It’s been a while since I started doing my own introspection about watch collecting and with the current state of the industry, I have finally reached a point where I get very little pleasure out of buying a new watch, whatever that ends up being. I’ve been collecting watches for the last 32 years and I’ve owned almost everything that I never even imagined I would own one day.
There are just a couple of watches out there that I probably still aspire to own —perhaps a Royal Oak Grand Complication or a Vacheron Constantin Overseas Ultra-Thin Perpetual Calendar Skeleton— but I am not even certain, I really will at this point. Every decade, I used to come up with an ‘end game’ piece that I aspired to own, and I was fortunate enough to get it. At this point, I’ve lost track of how many watches I’ve owned in my life and my collection seems to be getting smaller and smaller —more about this in a follow-up article.
After seeing the watch market turn into a circus with prices going out of control and watches exclusively being allocated to ‘buddies wanting to flex’, ‘clients greasing the boutique directors’, or simply ‘gray dealers disguised as collectors’ —many of them big Instagram personalities—, I am finally at a point in my watch collecting life where I find myself totally uninterested to even try to get —or perhaps I should say ‘beg’ for— a watch at a brand boutique or an authorized dealer.
The fact that new watches rarely make it to real collectors or to those that would like to buy a watch for their appreciation of horology or simply just as a precious object to celebrate a milestone, has finally turned watch collecting into a really boring hobby for me and for many big collectors I know out there. And those wanting to become new watch collectors are sadly facing a ‘barrier to entry’ where it is almost like begging watch stores to take your hard-earned money in exchange for a second-tier watch —not a popular model— that you didn’t even want to get to begin with.
When I see collectors like @thejourneguy on Instagram that decide to post a picture of a Furlan Marri —an amazing product for the price— over one of his precious F.P. Journe timepieces, or when someone like @ilikerolexes had to wait years before getting a Rainbow Daytona allocated to him —despite he has purchased pretty much every Rolex out there at authorized dealers or Rolex Boutiques—; that right there is telling me that we’ve reached the tipping point or what I call in marketing the ‘diminishing returns curve’. In my case, I am about to hit the ‘negative returns’ part and be done for good.
Today, when I found the For Sale listing of a sealed Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin ‘Jumbo’ ref. 16202ST.OO.1240ST.01 ‘50th Anniversary’ at Sotheby’s for $311,150 USD, I simply lost it. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sotheby’s and there’s nothing wrong with them here. However, it is very frustrating that the only way one could get this watch at the moment would be by paying almost ten times its retail price of $33,200 USD. Simply ridiculous!
What is wrong here, is that the boutiques are allocating watches to the wrong people —friends or people that give them gifts or kickbacks— who are just trying to make a quick buck and who couldn’t care less about the timepieces. But what infuriates me, even more, is that during my last visit to Audemars Piguet in Le Brassus, I had a brief very casual conversation with François-Henry Bennahmias —CEO of Audemars Piguet— and he promised me I would be allocated one of the ‘50th Anniversary’ Royal Oak Extra-Thin Jumbos. Months later after its release, no AP Boutique would honor his word. Here’s the picture we took in his office. All fun and games. Maybe he didn’t like that I was wearing my beloved Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time.
François-Henry Bennahmias —CEO of Audemars Piguet— and Halim Trujillo —Founder, Editor-in-Chief & Publisher of Watch Collecting Lifestyle.
At this point, I am just trying to figure out who is the person that got this Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ref. 16202ST.OO.1240ST.01 ‘50th Anniversary’ allocated and then decided to simply pass it down to Sotheby’s for its sale. But in all honesty, I really shouldn’t care and all that I will say is that I am finally done buying any more watches and most likely anymore.
As my humble watch collection continues to thin out, I can’t wait for the day when I become fully liberated and I end up wearing one to three watches at the max for the rest of my life. For now, I’ll continue to love horology, hate what’s going on in the watch market, and perhaps at one point in the next decade, I’ll decide to become a one-watch person until my last breath. Up until then, I won’t stress too much anymore about what’s on my wrist. Ultimately, I don’t wear watches to impress anyone or to flex, I wear them because I appreciate them and I love them. I leave you guys with three watches that most likely will continue to accompany me in the next decade or so, as I wear them the most out of all that I still have in my collection.
Until the next conversation about the watch market and watch collecting.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time Blue Dial ref. 7900V
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ref. 15400ST Black Dial
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 44mm Platinum ref. 26401PO
