When Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg announced he was cutting political fact checking for Facebook users last month, he sported a $900,000 (£725,000) watch.
Enthusiasts will know his Swiss-made Greubel Forsey is one of only two or three the watchmaker produces annually with each taking 6,000 hours to make. Exquisite craftsmanship and rarity are what make brands such as this highly collectable and lucrative investments.
Before investing in watches – and you can start with a few thousand pounds – first study the market with websites such as WatchCharts. It analyses millions of up-to-date sales prices and scans the internet for what buyers are paying.
Using computer-generated analytic tools, it lists the performance of specific brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe, as well as creating indexes that plot the market.
Tap in details of a watch and you can plot values through prices fetched day by day for free for up to a year. Access to unlimited market prices for two years is $19.99 a month (£16) and access for data going back 15 years or more is $99.99 (£80).
WatchCharts’ Overall Market Index plots the sales of 300 of the world’s most desirable watches from the top ten luxury brands. Prices peaked in April 2022 just after the pandemic and the index has climbed 24 per cent in the past five years.
Enthusiast: Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg wears a £725,000 Greubel Forsey watch
Vintage watch specialist Tom Bolt, trading as the ‘watch guru’ on Instagram, believes the recent ‘mini-crash’ means now is an ideal time to invest.
He says: ‘It’s a natural realignment in prices following a rise in the pandemic and opens up an opportunity for investors.’
It’s worth noting HM Revenue & Customs considers watches a ‘wasting asset’ which means you do not have to pay capital gains tax on them.
The tax is paid on the sale of other valuables and assets at the rate of 10 per cent for a basic-rate taxpayer and 24 per cent for a higher-rate taxpayer above a £3,000 annual allowance.
Charles Tian, founder of WatchCharts, believes that now we no longer need a watch to tell the time, they are regarded as items of jewellery.
He says: ‘Smartphones have replaced the wristwatch in recent years which has created a need for watch manufacturers to reinvent themselves as a luxury brand.’
It has also fuelled demand for vintage timepieces.
Bolt says: ‘If investors want a shrewd purchase they are better off with a vintage watch as they are in limited supply as no one makes them anymore.
‘They also tend to hold their value better because newer models are often just a regurgitation of earlier original designs.’
You can also enter the watch investment market via stocks and shares. Among the companies to consider is the FTSE 250-listed Watches of Switzerland.
It’s the biggest retailer in Britain of luxury watches – dealing in new and second-hand. It currently has a share price of £5.25 – having risen 42 per cent from £3.70 a year ago.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at wealth manager Hargreaves Lansdown, says: ‘If you do not have the time or money, investing in companies such as Watches of Switzerland enables you to spread the risk among a variety of watch brands.’
Rolex is the biggest name in the investment market. Others include Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin, Omega, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Breitling, Breguet, A. Lange & Sohn and Greubel Forsey.
Bolt, who is also founder of the addiction charity Steps 2 Recovery, says: ‘One reason Rolex is such a sought-after brand is the craftsmanship that goes into their watches, which offers incredible value for money. And scarcity is what makes them rise in price.’
He hands me a 1953 Rolex Moonphase Oyster watch, which slim and unassuming though it is, has a price tag of £1.5 million. Bolt tells me it is an extremely rare variation, ‘of which only ten are believed to still exist in such original condition. I purchased this watch for £15,000 almost 30 years ago’.
Watches with an original dial will fetch a huge premium, he tells me. An early 1930s Rolex Oyster Bubble Back can be picked up for as little as £1,500 if it has a replacement dial and offers incredible value compared to the more than £10,000 you can pay if it has the original.
The 1926 Rolex Oyster was the first patented waterproof watch and was worn by the first British woman to swim the English Channel, Mercedes Gleitze. It kept perfect time in a 1927 crossing and advertisers said it was ‘the wonder watch that defies the elements’.
Bolt says Rolex ‘are geniuses at what they do but their biggest innovations took place about a century ago. Their belief is if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Instead, they decided to focus on the fine art of marketing.’
One of the top Rolex models for investors is the Submariner, which has fallen by an average of 6 per cent in value over the past year. This is line with a slow realignment of prices following a boom when collectors were snapping up the watch during the pandemic.
Over five years it is up in value by 13 per cent. Launched in 1953 as the first diving watch water-resistant to 100 metres, (330ft) it was only when actor Sean Connery wore it in the 1962 James Bond film, Dr No that it became a must-have accessory.
Early examples sell for up to £30,000. But you can also pick up a later 2000s model that looks similar in shape and design for £10,000 as a potential investment. The
latest Submariner Date model retails at £9,100 on the official Rolex website.
Bolt then shows me a 1979 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch with a wafer-thin 18 carat gold case which sells for £90,000. Originally it cost less than £4,000.
The best mechanical watches, as created by watchmakers such as Patek Philippe, have seen values in the second-hand market rise by an average of 18 per cent over the past year.
This makes them among the best recent performers, according to figures compiled by WatchCharts.
A 2008 Patek Philippe Gondolo is up 10 per cent in value in a year to £16,000, while a Patek Philippe Complications from 2020 has risen 14 per cent to £50,000.
Tian says: ‘Among the most successful brands to appeal as both a great watch and as jewellery in recent years is Cartier. Recent highly collectable women’s Cartier watches include Tank, Baignoire and Ballon Bleu. The trick is to discover the next great fashionable watch.’
A 1998 Cartier Tank has risen around 25 per cent in value in the past year, selling for more than £3,000. A 2016 Cartier Ballon Bleu is up 12 per cent in price to £3,350 over the year.
Just like a classic car, a collectable watch needs to be well-maintained to keep its value. Budget £300 every five years to have a watch professionally serviced by an authorised repairer.
Nathan Boot, of the watch department at Fellows Auctioneers in Birmingham, says: ‘Much of the watchmaker’s skill lies hidden under the bonnet.
‘For this reason it is vital to trade with a reputable dealer or auction house, who are experts at validating authenticity.
‘This enables you to avoid buying one of the many so-called ‘franken-watch’ fakes on the market made up of non-original parts.’ To find a reputable dealer contact the watch’s manufacturer for details of authorised dealers in your area.
Boot says: ‘When a watch is taken for a service or repair there can be an impulse to restore it and make the timepiece look new by replacing original parts.
‘But for vintage watches, clean and original examples are increasingly rare – and valuable.’
Scratches on a face can lower values by 5 per cent but some marks can be polished out. Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal faces found on many collectable watches are harder to damage.
Provenance, along with the original box, paperwork and service receipts, can add 20 per cent to the total value, says Bolt.
Investors should note that watches must be itemised on your home and contents insurance policy with their current worth.
Matthew Harwood, of comparison website Confused.com, says: ‘If your watch is worth more than £1,000 you must list it as a high-value item.
‘Almost 200,000 residential burglaries were reported to the police in England and Wales for the year up to March 2023 – with watches a key target for thieves.
‘Make sure your watch is covered away from home, and if not change the policy.’
Additional cover away from home might add about £50 a year to an insurance policy.
It is also recommended to keep a watch in a hidden safe bolted to solid wall. Contact your insurer for requirements – as it might help keep down premiums.
If you have up to £100,000 in valuables the safe needs an industry rating for insurance purposes of ‘Eurograde 1’.
As a final treat, Bolt brings out a £600,000 Greubel Forsey ‘Invention Piece 1’ – the brand favoured by Zuckerberg – removing it from a portable case the size of a small suitcase that alone sells for £15,000.
He says: ‘Can you tell me what time it is?’ I see an exquisitely designed watch packed full of dials and arrows whirling around – but no hour or any minute hands. So, no. It maybe the Facebook/Meta founder’s favourite watchmaker but it does not help me tell the time.
- Have you made a fortune investing in watches? Email toby.walne@mailonsunday.co.uk
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