Savour International

If you invest in a Patek Philippe, Rolex, or Lange & Söhne pocket watch, you may earn a double-digit return, according to experts, who indicate that pocket watches that are more than a century old are particularly in demand at the moment. But which model should you purchase? And where should you purchase it? As is so often the case, these questions can only be answered by doing research.

 

London, 1908. High drama at the finale of the Olympic marathon. Totally exhausted, Dorando Pietri, the Italian runner in the lead, reaches White City Stadium. Pietri is so out of it that on entering the stadium he initially takes the wrong path and then falls a number of times before finally crossing the finish line first, to the acclaim of 75,000 spectators. But this baker from a town near Modena, Italy, did not go down in the record books as an Olympic victor. This honour was accorded after the fact to John Hayes, the runner-up from the U.S.

 

 

 

The reason: some doctors and officials had helped the exhausted Pietri to cross the finish line. These individuals included the organiser of the London marathon, Jack Andrew, whose assistance to Pietri was captured in a now famous photo.

 

Last November, Dr. H. Crott auctioneers of Mannheim held an auction at the Frankfurt Airport Sheraton hotel to auction off a series of valuable chronometers in the guise of vintage wristwatches, enamelled watches, and precision pocket watches. These items included lot number 514, which according to the catalogue is “an extremely fine and rare enamelled precision pocket watch with a rattrapante chronograph and 30-minute counter with the original casing.”

 

But this isn’t actually what’s so special about this fine timepiece; for this is the pocket watch that was given to the aforementioned sports official Jack Andrew as an honour on the occasion of his participation in the 1908 Olympics. Timepiece collectors are very fond of such historical items. And in this case as well, the legend lived up to its reputation. Lot 514, whose sale price was estimated at 1,800 to 5,000 euros went for 12,000 euros.

 

 

So if you’re looking for a low-risk investment with a high yield, pocket watches may well be a good option. Technical pocket watches from 1870 to 1920 are particularly in demand at present.

 

Such pocket watches may well increase in value by 10 to 15 percent per year.

 

Although the market for high-end wristwatches has to some extent taken a beating from the financial crisis over the past year, the pocket watch segment has remained unfazed. And what’s more, Asian collectors are driving up the prices of timepieces such as gold enamelled pocket watches, some of which have sold for upwards of 500,000 euros of late.

 

The yields on such timepieces are every bit as impressive as their prices. Particularly in demand at the moment are vintage watches such as 1950s and 1960s wristwatches, which are generating yields of 10 to 15 percent annually at auctions. The average yield ranges from 8 to 10 percent – provided, of course, you purchase the right item.

 

However, you also need to bear in mind that investing in watches is not a risk-free proposition, since there’s no way of telling which models will be in demand 20 years from now. 80 percent of watches will definitely not increase in value, as any auctioneer will tell you. So how do you go about finding a watch that’s a good investment? Well, first of all you need to proceed as you would if you were investing in art, i.e. you immerse yourself in the subject, study the relevant literature, and pick the brains of professionals in the field. It’s also advisable to attend auctions where you can inspect the timepieces in question.

 

01 | A few months ago, this pocket watch was auctioned for 76,000 euros. It was ...

02 | ... a gold enamelled watch made in about 1820 by the London watchmaker William Ilbery specially for the Chinese market.