The 1970s

Squeezed between quartz and the gold price, and the best value on this site because of it.

Squeezed from two sides. Quartz came from below — Bulova's Accutron had been running since 1960, and Seiko's Astron reached shops at the end of 1969 — and gold came from above: the US held the price at $35 an ounce until 1970, after which it ran past $800 within the decade. The answer was to make steel luxurious, and the case escaped the circle entirely: Genta's Royal Oak in 1972, the Ingenieur SL in 1976, octagons and cushions and television screens. Tool and sports designs passed 70% of production, though gold never retreated — 76% of 1970s dress watches still wore it.

The decade collectors dismissed for thirty years, which is exactly why it is the best value on this page. The mechanical watches made here were built under pressure, often at the end of a movement's life, and they have never carried a story premium. What they do carry is design risk: an integrated bracelet is original or it is nothing, because a replacement will not sit right on a case drawn around it, and a refinished 1970s dial rarely recovers its colour. I buy the ones that were left alone, and price the ones that weren't accordingly.