Alpha Hands by Norm Harris
Four years ago I started my journey into watches, logging innumerable hours researching vintage timepieces – publications, blogs, articles, forums, books, podcasts, serial number production tables, and so forth. What I never managed to find was a site that aggregated all of the information in a way that I thought was accessible and easily digestible to someone getting started in this hobby. It was (and still is) difficult to get up to speed on different topics when information is dispersed, and much of the time, not openly shared.
I was fortunate to learn early on the value of your own research, in a world where until that point I had considered so many others to be experts, only later to find that they either were not (and I appreciate that it is impossible to have deep knowledge across all manufacturers and periods) or, worse, simply didn’t have my best interests in mind.
So while Alpha Hands was initially focused on resources to help the enthusiast who is getting started and doesn’t know where to begin or who to trust, it soon grew to include primary research on specific references, with detailed descriptions, images of what is and isn’t original to the reference, price trends, and, what is most time-intensive, a listing of publicly known pieces. Armed with this information we can see the rarity of a reference, subtle differences across pieces that aren’t initially obvious, such as hand design, caseback movement etching, and how the market has valued the reference over time.
Differences across production for the Universal Geneve 881101/01
While it would be an advantage in collecting to keep this information private, my philosophy is that this information should be available to all in the hope that greater transparency can prevent avoidable mistakes. Alpha Hands is the only site I know that democratizes the data to such a level, allowing visitors to track histories, providing detailed information to help collectors try to determine authenticity, and charts that help compare price points to both recent sales and current offers.
Case number project for the Universal Geneve 881101/01
The first project released on Alpha Hands was for the Zenith A386, and since then I have expanded into Universal Geneve (Nina, Clapton and Big Eye), Heuer 3646, Mido 5907, the 3-register Type XX (from Mathey-Tissot, also sold as Girard-Perregaux and Breguet), steel Vacheron 4072, and Patek Philippe “Form” pieces. Projects in the queue include selected Rolex and Breitling references. I can’t say that there is a method to select what reference will come next – only that I will continue to focus on references that appeal to me in design and construction, and are relatively uncommon, in order to make serial number projects possible.
I believe if all enthusiasts take the time to learn more not just about the latest auction and dealer prices for a watch of interest, but more about the history of the reference, what pieces are known, and what is correct, they will make better purchasing decisions. Not everyone involved in the industry believes in this level of transparency because it reduces their advantages buying and selling. However, it’s foundation of Alpha Hands, and I believe good for the long-run health of the hobby.