Gone are the days when you could a) walk into a watch boutique (single or multi brand authorized dealer), b) try on a watch, c) buy the one/s you like most, and d) then celebrate, preferably over a nice lunch. And hopefully e) your children or heirs receive the watch one day. Well, this does still happen, except the motives behind this sequence has changed. A) and b) above have not changed. But c) for several brands or specific collections or individual watches of those brands, one just cannot just buy what he likes. One must have a ‘purchase history’ with a brand or authorized dealer, and even then, one must ‘bundle’ to be able to buy a certain watch. While I am sure d) celebratory lunches do happen, the real celebration is flexing on social media, especially on Instagram and Facebook.
Such practices of making watches difficult to obtain, also known as artificial scarcity drives up their demand, thereby increasing their market value significantly. This changes the motives of buying them, and these ‘hype’ watches end up on the secondary market very soon after their launch. It can be disillusioning to see a limited edition or rare watch from an haute horology brand end up on the website of a secondary market platform so soon. This ends up e) depriving the child or heir of a timeless object.
Furthermore, the rise of microbrands, with their amazing quality and design, have made it difficult to obtain their watches. Their limited quantities combined with their practice of online first-come first-serve on a pre-set time slot drives up demand significantly. This creates a situation where customers in the US, Middle East, Hong Kong, and other places all hoping their credit card will go through asap for a launch slot. Michael Hickcox, a friend and world class collector, sums it up perfectly with his comment “with the rise of microbrands and the way they sell out immediately, it puts the pressure on one to order quickly without detailed consideration. And this leads to many buyers flipping their pieces very quickly”.
Nevertheless, social media is good for the industry. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter enable watch brands and their timepieces greater visibility to a wider global audience. It has enabled independent brands and microbrands, who do not have large marketing budgets (often no marketing budget at all), to market to a global audience easily and effectively. It also enables brands to engage with customers – both existing and potential, in real time. But concepts such as purchase history, bundling, artificial scarcity, first come first served and hype leave clients disillusioned. This creates feelings of FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out. Many want the ‘hype’ and not the actual watch and watchmaking. It comes down to human nature, that we want more of what we can’t have.
Just like cuisine, where classics have been on menus of restaurants for years, often decades, most brands have core collections or individual pieces in their catalogues for years, often decades. Partly because of the demand for ‘hype’ pieces, these collections, or individual pieces, often the real jewels of a brand, get ignored. They offer the possibility for collectors, either starting out, or at a mature or advanced level, to always add to their collection. They do not have significant barriers to entry. In other words, do not require a purchase history, bundling, huge waiting lists or the online first come first served. And they are not subject to ‘artificial scarcity ‘and ‘hype.’
The following brands have individual collection/s or pieces, which are splendid examples, some even considered classics.These are models that would shine in any collection. A. Lange & Sohne’s Saxonia collection offers the Saxonia Thin, and the 1815 collection the 1815 three-hander. Bvlgari’s Octo collection offers the Octo Finissimo Automatic. Cartier’s iconic Santos and Tank collections offer a variety of models. Jaeger Le Coultre’s Reverso, Master, and Rendez-Vous offer a wealth of choices. Vacheron Constantin’s Patrimony and Traditionnelle collections each offer manual winding models. And if one wants to delve further, brands such as Breguet, Chopard L.U.C, Omega, Grand Seiko, Piaget, and Zenith have collections whose pieces delight considerably. Micro brands such as Lundis Bleus and Sartory Billard offer dial customization options that are utterly amazing. All these collections offer watches with horological merit, either by being historically significant designs, abundance of case and dial details, or impressive movements (a few even with significant hand-finishing and innovation). So even if the ‘hype’ is not there, the ingredients which make them truly special remain. A few of the above brands have collections that now fall into the ‘hype’ category. But that does not mean that those are the only watches to acquire from that brand.
Watch collecting should be about acquiring timeless objects that will stand the test of time, and not merely for flexing on social media and eventual flipping for a profit. If a collector is willing to be patient, he or she can build a world class collection by collecting these core or classic pieces. Just because they are not ‘hype’ watches does not mean they are ‘any less.’
My personal golden rules of collecting: Think long term and try not to see watches as investments. Develop lasting and long-term relationships with authorized dealers and brands. Friendship and kindness will go a long way in your collecting journey and will make it easier someday to get the ‘hype’ watch if you really want it (hopefully it is also worth having). Do not feel entitled; no one owes you anything. Go off the beaten path in collecting. Give your collection its own voice and personality. For some collectors, it could be manual wind dress watches. For others, it could be chronographs. Maybe dive watches. Others may prefer vintage watches from a specific brand/s and from a specific period. What is not necessarily ‘hot’ today, might find their way into the great collections of tomorrow. And social media will be all the better for your enthusiastic and genuine posts.