Many people could have a fortune tucked away and don’t even realise it. Luxury watches are becoming very sought after with some being purchased for astronomical sums. Is now the right time to cash in? Arfan Mohammed from the Watch Exchange London offers us his views along with some handy tips to help maintain its value.
Selling or swapping your luxury watch is becoming more popular. Recently many timepieces, vintage and more modern, have increased in value to the extent that a watch purchased from an authorised dealer can sell for a higher price in the second-hand marketplace.
If you’re fortunate to own a decent timepiece, there are some steps you can take to make sure you get the best possible price for it. With so many watch traders out there, some will inevitably offer you a more reasonable price than others, so it’s important that you approach trusted traders with extensive expertise and a proven track record.
The team at The Watch Exchange London has 15 years’ experience of working with household name brands, including Cartier and Patek Philippe. Co-founder Arfan Mohammed has worked with world-famous department stores and over the years has traded watches worth between £500 and £1 million.
- All trusted watch traders will want to inspect your timepiece in person before making an offer, so don’t ever accept cash when all you’ve provided is a photo.
- We would advise against posting your watch to a trader for valuation because it could get damaged in transit and also you are risking that you may never receive any payment for it.
- Always check out the trader’s website and customer ratings before visiting their shop in person with your watch.
- Once in the shop a trader worth their salt will carry out a detailed and thorough inspection of your watch before validating and valuing it. If you feel comfortable with their process and would like to sell your watch quickly, you can then accept the offer they have made.
- Don’t leave your watch with a trader on a promise that payment will arrive in your account in X number of hours or days. Instead, use a business that offers almost instant payment to save you the worry of waiting.
- Traders may offer clients the option of entering their watch into an auction. Increasingly, bidding is happening using Apps, digital messaging platforms and social media to speed up the process. The Watch Exchange London uses these platforms to enable more than 150 traders to bid on a timepiece, thereby ensuring the watch achieves the highest possible price. Payment should be received very quickly after the conclusion of the auction.
If you’re hanging onto your watch or buying a new one, here’s how to keep its value:
- Don’t polish your watch but look after it and get it serviced approximately every ten years. This will impress a buyer and may enhance the value.
- Keep the original box and paperwork, including the certificate and service document. This will help clarify any authenticity issues, and having the full set inspires peace of mind.
The gold-mine that could be hidden away
To give you a clear idea of just how sought after a single watch can be. At a recent Sotheby’s auction, an 18k gold 1969 Rolex Daytona JPS reference 6264 was sold for an incredible £1,215,000. The pre-auction estimate for the watch was £320,000–650,000.
And the Rolex Daytona above wasn’t the only watch recently achieving a mind-boggling sum. At the Phillips’ Hong Kong Watch Auction X in July this year, an 18k yellow gold 1982 Patek Phillipe Ref. 2499/100 perpetual calendar chronograph achieved $607,590 and this timepiece had just a brown leather strap!
Numbers, as we’ve shown above will hopefully prompt you into checking your bedside drawers and having a root through your attic, you never know what could be put away and forgotten!
To find out more about The Watch Exchange London, please visit www.watchexchangelondon.co.uk.
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