My Patek Philippe

Posted By HARRIS A S on February 21, 2010

Rarity vs metal content of a vintage-watch in the eyes of a collector.

From the established watch houses of Switzerland, we have been privileged to be presented with very fine watches produced in platinum, solid gold (yellow, white or pink gold), gold-capping (yellow, pink or white, though only a handful) and also, stainless-steel.

Very few watches come with a platinum case, since the price of one is exorbitant, while those in yellow gold and stainless-steel were produced in a large number, in view of their relatively cheap price and popularity. Those that come in a solid yellow gold case, yellow gold capping and stainless-steel were well-received by the market. As such a great number of this was produced to meet the demand, while those produced in solid pink or white gold, pink or white gold-capping were produced in small quantity and production ceased, after some while.

Generally, a vintage stainless-steel watch is cheaper than a similar model in solid yellow gold. However, this assumption cannot be applied to some of the complicated Rolex and Patek Philippe watches in solid white gold or stainless-steel. Exclusive to Patek Philippe only, even the the simple non-complicated ones are far more expensive, if found in solid white gold or stainless. It is not surprising, if the value of a stainless-steel Patek Philippe surpasses another, of the same model in platinum. A knowledgeable collector pays for rarity rather than the metal content of a watch. To a new-comer in the game of vintage-watch collecting, this consideration is looked upon as, two stages beyond reality, though real only yesterday, when I was in Singapore in the 70′s. Then, I was ridiculed and looked upon as a clown or a junk-yard man.

Some while ago, consumers bought a watch to wear but today those watches, that have managed to survive till today, are termed as vintage-watches. Unlike consumers who go after current models, vintage-watch collectors pick up watches which are considered a rarity and the value of any vintage-watch is based just on that – rarity. Of course, the originality of the watch is also taken into , before a value is placed. As long as demand exceeds supply, a good vintage-watch will appreciate much better than many other investments. Unlike furniture or motor-car, you can put your investment on your wrist or just lock it up in a vault and see it appreciating in value, over a period of just a few years or maybe even in a matter of months, again depending on supply and demand. A simple rule of the thumb is to pick up something that is as close as possible to its original factory specs.

In the same tone, for a similar model and all denominators are equal, a solid pink gold watch or solid white gold watch is more expensive than one in solid yellow gold. The same can be applied to ones in pink gold-capping, while anything with white-gold capping is as rare as a hen’s teeth, just like a Patek Philippe in stainless-steel (complicate or otherwise), is not easily seen today and most of them are in the vaults of collectors, world-wide.

Strangely, I cannot tell the difference whether a watch-case is in platinum, solid white gold or white-gold capping. To me, they all look alike, since if there is any difference, it is only subtle. However, the same cannot be said of vintage-watch collectors with many years of experience behind them, since they can already smell the difference from some distance away.

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