Luxury watches are amongst the broad range of asset categories we use as collateral for our unique, low-interest secured asset loans at peer-to-peer lender Unbolted. It’s fair to say that an atmosphere of economic uncertainty has descended on the new watch business in 2015, with retail sales declining throughout the year. With Geneva’s major watch auctions fast approaching in May, we thought it might be timely to seek a little heads-up on what the pre-owned watch market has in store for 2016. A number of experts from the top international specialist auctions houses recently shared their reading of the runes with Financial Times journalist Simon de Burton. Here’s what they had to say.
John Reardon of Christie’s in New York is pretty clear on where he sees the world of watch auctions heading: vintage pieces, even in Hong Kong, which has additionally been obsessed with the cutting-edge and new. Collectors, he says, are questioning why they should spend $5000 on a relatively new Calatrava by Patek Philippe with a refurbished dial and repolished case (it’s a fairly simple three-handed watch), when the same amount could buy them an exquisite Universal chronograph in magnificent, original condition. His “watch to watch” in Geneva on 16th May is a Breguet pocket watch once owned by the founder of Agence France-Presse, Charles-Louis Havas, dating from 1817.
Aurel Bacs of Geneva-based auction house Phillips/Bacs & Russo, expects a wide range of bidders for vintage watches at his auction on 14th May, from billionaires to students – all of them seeking an “epic” watch. Estimates for watches stretch from 3,000 Swiss Francs (SFr) to SFr500,000 ($3,000-$500,000). Intriguingly, Bacs believes that an epic watch doesn’t have to have a seven-figure price tag; it simply needs to be in tip-top, original condition and have a key name. His “watch to watch” is the Breitling Duograph presented to Jack Brabham in 1960 after he won the Formula One championship of that year.
Julien Schaerer (Antiquorum, Geneva) shares the impression that collectors are increasingly searching for hard-to-find vintage brands. A number of vintage watches made by top brands such as TAG Heuer and Universal, he says, have “doubled, tripled and even quadrupled during the past three years.” His auction house has seen rising demand for vintage dive watches from the ‘60s and ‘70s made by previously overlooked manufacturers such as Benrus, Yema and Elgin. A few years back, these watches wouldn’t fetch more than $200, but now they’re commanding prices of $1,000-$2,000. The New York auction on 13th April will feature his “watch to watch:” Elvis Presley’s Corum ‘Buckingham, estimated to fetch $10,000 to $20,000.
If you’re the proud owner of a valuable vintage watch and you have borrowing needs, don’t subject yourself to intrusive credit searches. We never use them at Unbolted: our expert valuation partners will determine the value of your watch on a secondary market (usually an auction). If it’s sufficient for what you need to borrow (we lend 70 percent of the secondary market value), you simply place the watch with us for the duration of the loan. The worst that can happen if you find yourself unable to settle is that we sell the item at auction, returning to you any excess over the agreed sum. You do not have to worry about black marks for not settling (we never report).
