, understanding and constantly being in tune with the market. Anyone and their mother is now dubbed a ‘dealer’ because of Instagram and a smartphone. The vintage watch world is synonymous with saturation in the marketplace. After selling hundreds of watches, I learned to have a margin of error or at least expect vintage watches to have mechanical and cosmetic issues. At the end of the day, we are dealing with old, sensitive mechanical watches. I’m not surprised to find out that the canon pinion is loose, a crystal needs to be replaced, or finding out a watch needs to be serviced after it sells.
AI: What’s the most important part of becoming a successful vintage watch dealer?
DM: Transparency is key. From start to finish, trusting your vintage watch dealer is sometimes more important than the watch itself. “Buy the seller, not the watch” is thrown around a lot, but for good reason. For new buyers, it’s important that they feel comfortable and confident in their purchase. Relationships are just as important, if not more than the actual watches.
AI: What are the main attributes you look for in a vintage watch you’re going to sell? Any favourite brands?
DM: Condition is super important when assessing a watch purchase as price varies based on condition, whether its a NOS Bulova Alarm to a typical Rolex Submariner. My favourite brands to sell are vintage Omega, Cartier, and Tudor. I really stand behind the value that vintage Tudor and Cartier provide. I always recommend a Tudor Oysterdate, Cartier Tank, or Omega Seamaster for anyone looking for a collectible watch without breaking the bank.
Danny’s JLC Tank in 18k yellow gold
AI: Do you do any business ‘physically’?
DM: Even though most of my business is online whether it be Instagram or Chrono24, I still often deal physically with customers, dealers, and watchmakers. The vintage watch world is so small that I would find myself dealing with the same watch guys and dealers in person. I’m in the Diamond District a few times a week to hunt for new goodies, visit local dealers, and take my watches to my trusted watchmakers. I love meeting other collectors in the city. It’s part of the perks as a dealer.
AI: What does the future of the vintage watch industry look like from your perspective? Do you see more of it moving online as is the trend in luxury in general?
DM: Luxury retail will definitely see a big shift to online, especially after Covid-19, but maybe for good reason. Yes, the experience of buying a luxury watch in a boutique is exciting with the white gloves and champagne, but you know what’s not exciting? Paying retail and taking the hit for depreciation. We are seeing more and more pre-owned watch dealers, vintage watch dealers on Instagram, and even larger corporate luxury resale companies like TheRealReal and Rebag rise in popularity. With everything shifting to online, there is more competition, better pricing, and more clarity with product information.
AI: What do you perceive the challenges to be for smaller operators as large corporates move into the online scene?
DM: Smaller dealers such as myself will have to deal with saturation. There are so many dealers that our own watches can get lost in the marketplace. Sometimes, great watches are not getting the spotlight they deserve because there are so many watches to pay attention to. Sourcing better watches will be difficult with more people in the game. In the future, pricing for many watches will go up with more buyers and sellers. I see dealers paying retail prices already for watches. Margin is getting smaller and smaller as the online marketplaces for watches such as eBay, Chrono24, and Instagram keep getting eyeballs.
AI: What are your plans for your own business going forward?
DM: I was a finance major, which meant I was supposed to work in some boring investment bank. Honestly, I’m just happy to just buy and sell watches right now! I didn’t think I would make it this far in terms of sales volume, the connections made with other dealers/professionals in the industry etc. I do plan to expand my operation in terms of experimenting with different types of inventory, handling more expensive watches, eventually have my own online retail store, and possibly participate in pop-up shops and physical retail.
AI: Do you have a grail watch?
DM: It’s going to sound cliché, but I have been wanting a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date ref. 1803 on a bracelet for the longest time. I love white gold Day-Dates with a blue diamond dial as well, but that’s stealth wealth for a later time in my life. I sold a Day-Date before and wearing that thing was fun. I remember wearing it to class while my professor was wearing a Casio. My classmates and co-workers thought I was crazy. It’s hard for a 22-year-old to pull off a solid gold Rolex, let alone save up for one, but for now, that’s in my mind everyday.
Thank you, Danny.
A Rolex Datejust ref. 1603 sold by Danny