Horological Meandering

Hi everyone. Over the past years, I've sold quite a few watches to second hand dealers. About 30% of the watches I buy have to leave again after some time, because love faded away. I'm Always selling to the same 2-3 dealers I've had good experience with. ... 

And there are watch enthusiasts who pay a lot of interest to other brands, such as JLC, AP, Breguet, Blancpain, and so on. One example? The vintage Fifty Fathoms are pretty sought after. Another example? The JLC Deep Sea Alarm, Geophysic, Polaris, Reverso... 

But I think this Website is Not necessarily representative for the "outside world". And Other watch forums I've visited have died because of the lack of different topics.

To your original point - one huge factor is clearly the enormous increase in production and the resulting accumulation and oversupply in both primary and secondary markets. Think of how many Panerais are out there VS 10 years ago. Unless one follows fashi... 

Raises the question for me: how has the importance of value Retention developed over the years and decades? Was it Always important? Did It gain importance through all the price increases in the early 2010s?

The Comex? Up... And down, and up, and down... We shouldn't pay that much attention to financial value, but to affective and horological values, in my opinion. And there are still very under rated watches to get at some vey fair prices! Best, Nicolas

Couldn’t agree more. Thee is a huge difference between having interest in a certain watch, buy it and enjoy it, versus ownership and trading with the aim to make a profit. The other factor that springs to mind is the fact that nowadays the online trading ... 

But especially in a community with many genuine watch enthusiasts like ours, you will already find people interested in all kinds of models -- including many watches that are not attractive to grey dealers or other speculators looking for a quick buck. Al... 

I don't need the money, I Just don't Like having unused items in my house. It was about the Market becoming Uniform and less divers

But especially if we don't need to sell our watches, the answer to your question "Is it still fun to be a collector in the current market if all you See is Patek, AP and Rolex everywhere?" for me is a pretty resounding "Yes" ;-)

In fact, I have seen the same happening in the secondary market. Besides a very few over hyped brands and models ( you named them), the market has become very slow and some dealers shy away from putting other stuff into their stock. Some very well respect... 

Selling used watches with a "new" warranty from the Brand itself could Open up new opportunities for the Brands.

I will speak of my own experience here because I’ve also spoken to many others with similar experiences. Over the years my tastes and desires for watches have changed a lot. In the past, I also tended to let my gut reaction dictate the way more than I do ... 

A lot of people I know would say that the value/price Relation at MSRP of a JLC is a lot better, than of PP. The currently perceived value of PP has less to do with the real value of the watch and more with the market craze around PP creating ever more de... 

They’re scared to spend their hard earned money on watches with poor resale value. So now, they are less adventurous buyers. Fear is a factor, but I think some brands need to re-evaluate their pricing to reflect the market. The only way that I see things ... 

Thomas

When it comes to pure luxury items, the bang for the Buck looses some importance. Some brands might even loose customers, If they'd become "too easy to afford"

would not attract interest from second hand dealers but this is an area with growing interest especially on this forum. Thanks to these smaller brands, watch collecting has seldom been more fun!

I try to stay away from the,, big and populair (hyped),, brands .

The Independent brands are currently the Most interesting ones, even though one could argue that some are already in the boarder to become a big Brand (e.g. FP Journe)

Sad but true...

Have to see other beautiful watches other than Nautilus, Aquanaut, GMT/Sub/Daytona

But unpopular modern watches can still be had for ''cheap''

I am currently not shopping for any watches but who knows? )

First of all, even without this perceived bubble, nobody cared about watches in my immediate vicinity anyway. Even when I go to swanky places, while I do see nice watches on people, it is very rare that I see secret handshake type watches. For Rolex, hard... 

and has really softened the retained value in so many names. It is very hard to sell a watch without a great internet sales history. Regrettably, nice as they may be, most watches, especially PM dress watches are not selling on the used market. Dealers do... 

Of course it's always been this way to an extent, but the market seems so trend driven now. I just don't understand why the FPJ CB, the 5711, and the gaudy stuff that Rolex are producing these days are attracting the prices they are. Obviously I get the s... 

I now purchase all my watches secondhand. Typically 40-60% of MSRP. If I decide to sell, maybe I lose 20%. If I’m worried, I don’t buy. I will not retreat to safer brands. I’m thankful for the people who follow their tastes and take risks on brands like R... 

I think if you really like watches, of course it is still fun, why wouldn't it be? Now, if you like to buy and sell, trade, flip, or whatever you wanna call it, it's true that there are just a few watches that could be really interesting and profitable as... 

This site has help me broaden my interest and developed new insights into other manufacturers. As a result most people here have interest in many different maisons it is a most collegian Atmosphere.

Couldn’t agree more, Tony! Thanks for your comment, Thomas

Seriously, you've indicated the main reasons why WPS is the only watch forum I frequent -- in fact, it's my *only* social media presence (never had IG, FB, Twitter, etc.), with no intention to change for as long as it remains the beautiful and instructive...