Vintage Movado watches.
Movado is a Swiss house founded in 1881, celebrated above all for the Museum dial, a study in minimalism marked by a single dot at twelve. Its watches are as much design objects as timepieces, and its vintage pieces are quietly collectible.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Movado Museum dial?
The Museum dial is Movado's famous minimalist design, a plain face marked only by a single dot at twelve o'clock representing the sun at noon. It is one of the most recognisable watch designs ever made.
Are vintage Movado watches good quality?
Yes. Movado is a long-established Swiss house, and its vintage pieces offer well-finished watchmaking alongside genuinely iconic design.
Do your Movado watches come with a warranty?
Every watch is inspected before listing and covered by our 14-day returns.
Do you sell second hand Movado watches?
Yes. Every Movado watch we sell is second hand, and we use "pre-owned" and "vintage" to mean the same thing: someone owned the watch before you. The words differ only in age. Pre-owned and second hand say nothing about when a watch was made, while vintage conventionally means roughly thirty years or older. Our Movado stock spans both, and every listing states the year where we can confirm it from the caseback, papers or movement, and says so plainly where we cannot.
Are old Movado watches worth buying?
An old Movado in honest condition is usually better value than a new fashion watch at the same money, because the depreciation has already happened and you are buying a watch that has proved it lasts. What matters is the individual piece rather than the age: an original dial, a case that has not been over-polished, and a movement that has been serviced or is priced to allow for it. We inspect and test every Movado watch in London and describe wear in plain English rather than cropping it out of the photographs.
What makes a Movado watch a classic?
A classic watch is one whose design has stopped dating, and the test is simply time: a shape that looked right thirty years ago and still looks right now. In practice that means restraint, a legible dial, proportions that suit a wrist rather than a trend, and a case shape that was not chasing the fashion of its decade. The classic Movado designs are the ones that keep reappearing in our stock precisely because people kept them and wore them, which is the most honest evidence a design has lasted.
What is the difference between a vintage and an antique Movado watch?
Antique conventionally means a hundred years or older, and vintage roughly thirty years or older, so almost everything described as an antique wristwatch is really a vintage one. Wristwatches only became common after the First World War, which is why genuine antique examples are mostly pocket watches. Our Movado collection is vintage and pre-owned rather than antique, and each listing gives the year or era we have been able to confirm.
