Starting a Luxury Watch Collection: Part I… Where to Begin?

• •  A first luxury watch purchase is a big step: planning a collection continues the journey.

• • Choosing a “collection theme” or philosophy can guide the process and focus the search.

• • Many different themes exist: watch classes and brands are popular starting points.

• • By picking theme, new collectors can engage with like-minded enthusiasts.

• • Ultimately, the only limit is imagination.

The 1916 Company is proud to present the first installment of an ongoing series designed to empower new luxury watch buyers who seek to plan and build watch collections.

Let The 1916 Company be your guide as we embark on a survey of luxury watch classes, popular brands, and the adventure of starting a collection.

The first luxury watch purchase in a collector’s career marks the start of a rewarding and passionate journey. Opportunities to learn history, build memories with a watch, and enjoy the company of fellow aficionados enhance the ownership experience while adding lasting value beyond the hardware itself.

But for many, the first watch also opens the door to a follow-on question; “Where do I go from here?” Having experienced the pleasure of owning a premier timepiece, most owners permanently re-calibrate their expectations for the style, substance, and emotional pull of future watches. Each time this happens, a watch collector is born.

The key to keeping the flame white-hot is to select a guiding thought or philosophy that lends meaning to the the chase, capture, and enjoyment of future watches. Themes motivate collectors to learn about classes of watches, interact with online and live owner groups, and engage deeply with the luxury watch community. In doing so, a mere purchase becomes an ongoing experience.

Step one is to consider one’s style, interests, and routines. When combined with a survey of the luxury watch landscape, an honest self-assessment is the key to choosing a great collection theme. An overview of common themes can provide the seed for a lifelong passion.

Collecting by Class

With few exceptions, any given luxury watch will fall into a class that is defined by functions, design, and intended use. For the most part, the watch market is defined by two principal classes: sports watches and dress watches.

After the near extinction of the mechanical wristwatch in the 1970s, the resiliency of the Rolex brand – which emphasized sports watches – meant that Rolex became the archetype of the modern luxury watch. As the strongest of the last men standing, Rolex and its rugged professional watches made the leap from “tool watches” to high-style icons.

For manufacturers in general, Rolex’s success meant that the sports watch became an acceptable companion in any attire. Today, almost every major player in the luxury watch market dedicates at least one model line to the sports sector. Nameplates including the Rolex Submariner, Omega Seamaster, Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, and Panerai Luminor are stalwarts of this class, and each is iconic to the collector community.

The outstanding selection of late model pre-owned and vintage watches in this market makes the sports watch theme an extremely accessible and sustainable model for new collectors.

Dress watches represent a smaller market, but the models in this segment tend to fill the gaps left by the sports watch sector. Not every taste embraces the “tool timepiece” aesthetic. While an Omega Seamaster Professional likely finds a receptive crowd in any office, there are collectors who favor the traditional elegance of a graceful and urbane timepiece.

Luxury watches in the dress class are the descendants of the first consumer wrist watches, which rose to prominence in the wake of WWI. While pocket watches dominated men’s fashion before the war, trench combat had impressed millions of returning veterans with the practicality of a watch for the wrist.

Early wristwatches sought to capture the classical proportions, upscale presentation, and refined fashion of the pocket watch era. For this reason, many of the most revered model lines in the dress watch class date to the first third of the twentieth century, when wristwatches were emerging in the mainstream. Enduring examples include the Jaeger-LeCoultre Revesrso, the IWC Portuguese, and the Cartier Santos.

Dress watches pair well with business, dinner, and formal attire of all varieties. To a professional who dresses the part, a collection of watches from the dress class can become a daily rotation. For collectors who long for more genteel times and seek to project a classical image of sartorial elegance, dress watches offer tremendous appeal.

Collecting By Brand

There are hundreds of celebrated watchmakers in the luxury watch industry, and each represents a universe unto itself. Type “Heuer” or “Ulysse Nardin,” on Google, and you had better be prepared for an avalanche of collector content. History, signature models, company values, and core competencies drive many collectors to identify with a single brand and turn that watchmaker into the focus of a collection.

When a brand’s history spans centuries and its back catalog resembles a phone book, the potential for continuous discovery, intrigue, and learning ensures the hobby never grows old. Incidentally, that description could apply to legions of watchmakers. Books have been written about firms such as Audemars Piguet, Panerai, Zenith, and Patek Philippe, and the process of understanding the brand histories becomes a guiding light that steers a collector’s wishlist.

Imagine creating a collection that paints a picture of a brand such as Audemars Piguet. From its early mastery of ultra-thin dress wristwatches to its late twentieth century ascendance as the ultimate innovator in oversized sports watches, AP presents an opportunity to create a collection in which no two watches are alike.

In contrast, many Rolex collectors will spend a lifetime building collections that paint a picture of one decade of Cosmograph Daytona production.

Staying within a brand can offer a collector the chance to become an expert in his favored specialty, and the opportunity to share this passion with others within the brand community takes the social factor to the next level. Acquiring, sharing, and expanding knowledge of a key brand – or an era of that brand – drives the pursuit of the collector’s next quarry.

Endless Options

Sometimes, brands and classes are too restrictive for certain tastes. At watchuwant.com, we’ve seen collectors who focus on limited editions from all brands, esoteric functions such as “jump hour” and “retrograde” watches; we’ve seen collectors who only acquire white gold, who only buy blue watches, and we’ve seen collectors who only purchase watches with calendars.

The bottom line is that a collection only needs to have a driving idea, not a standardized path.

Just as each new watch buyer strives to find a first luxury watch that will fit his tastes, a new collector seeks an idea that animates his imagination. Envisioning a road map of watches, planning the enterprise, and the thrill of the chase become as fulfilling as the capture. Once embarked on this road, knowledge, appreciation, and the fellowship of other collectors provide the meaning by which collecting becomes a journey of discovery.

Join The 1916 Company as our next installments provide an in-depth showcase of popular collection themes.