Long-form on real UK finds. Where it came from, what the restorer did, what it became.
A note on these stories. These three are sample issues built from real restorers in our network. Real customer stories replace them as restoration jobs come through. We will never fake a before-and-after.
№ 01 · TENNISSample
A Dunlop Maxply Fort, back on the baseline.
Bath, Somerset · charity shop · spring 2026
Paid
£6
Worth
£220
Restorer
@theracketroom
A wooden Maxply Fort, c.1972, sitting in a Bath charity shop for £6. Frame straight, no warping, but strung with something that looked like garden twine. Sent to The Racket Room — re-strung in vintage natural gut, new leather grip, frame oiled.
Strings cut. Frame inspected for cracks.Original grip wrap removed and replaced.
Sold to a collector in Stuttgart for £220. Buyer plays with it on Sundays.
Grandad's Seiko 5, ticking again after 14 years in a drawer.
Inherited · Newport · 2026
Paid
—
Worth
£320
Restorer
@hattonwatchworks
A 1978 Seiko 5, automatic, day-date. Hadn't run since 2012. Owner's grandfather wore it every day for forty years. Hatton did a full mechanical service, new crystal, original bracelet polished but not re-finished.
Movement out. Full strip and clean.
Kept, not sold. Worn daily. The point of the Index isn't always profit.
A Tacchini 'Dallas' track top from a Scottish loft.
Edinburgh · gran's loft · 2026
Paid
—
Worth
£260
Restorer
@baselinevintage
Cream and navy Sergio Tacchini 'Dallas', c.1981. Cuff blown out, collar yellowed, smell of forty years. Baseline did a colour rescue, replaced the cuff with period-matched ribbing, and de-pilled the body by hand.
Listed on Depop, sold in 90 minutes to a buyer in Tokyo for £260.
