Like many collectors, I’ve bought and sold a number of watches at auction over the years. So with the autumn watch auctions nearly here, and me being a systematic type of guy, I’ve taken the time to analyze my philosophy of auction bidding. Here I share some of the tactics I use with the hope that some may be useful to you in your own bidding.
Wouldn’t it be splendid to have everything your heart desired? Well, it’s a nice fantasy but it’s not going to happen for me. And besides, I’m not so sure that the experience of “selling to buy” isn’t actually a significant part, albeit a bittersweet one, of the collecting experience.
While my friends’ paths into serious collecting have been fairly diverse, I started with Jaeger-LeCoultre, which opened my eyes to the world of fine watchmaking and served as the foundation for my ongoing fascination with horology. Take a look at hishistory collecting fascinating timepieces by this Swiss brand.
If you’re just beginning to collect the works of independent watchmakers, I’m here to suggest that you give careful consideration to watches from Habring2, the small independent watchmaking company headed by Austrian couple Maria Kristina and Richard Habring.
“I have no secrets as past watchmakers had. There are graveyards full of secrets and that’s enough.” –Philippe Dufour, 2014
Have you heard of Philippe Dufour?
Chances are, if you have been collecting watches for any significant period of time, his name is well known to you. If not, let me enlighten you.
Once in a while on the collector forums, a question is posed: is there anyone in the collector community who has never, ever, owned a Rolex? As a general rule, respondents to these queries tend to express disbelief that such a creature could possibly exist given the quality and ubiquity of the brand’s watches. Well, folks, I’m here to tell you that such people do exist, and that I’m one of them. How could it be?
New York, New York! Teeming metropolis, center of commerce and culture, and for two dizzying weeks in July 2017 the epicenter of the watch-related world as Patek Philippe’s Grand Exhibition shone a spotlight on the past, present, and future of haute horlogerie. Read on to find out why I think this exhibition was so important.
My thoughts have turned to one major system that is always there, but generally hidden from sight: the movement. Here are a few of my favorites and why. And in the philosophy of putting my money where my mouth is, these movements have appeared in one or more watches that I’ve owned personally.
For watch lovers, the name “Paul Newman” is associated first and foremost with Rolex, and in particular with a subset of that brand’s Daytona watches with specific dial characteristics, including a recessed outer seconds track and subdials that feature block-shaped hash marks and Art Deco-style Arabic numerals. But what does it mean for these references on the vintage market?
If you follow the world of independent watchmaking, by now you’ve almost certainly heard of watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi and his Akrivia watches. Since arriving on the scene in 2012 with its first tourbillon-based watch, Akrivia has continued to delight.