Passion Rising

Christie's Head of Watches Alexandre Bigler on the burgeoning demand from younger collectors and the stratospheric growth of auction values when it comes to vintage timepieces.

- JONATHAN HO

CHRISTIE’S IS A PRIVATELY held auction house with a history dating back to its founding in 1766. Today, it is owned by Francois-Henri Pinault’s Groupe Artemis; Pinault is most famously the chairman and CEO of Kering Group, the luxury conglomerate.

The Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index (KFLII), which tracks a weighted basket of 10 collectibles ranging from art to cars and watches, rose by 7% in the 12 months to the end of June 2023. Even if a 7% growth is respectable comparative to the performance of the FTSE 100 index of equities, which rose by 5%, and definitely so in contrast to gold which was just up 1% for the same period, it was still weakest annual performance by KFLII since Q2 2021, proving that even tangible assets are not immune to market uncertainty. And these are uncertain times.

But when you pull wearable investments of passion like jewellery and watches out of the basket of collectibles and see them on their own, timepieces seem to have retained their allure. The AMR (Art Market Research) Watch index was up 10%, but “a correction may be on the cards for some hyped watch styles,” according to AMR Director Sebastian Duthy.

Good As Gold?

Taking a look at AMR’s data over the last decade, it appears that vintage Rolex professional watches dominate the collector’s market with a gold Ref. Daytona Paul Newman John Player Special Dial leading the pack with 571% appreciation to £580,000 and the sole dress Rolex Ref. 8171 Triple Calendar takes second place with 280% appreciation, netting £165,000.