Time Refuses to Age: Gen Z Gives Vintage Watches a Second Life
On Jalan Batu Tulis Raya in Central Jakarta, watches seem to have their own way of defying time. Behind the rows of shop windows, timepieces from different eras meet in the same space. Seiko, Citizen, Omega, and other brands that once defined style in their day. For visitors who come just to browse, this place may look like an ordinary row of watch shops. But for lovers of old timepieces, Batu Tulis is a place to hunt for something that cannot always be found through an ordinary search: watches with age, character, and stories attached to them.
One of the shops in the area is Toko Jam Amiaw, now run by 27-year-old Kelvin. He is the second generation to continue the family business. His father has been involved in the watch world since 1978, long before social media made buying and selling vintage watches as easy as opening Instagram. The shop in Batu Tulis began operating around 1995, while Kelvin’s family expertise first grew from watch repair work. “This is from my father, so my father started this business in 1978, although not directly here in Batu Tulis,” Kelvin said when met at his shop on Thursday (20/08/2026).
That heritage means Kelvin’s shop is not just a place for transactions. Most of its activity is actually related to servicing and repairs, work that requires knowledge of the mechanics as well as patience in dealing with objects that are no longer young. The watches that come into his hands are not always in perfect condition. Some need to be repaired, maintained, or restored so they can be used again. That is where vintage watches gain their second life.
Kelvin said the collection in his shop is largely filled with vintage watches, especially models from older decades. “Mostly vintage, of course, because here we mostly have watches from before the 1970s, like the 1950s and 1960s, because if we want something timeless we have to go beyond that time. I mean, take the older ones, because newer ones might become outdated, so to speak,” he explained. For Kelvin, age can actually be one of the reasons a watch endures in memory. When trends keep changing and certain designs lose popularity, models with classic character can become sought after again.
Among the buyers who come, Kelvin has noticed a rather interesting change. The shop’s customers are no longer only those who have long been fond of horology or collectors already familiar with various brands. Lately, more and more young people are coming to look for vintage watches. “Surprisingly, lately it has been more young people, around my age, a bit older. So the range is between 22 and 35 years old,” Kelvin said. That age range means Batu Tulis is no longer solely associated with collectors from an older generation.
For Kelvin, the arrival of these young people has various reasons. Some become familiar with watches because they follow their parents’ hobby, while others come to buy their first watch after achieving a certain milestone in life. “Usually it is passed down from their father’s hobby, for example the father likes watches, so the child also comes to like watches. Or usually they want to find their first watch, like they have just been accepted for a job, or they have just reached a new milestone in their life, usually like that,” he said.
Interestingly, Kelvin sees quite a lot of Gen Z coming specifically to hunt for watches. The models they look for are not always from luxury brands. “Many, usually they look for Seiko or Technos watches,” he said. For Kelvin’s shop segment, watch prices range from around Rp800,000 to Rp3 million, so there is still room for young buyers who want to start getting to know vintage watches without immediately entering the luxury watch category.
Price is one entry point, but it is not the only reason young people are attracted to old watches. Amid a consumer culture that is increasingly fast, vintage watches offer something opposite. An object that is already old but still has value to be worn again. A model that was once popular decades ago can reappear on the wrist of a young person born long after the watch was made. There is a long gap in time, but it is precisely that gap that makes the object feel different.
Kelvin sees this tendency as part of the fashion cycle. “In my opinion, trends go in circles. When one thing becomes outdated, it will come back again, there is a cycle. And for watches, the timeline is already very long, so people will always like vintage watches, especially antique brands, which are always hyped,” he said.
This tendency is also felt in the way 25-year-old Nadia Putri views vintage watches. As a communications worker in the SCBD area, she spends her days in an environment closely tied to digital devices. But when choosing accessories, Nadia is drawn to watches that have history and signs of use. One she often wears is a Citizen 6010-R01029, a small and thin vintage watch she found through Instagram.
“I like vintage watches because they feel like they have more character. New watches are usually still very perfect, while vintage watches already seem to have a story before they finally reach us,” Nadia said. That interest has made watches develop into more than just an accessory. She began collecting and following vintage watch sellers through social media, a place that makes the process of searching for old models much easier than in the era when watch hunters had to know shops or collector networks directly.