|
|
 |
|
| Watches |
The Value of Time
Thomas Mao, Psy.D.
12/01/2003
|
The origins of watch collecting are rooted in the utilitarian. When the social time coordination instrument was the village clock, social units tended to cluster around the village square. With the rise of portable, reliable watches, the individual was freed to roam independently from the center of town, and yet remain in sync with the rest of humanity. Today, with the  | | Illustration by Diane Fenster |
ready availability of completely automated, mass-produced electronic watches, the raison d’etre of a fine mechanical timepiece no longer lies primarily in its timekeeping function. Today, the keystones to value in high mechanical timepieces are set in the perceived values of craft, the reconciliation of tradition and innovation, and their much more fascinating roles as a form of kinetic art and signatures of personal style.
For the cognoscenti, timepieces have always served this dual role of precision instrument and expression of personal taste—extensions, if you will, of their owners’ identities. A popular aphorism among experienced Asian watch collectors asserts that "Anyone with money can appreciate jewels and gemstones; it takes someone with refinement to appreciate a fine timepiece."
More and more people have adopted this motto as mantra. During the past few decades, the watch collection has firmly established itself among the other important appreciating assets—vintage wines, classic automobiles, and works of art—that comprise our personal portfolios. Like other such collectibles, the fine timepiece has about it a certain mystique: Hand-made instruments in an era of mech- anized mass-production, an appealing aura envelops these artifacts, whose designs manifest, in metal and crystal, the creative and rational faculties of the human mind. This broadening admiration worldwide for the historic and aesthetic nuances of watch making has not only raised the consciousness of collectors, but also the auction-hammer prices we are willing to pay—not to mention the overall market liquidity of our spoils. While we acquire these pieces not as investments, but as heirlooms to be held for future generations, questions of value inevitably arise. Valuation in the fine watch market is complicated, involving not only considerations of objective fair market value, intrinsic value, and cultural significance, but also (and most importantly) the private emotional resonance a particular piece carries for each us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
