Britain's government-run official (biased) news and entertainment provider, the BBC, on watch collecting.
Some pearls of wisdom:
Eric Fleming, a residential real estate broker in New York City, got turned on to watch-collecting six years ago when a client gave him some timeless advice. The client, who worked for jeweler Harry Winston, told Fleming he would never be able to sell a $4m apartment wearing a cheap watch.
Fleming, who was wearing a $400 Tissot sports watch back then, listened — and then some. The 37-year-old has since amassed a collection of 11 watches, ranging from a $250 Luminox sports watch to an $11,000 Rolex Yacht-Master Platinum.
On the history of watch collecting
Vintage watch-collecting — which began in earnest in the 1980’s in Italy and Germany — is now a global phenomenon,
I have a feeling that it started much earlier than that.
This is more or less true:
You don’t have to be a jet-setter to buy a watch worth collecting. Watch enthusiasts can go to a neighborhood flea market or local dealer to scoop up an early Swatch that is now highly collectible, such as limited-edition models designed by artists like Keith Haring, which can go for as much as $1,000 at auction. Other reasonably-priced models to look for are mechanical Omega and Heuer watches from the 1960s and 1970s. They could be purchased for as little as $200 only five years ago, and now go for $2,000 on eBay.
Yes, prices have gone up across the board.
So called “complicated” watches, or those that display more than hours and minutes, are among the most collectible. That is because collectors, who are predominantly male and often in their mid-20s to 40s, are drawn to the watch’s mechanism. “It’s similar to car collecting, there’s a strong technical appeal, with over 400 parts put into something the size of a postage stamp,” said Joe Thompson, editor-in-chief of WatchTime, a US-based watch enthusiasts’ magazine. “Guys find it fascinating to know what’s going on under the hood.”
Business tips
For those who simply want to invest in the trend, there is a watch fund, Precious Time, which buys the best vintage watches, in the rarest configurations, from top brands such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Cartier and Breguet. The fund — started by a Milan-based collector, Alfredo Paramico, who has amassed what some experts consider one of the finest collections in the world — holds the watches, then sells them at an appropriate time to collectors for a profit.
Then it goes into some really expensive (and overpriced) stuff.
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