44 DEPARTURES STYLE
44 DEPARTURES STYLE WRIST WATCH Richard Mille RM 63-01 Dizzy Hands in red gold and titanium Patek Philippe Ref. 5167R Aquanaut in rose gold Rolex Yacht-Master 40 in rose gold Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 in rose gold
JÖRN KASPUHL (ILLUSTRATION); WATCHES FROM LEFT: © SOTHEBY’S, FABIO SANTINELLI, © PHILLIPS, SEBASTIEN SECCHI & BENOÎT PATTE Hammer Time! As the watch auction market heats up, John Reardon, international head of watches at Christie’s, speaks about what’s hot and where value can still be found. WHAT TRENDS HAVE YOU RECENTLY OBSERVED IN THE COLLECTOR MARKET? Condition is increasingly important for buyers today. As scholarship continues to evolve, it’s just amazing to see the sophistication of the buyer today compared to a year or two ago. Quality and condition are increasingly important in the marketplace, and the separation in price point between a superlative watch and a so-so watch is great, much more than we’ve seen in the past. HOW IS THE AUCTION MARKET CHANGING? We now have an intersection of increased knowledge about quality and rarity combined with a whole lot of money. You have a lot of liquidity in the market now where people pulled money out of more traditional investing areas, and they’re spending money on watches like never before. So, it’s not just collectors buying, but also some speculative investors, people who have no intention of wearing the pieces, but just want to acquire them as an asset class. So, you have the real collectors, you have the people buying with hopes to have a return, and then people who just want to buy a watch to wear. GIVEN RECENT RECORD-BREAKING SALES, DO YOU FEEL THERE HAS BEEN OVERVALUATION OR A BUBBLE BUILDING IN THE MARKET? In the late 1990s, I remember the same question: can prices get any higher? And now I go back to a catalogue from 1997, and I wish I had a time machine to go back to buy every watch. Prices have gone up so much. Fast-forward to 20 years from now, and I have no doubt there are going to be pieces that will have gone up exponentially. Certain parts of the watch-collecting market are much hotter than others. Certainly, there are segments that offer buying opportunities that I think are some Blockbuster Watches Patek Philippe’s Henry Graves Jr Supercomplication pocket watch with 24 complications sold for US million by Sotheby’s in Geneva in November 2014, making it the most expensive watch ever sold at auction. Paul Newman’s personal Rolex Daytona wristwatch sold for US.8 million in October 2017 by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo in New York, setting a new record for the most expensive wristwatch ever sold. * all prices except Only Watch include buyer’s premium A rare Omega tourbillon prototype wristwatch sold for US.4 million, a record price for the brand, by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo in Geneva in November 2017. of the biggest bargains in the history of watch collecting. Then there are other pieces that you would be buying at the top of the market. But it’s so hot, I think it could potentially go even further. WHAT’S HOT NOW? The hottest watches right now are the Rolex Paul Newman Daytonas. Vintage sport Rolexes are bringing unbelievably high prices and continue to have momentum, which I don’t think is going to stop any time soon. WHERE DO YOU SEE VALUE OPPORTUNITIES? I have always been a champion of pocketwatch collecting because it is pure horology – handmade pieces from the early 20th and 19th centuries are some of the masterpieces that intrigue and excite me. However, there is not a ton of people lining up to buy pocket watches. For modern watches, there are many incredible buying opportunities. For example, A Lange & Söhne is one of the best-made modern mechanical timepieces at a fraction of retail. Another would be Breguet. Breguet has made some of the most beautiful modern watches. You can buy a piece from 10 to 15 years ago for less than half of retail, and you get a lot of watch for the money. –As told to Laurie Kahle A unique FP Journe monopusher split-seconds chronograph sold for US.15 million at the Only Watch charity auction (conducted by Christie’s) in November 2017, achieving a record for an independent watchmaker at auction. DEPARTURES 45
