The best pre-owned watches to invest in (you’ll be surprised)

The first rule of buying a pre-owned watch is never to follow the horological crowd. During the first two years of the pandemic, the prices of much hyped classics such as the Patek Philippe Nautilus, Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and several Richard Mille pieces went through the roof, only for the bubble to burst in 2022 and values to slip. If those buyers had sought out something more unusual, they might not now be out of pocket.
It’s this idea of daring to be different that prompted Sotheby’s to stage an alternative type of watch auction this month. Rough Diamonds featured 24 watches, some by names you may never have heard of but which carried all the hallmarks of true collectability — in other words, they were genuinely rare, beautifully crafted and highly imaginative.
Conceived in collaboration with heist-out, which describes itself as a watch and creative collective, the sale championed “vintage watches that are still waiting for their time to shine and be rediscovered”. All the offerings, which carried estimates from CHF2,000 to 100,000 (£1,700-£88,000), were made at least 30 years ago; some dated back to the Fifties.
Highlights included a white-gold, car-shaped Audemars Piguet set with emeralds and diamonds; a Patek Philippe three-part set from 1962 comprising an enamel and pearl-set bracelet watch, ring and necklace; and a spectacular Piaget wristwatch that combined an extravagant textured bracelet and case in yellow gold with a coral and diamond-set dial.
Josh Pullan, head of Sotheby’s global luxury division, said collectors are “increasingly seeking out unique or different pieces”, which is echoed by Silas Walton, the founder of the rare watch e-tailer A Collected Man. “We have always advocated investigating the less trodden path of watch collecting,” Walton says. “There are so many wonderful watches — consider unfamiliar ones from familiar makers, such as Vacheron Constantin’s Mercator series, Piaget’s stone-dial models from the Seventies and cloisonné enamel watches by Ulysse Nardin.”
They can also be more affordable. He cites an Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar watch with a 27.5mm square case made from platinum. Made in January 1995, it was one of an estimated 31 produced — but despite being rare, complicated and crafted from the most “noble” of metals, it was listed on A Collected Man for just £23,000, a fraction of what a more high-profile watch with a similar specification would command. It sold quickly.
At a recent Watches of Knightsbridge auction, a distinctive Bueche Girod dress watch from the Seventies with a solid-gold case and diamond-set dial was left unsold, despite having an estimate of just £1,500. It was the same with an extraordinary Dugena Lip Mach 2000 Dark Master chronograph that could have been had for £1,000, while a 1969 IWC Yacht Club automatic fetched just £650 and a women’s Piaget Polo from 1998, made entirely from white and yellow gold, found a new owner for £3,200. Remi Guillemin, head of watches at Christie’s, advises, “Do your research and discover which watches are genuinely rare, rather than perceived to be rare.”
acollectedman.com ● bonhams.com ● christies.com ● fellows.co.uk ● gardinerhoulgate.co.uk ● sothebys.com ● watchesofknightsbridge.com