Collectors of luxury, vintage or other watches are often considered as simple amateurs or enthusiasts who are ready to spend hundreds or thousands of euros to obtain the timepiece that makes them dream. Nothing could be truer for a large majority of them, because we have seen the emergence of real "investors" who buy watches to resell them a few years, a few months or even a few weeks later with, sometimes, a nice gain in value at the end!
A market in full development
While real estate, stocks or bonds are the most common markets to invest one's savings, other types of investments have appeared for a few years on more atypical markets. One thinks of course of art, but also of wine and luxury products, in particular watches.
Why is this? Quite simply because, since the beginning of the 2000s, the Swiss watchmaking industry has sharply increased its selling prices for new watches. This spectacular increase has far outpaced inflation and the intrinsic improvement of the products. As a result, many buyers decided to turn to second-hand watches and the prices of well-known brands also skyrocketed!
In addition, almost all manufacturers have gradually increased the diameters of new watches to meet the demand of emerging markets such as the Middle East or Russia. The standard is now around 42mm. As collectors and amateurs of Swiss watches prefer watches with a smaller diameter, they have naturally turned to second-hand watches, especially vintage ones.
So today we have several investor profiles:
The passionate individuals: they seek above all to collect and thus do not have for first interest the investment even if they seldom balk at making a good capital gain.
Private amateurs and investors: they do a bit of both, some watches will be bought just for the investment, others for the collection.
Amateur investors: they are on this market only to earn money and they often have 5 to 10 watches, they are sometimes micro-entrepreneurs.
Professional investors: they may have several dozen watches and, as they are professionals, their only objective is to invest and rotate their stock.
One could therefore say that there is not much room left on this market and yet it is still possible to find affordable watches that will offer good returns in the future.
Investing, yes, but how much and for what profitability?
In twenty or thirty years, luxury collector's watches have increased in value enormously, some of them being resold 20 to 50 times their purchase price, which means that it is a very profitable investment! However, as you can imagine, this is not the case for all timepieces and therefore it is important to know what to invest in, but also how much and for what profitability.
As far as the initial investment is concerned, there is no clear rule and it is possible to start investing in watches with 200 euros or even 10,000 euros. It all depends on the model, the brand and what you expect as return on investment.
However, we can say that the best way to start is to have between 500 and 2000 euros to buy one or more watches that you can hope to resell a few years later with a relatively high capital gain, but this will still depend on the model you choose to buy. If you wish to invest a little more money, it is also possible to finance this investment with a personal credit, but be careful in this case to choose your credit to calculate your rate of return. You can find for example many consumer credit offers on Younited Credit.
It is also sometimes possible to make short-term capital gains if you manage to find a watch that is listed but sold by a private individual who is not aware of it. Beware, however, of the risk of counterfeiting or of a model in poor condition.
If we look at the trend over the past few years, it is not uncommon to see certain models with a rather impressive return of x5 or x10 in only 10 or 20 years, which makes it possible to achieve capital gains that are much higher than what is done on the stock market.
It is often best to invest your money in several watches for several reasons:
It secures your investment and spreads the main risks:
Theft
Damage to the watch
Hidden defect
Mechanical problem
Loss of value on the model you have chosen
Unforeseen necessary revision
Authenticity problem
You can then invest in several times buying for example one watch per year
You will also have the possibility to wear several watches!
Which brands and which models to invest in?
Whether in the various auction houses or among the main sellers in Paris, three brands rule in terms of vintage watches: Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet.
These three companies represent the bulk of the market in value because they are "safe havens". In addition, the auction house records are almost exclusively held by models from these three mythical houses with, for example, the sale of Paul Newman's Rolex Daytona at Phillips last year for more than 15 million euros.
However, even if these three houses are the law, others allow to make beautiful capital gains for a less important initial investment: Omega, Zenith, Universal Genève...
As explained above, you don't need to be rich to start investing in a vintage watch.
What should I look out for?
If you are buying a vintage watch to increase its value and to invest, it is very important to have the box and the original papers of the watch. These elements will ensure the buyer of an irreproachable traceability of the piece. These elements are particularly important with Rolex.
If you are investing in a less iconic and less sought after timepiece, the box and papers are certainly important but not necessary. You will need to pay attention first to the general appearance of the watch, the slightest scratch, the slightest stain will affect the price.
In detail, the dial is the first element to inspect, it must be in its original configuration and in good condition. Then, the hands are important and must also be original. The case will then interest us, its condition is very important and a case never polished will be preferable. If you have the possibility to see the movement it is also preferable. A movement that is dirty or in poor condition should be avoided because it can lead to significant restoration costs.
Finally, the strap can be important, especially for models with metal straps, if it is original it is a good point. For leather straps it is different, a vintage watch will often have an "aftermarket" leather strap because leather does not keep well over time. An original leather strap is therefore a very good point.
As a general rule, it is very important that your watch is original, each modified element will affect the rating of the model.
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