The most expensive vintage watch is the cheap one. A sixties automatic that “runs great” but hasn’t seen a watchmaker this century is wearing through its own pivots with every swing of the rotor. Dry bearings don’t announce themselves until the damage is done, and a worn centre wheel costs more to put right than the service that would have prevented it.
A proper service on a vintage movement covers full disassembly, cleaning, oiling, timing, gaskets. It runs €250 to €450 at an independent bench, more for chronographs. When a listing price looks too good next to ours, add that number, then add the risk that the movement has needs a service won’t fix.
Read service claims the way you’d read a used car’s history. “Recently serviced” with no date, no name, and no timing result means nothing. Every watch we sell states when it was serviced, what was replaced, and how it timed when it left the bench. We did the work, and we keep the file.