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Rolex Oyster Perpetual GMTMaster II, 40mm in stainless steel with rotatable black and blue ceramic bezel and Oysterlock bracelet.
Watchmaking history appeals to a new generation. BY WILLIAM BUCKLEY
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hilatelists collect stamps and numismatists collect coins, but watch collectors, in the grand scheme of things, are a relatively new breed. Seismic shifts—from pocket watch to mechanical wristwatch to quartz and atomic movements—indicated the fading of each previous technology into obscurity. But by the end of the 1980s, manufacturers realized that there was a market for mechanical wristwatches both as timepiece and work of art. A new generation of consumers was excited by the craftsmanship of traditional horology, and the watch collector was born. Edward Faber, one of the leading experts on vintage watches and founder of the Aaron Faber Gallery in New York, explains, “Before 1930 watches were essentially pocket watches retrofitted to the wrist. With the advent of World War I, huge advances in technology were made in all areas, from automobiles to aviation, and watches soon followed suit. The nuances of jeweling and modern technology enabled watchmakers to integrate features like chronographs and moonphase calendars, and mechanical wristwatches entered their element.” But with the “quartz revolution” came a level of timekeeping accuracy that changed daily life. What began in 1929 with the quartz clock took 40 years to miniaturize, but in a few swift years mechanical watches began to look like they would become obsolete. “We’ve learned in this industry to fear new technologies, and for good reason,” explains Michael Friedman, historian for Audemars Piguet. “What we could accurately call the quartz revolution was known to many as the quartz crisis because it essentially wiped out the industry as we knew it; it took many years to evolve past that. But interestingly, what the quartz era in the 1970s really did was to liberate the watch industry. We’re now in an era of experimentation and expressionism largely because the accuracy problem was solved when the quartz watch debuted.” With smart watch production numbers in the tens of millions, manufacturers like Apple and Samsung are investing in the future of timekeeping. And whether or not smart watches become as ubiquitous as the quartz and mechanical movements before them, increased interest in traditional craftsmanship has secured the future of mechanical watches. “To connect with a timepiece, which may have plus or minus a few seconds per week but is part of horological history, is a strong statement,” insists Faber. “People in their 20s and 30s are looking at vintage Rolexes and IWCs and they’re excited to collect them, they’re excited to buy them. When they buy vintage watches, they’re also buying the stories behind them.”
Patek Philippe Ref. 5170G Men’s Chronograph with pulsometric scale. White gold with silvery white dial. Featuring Caliber CH 29-535 PS Mechanical manually wound movement.
WHAT COLLECTORS LOOK FOR
Brand: This is the number-one consideration. Currently Patek Philippe and Rolex are most coveted.
Papers and Presentation: Watches with their original papers and boxes in good condition are worth more. Metal: With only a few exceptions, platinum is number one, followed by rose gold, then yellow gold, then steel. Complications: Chronographs, moonphases, tourbillions etc. can increase a watch’s collectability. Rarity: The more mass-produced a watch is, the less desirable it is to a collector.
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