How to buy your first luxury watch
Navigating the world of “haute horologie,” the highest form of watchmaking, can be intimidating for a beginner.
If you’ve found yourself in the enviable position of shopping for your first luxury timepiece, you will likely have more questions than answers. From understanding the terminology, to knowing where to shop, the questions to ask yourself before you set foot in a store (or auction house) and how to avoid buying a fake, CNN Style has done the research and asked experts for their top tips.
1. Learn the lingo
Just like buying a car, there are some technical terms prospective watch buyers can benefit from knowing. Here are a few:
a. Parts of the watch
Crown: Small knob found on the side of the watch used to change the date and time. On a manual watch, the knob is used to wind it so the movement keeps going.
Movement: The complex mechanisms that make the watch run.
Bezel: The frame that holds in place the crystal protecting the watch face.
Lug: The parts that connect the watch case to the bracelet (strap).
Complication: A watch function beyond regular time-telling. Sometimes watches can have several added “complications.” For example, a chronograph has a stopwatch, while one with a perpetual calendar shows the month and day of the week, and a GMT tells the time across multiple time zones.
Skeleton: A watch that showcases rather than covers up its inner workings.
Tourbillon: An additional mechanism said to improve the accuracy of a watch. Most modern-day watches do not need a tourbillon to be highly accurate, but the complicated mechanism often pushes the price up.
Quartz movement: Battery-powered watch.
Automatic movement: A mechanical watch that does not need a battery to move, it relies on movement from the wearer to wind.
b. Other useful terms
Grey market: distribution or selling channels not officially authorized by the original manufacturer like forums, Instagram or Facebook marketplace.
Reference: Model number that can tell you details about the watch; what it’s made of, the design specifications etc.
Blue-chip brands: Well-known and reputable watchmaker brands like Patek Philippe, Cartier, Rolex and Vacheron Constantin with history and a track record of producing excellent timepieces.
2. Decide if you want a new or pre-owned watch
Are you looking for the latest model from a trending brand, or are you interested in investing in a piece of history, or a timeless classic? If it’s a new release, bear in mind these often come with a lot of fanfare — and a long waiting list — so you may find yourself lusting after a watch that simply can’t be purchased within the timeframe you’d like.
Luxury watchmakers often require buyers to effectively “prove” their commitment to buying a popular model by requiring them to buy less coveted models before they can purchase the watch of their dreams — which can have waiting lists that can be months or years long, said the head of Sotheby Asia’s watches department Joey Luk.
Some, like independent watchmaker Charles Frodsham & Co. she adds, have a staggering 20-year wait.
“Don’t bother with it,” said Hong Kong-based co-founder of The Horology Club Johnathan Chan, of the expectation for shoppers to buy watches they don’t need to ultimately be able to get what they want. Given the time and money involved, he believes it makes more financial sense to pay a slight premium for a watch from a reputable second-hand dealer with clear provenance.
If you are open to buying second hand, there’s a thriving pre-owned luxury watch market out there, but be aware of the risks if you’re not working with a trusted dealer who is able to certify the authenticity of the timepiece pre-sale.
Think carefully about where you are shopping. An unknown, first-time seller on Facebook marketplace will likely warrant more scrutiny than a well-established dealer with a long list of previous customers who can vouch for them. Auction houses such as Christies and Sotheby’s have in-house experts tasked with vetting the watches that they take in, and newer second-hand platforms such as Chrono 24 verify all the dealers on their site. This doesn’t mean fakes don’t make it onto the market, so you must do your research and — if possible — get the watch verified by the brand directly before completing the purchase. But if you’d rather not take on any risk, going direct to a retailer may be your best bet.
Away from the trending new models, there are of course plenty of good quality watches to be purchased direct from the maker. “At least you know there’s someone to go to if anything goes wrong,” said The Horology Club co-founder Helbert Tsang.
3. Buy a watch for the right reasons and consider what you need from it
Don’t get sucked into hype around a watch. This is a personal investment that you’ll likely want to love wearing for a long time. Also, be careful if resale value is your main motivation. Tim Stracke, founder and chairman of leading watch resale platform Chrono24 said,“I always (advise) don’t first of all look at the financial returns,” he said during an interview at the Watches and Wonders Fair in Geneva earlier this month. “Look at the emotional return; what do you really like, what makes you smile every time you look at a piece?”
Sotheby’s Luk agrees: “Always pick your favorite watch,” she said. “If you don’t like the watch and you just bought that for investment, then it’s going to be a waste, because it’s going to sit in the safe forever.”
Ask yourself, what do I need the watch for? Is it something you’ll wear to play tennis or to time your swim laps? In which case you may want a sturdy, waterproof, sports watch with a high degree of accuracy, said Luk. Maybe you’re in the market for an elegant dress watch to wear to a wedding or you’re looking for a mechanical masterpiece or a conversation-starter with a unique design. Are you shopping for an anniversary or birthday present for someone special? Perhaps select a model from a year that holds sentimental value.
Luk also advises first-time buyers stick with established blue-chip brands that have a longstanding history. “They have a better reputation for quality and there is more info. on the market – it would be easier for beginners to do their research, check their historic prices and compare to the recent results,” she told CNN via text message. These brands, she wrote are “more reliable and the prices are relatively stable,” compared to lesser-known brands “where there is limited info. online and it’s difficult to monitor the price.”
4. Try it on. Comfort is key
Avoid buying anything you can’t try on yourself. Just because a watch looks good in an advert or on a celebrity’s wrist, it might not suit you. Watches can look very different in real life. Collector Carlos Pang, another co-founder of The Horology Club, found this with the Patek 3940. “It’s a 36mm diameter watch, which for a lot of people might be a bit small, looking at the specs. But, once you try it on, the way the case is (designed), it’s a bit fuller.”
And remember that you’ll be wearing it for long stretches of the day, so comfort is essential. Consider the weight of the watch, and the material of the strap, for example. “I definitely value wearability a lot,” said Helbert Tsang.
5. Like a watch, but can’t afford it? See if the designer made any others
While on the lookout for a watch to wear to his wedding, Pang saw a six-figure Audemars Piguet watch. “I really liked that watch… but at that time I didn’t have much money,” he said. Instead, he did his research and found the designer, in this case Gerald Genta, who had made watches for other brands that were more affordable. “I went with the IWC Ingenieur in the end. I bought it secondhand and that’s the watch I wore to my wedding. I still have that one today.”
6. Take it slow
Don’t rush into the decision, in fact, it’s sometimes best to shop without any real intention to buy, said Chan. “Give yourself time to figure out and try different things, whether it’s going to watch meets to check out watches, going to different stores, going to auction houses, but just experiencing more things so that you know yourself more and what you like.” Watch enthusiast groups like The Horology Clubs organize meets where members bring timepieces from their collections to show and discuss. You can find the nearest one to you with a quick search on the internet and on social media.
Chrono 24’s Stracke adds:“A watch purchase is often a purchase for life… don’t mind taking the time even if it takes half a year, a year or even longer to find the piece you really want.”
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