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The Court's Appeal
James D. Malcolmson
08/02/2004
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VALUE JUDGMENT
Timepieces with important provenance—those commissioned by royalty or other
significant historical figures—command top dollar on the collector market.
Though extremely rare and often difficult to authenticate, these watches may
offer an irresistible mix of past glory and future investment appreciation. |
Today the market is enjoying a period of appreciation, due in part
to aggressive collecting by several watch company museums. Breguet, Vacheron
Constantin and Patek Philippe, three of the most important manufacturers for
royal and elite customers, actively acquire their own pieces for top market
prices. Swatch Group chairman Nicholas Hayek is known as the most important
collector of vintage Breguets (Swatch is now the parent company of
Breguet).
Dealer’s Advantage
Watch companies have a considerable
advantage when competing to acquire royal timepieces: their own records. They
learn of important pieces about to come on the market when the owners seek to
verify provenance. The manufacturers can tender offers at that point, avoiding
the risk and added expense of an auction.
“We have put together a list of
certain pocket watches that we would like to see come on the market,” says
Arnaud Tellier, who curates and acquires pieces for the Patek Philippe museum.
“Sometimes when we find a watch that was sold to a well-known person, we will
buy it for that reason. We are very lucky to have access to the information from
the records; it is not the kind of information we give to
everybody.”
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