About Us

Alan Wood is the founder and Senior Partner at Vintage Gold Watches and a lover of all things vintage and mechanical. Not only clocks and watches but also cars, boats, aircraft, and cameras! Alan has been a private collector of vintage watches for over 35 years and a trusted vintage watch dealer advising collectors and investors for over 20 years.

This infatuation for all things mechanical can be traced back to Alan’s early career as a Mechanical Entrepreneur starting at the age of 16. From these humble beginnings, Alan’s love of vintage watches quickly grew into an obsession and 20 years of private collecting ensued. Alan’s deep knowledge and infectious passion have gained him a highly respected reputation within the vintage watch industry.

Vintage Gold Watches was born out of this natural evolution in 2011 and has grown to become a highly trusted and reputable vintage watch dealership, not only due to Alan’s extensive knowledge but also that of his expert team and highly skilled restorers.

Alan says “I’ve always loved the magnificent craft of mechanical watchmaking having been a collector all my life. I remember my very first watch at the age of 10 was a Timex, I wore it with so much pride. I bought my first vintage watch for my 30th birthday. I remember it as if it were yesterday, a Longines Ref.4858.

As my passion and hobby evolved, I eventually gave up my day job as a Headhunter in the tech industry to pour my heart and soul into my true passion; hunting for authentic and original vintage watches in fantastic condition.

An avid admirer of the golden age of watchmaking: the 1950s, 60s and 70s, this is the foundation on which Vintage Gold Watches bases its collection. I believe the finest watches ever made were during this era and I’m excited to bring them to you.”

We are huge admirers of 1950s, 60s, and 70s watches from Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Rolex, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Omega, Longines, IWC, and Zenith. And so these form the heart of our collection.

Each of these famous watchhouses offers something different in terms of character, style and functionality. And each vintage watch we sell has its own fascinating history to tell. Value for money is the main reason we offer a carefully chosen portfolio of brands and models, all guaranteed to be authentic and original, and come with a Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee.

Of all the brands we stock, Rolex is of course the most famous. Notably for the robustness of its watch cases and movements, but also the news-worthy events and record-breaking successes of its early waterproof automatics. However, in terms of design, refinement and ultimate quality, each of the brands we specialise in is on par, and often exceeds, that of Rolex.

Our customers, like us, love the design, elegance, quality and style of mid-century wristwatches. It’s often the value for money that surprises our customers most, particularly when timepieces are in such fantastic condition and backed by a solid warranty.

If one considers the extremely high cost of these watches when they were new, adjusted for inflation, along with the very high price of present-day equivalents, high-quality vintage gold watches really do present excellent value for money. If we also factor in double-digit growth investment potential, we really do have something special to wear, treasure and enjoy. All of which really adds up to a very satisfying investment that provides joy for years to come.

While Patek, Vacheron Constantin, Rolex, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Omega, Longines, IWC and Zenith form the core of our collection, we regularly acquire other watches on behalf of our customers.

We only work with the best in the business in order to ensure we can offer all our customers an outstanding service. We always endeavour to find watches of the highest quality, with as little wear as possible. Each watch is then restored as necessary to bring it as close as possible to its original condition. Typically, this requires the skills of a minimum of three craftsmen.

Our vintage specialist watchmaker will restore the movement and coordinate the rest of the restoration. The case will be forwarded to our watch case-maker, who will review the structural integrity, attend to repairs and polish the case. Meanwhile, the dial will be sent to our dial restorers, who have accomplished fabulous work and are widely regarded to be the best in the UK. This, as you will appreciate, is a labour of love and very time-consuming, but our customers agree it is well worthwhile.

Once the decision is made to purchase a vintage gold watch, we fully appreciate this is a significant moment for our customer. Our first priority is to make the experience as simple, straightforward and pleasurable as possible.

As you will discover, we’re keen to help our customers understand the key points and differences between each of our watches. We are happy to answer questions by telephone or email and hear your preferences so that we may guide you to your perfect vintage gold watch. It is always worth enquiring, as we typically have around 40 watches undergoing restoration at any one time, so it may well be that we have exactly what you are looking for, soon to be available.

For example, you may be seeking a watch that was manufactured in your birth year, or perhaps a watch with a particular dial colour or design – size and price are also key considerations. Whatever your preferences might be, please let us know as we may already have something of interest in stock which is waiting to be listed on our site.

We also have strong connections with fellow watch dealers in London, so we may well be able to find you a good example of exactly ‘your watch’, in much less time than you might spend on your own. If necessary, we will then restore a watch for you, using only original parts to make it look as good as the rest of the watches you see on this website.

We have developed extensive experience over many years in servicing, repairs and restoration of vintage watches. By buying hundreds of watches each year and restoring them to the very high standards you see on our website, we have built a great team of expert watchmakers, watch case restorers and watch dial restorers who we know are guaranteed to do exceptional work.

Servicing, repairs and restoration always involve dismantling a watch down to each of its component parts before cleaning and close examination. We then replace parts with genuine originals, rebuilding and oiling to the manufacturer’s specifications before the testing and calibration phase. Nearly always, the dial and watch case will also require professional restoration.

Naturally, we only buy and restore the best quality watches we can find. However, our customers often provide us with watches in poorer states of repair, requiring significant restoration work. For example, this may be when a watch has been passed down through one or more generations. It might have belonged to a grandparent and has since been sitting dormant in a drawer for many years after failing to run one day in the distant past. Sentimental reasons aside, repairing and restoring a vintage watch is almost always worthwhile, as long as it has not been water-damaged or suffered severe damage.

We will always be happy to service a quality vintage watch, particularly if it is one of the brands in which we specialise. i.e. Patek Philippe, Vacheron & Constantin, Rolex, Omega, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Longines, IWC, Zenith, Universal Geneve, Girard Perregaux and Heuer. Our watchmakers may also service other quality brands, however, please check in advance.

To find out more about our servicing, repairs and restoration work, see our dedicated page.