The pandemic made this Rolex soar in value – and it's not the only one - British GQ

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It wouldn’t be wrong to say that when the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe in the spring, forcing watch factories and retailers to shutter their premises for a couple of months, there were genuine fears that the watch industry was on the brink of crisis. But nine months on, it appears those fears were misplaced.

Sure, initially exports and sales fell off a cliff. But taking the UK as an example, following the reopening of watch showrooms in mid-June, sales of luxury watches have gone turbo-nuclear. According to market intelligence company GFK, sales of watches priced more than £1,000 in this country were up by 10.3 per cent year-on-year in September. China meanwhile, which was already an industry crutch, has imported 11.3 per cent more watches this year, according to the Federation Of The Swiss Watch Industry. Crisis? What crisis?

The value of the Rolex Submariner ‘Hulk’ has soared over the course of the pandemic

There are no signs of it at Watches Of Switzerland Group, the conglomerate that operates more than 130 showrooms in the UK and US. In October, it announced to shareholders it was making more money in its second quarter than it had forecast – a lot more money. Revenues, it said, were up more than 20 per cent over the same period in 2019.

How? Freed of the cost burden of commuting and unable to go on holiday or even dine out, it appears many consumers instead have been treating themselves, splashing out on what analysts charmingly call “discretionary items”. The trend has been called “revenge purchasing”. Take that, Covid.

On Monday, the German-based online watch marketplace Chrono24 will publish details of its 2020 performance. They make for interesting reading. Not just because they say that after a 20 per cent drop in March to April the company will be a staggering 25 per cent up on 2019 revenues this year (to £1.75 billion in sales), but also because they showcase data outlining what consumers have been buying this year.

One of the most interesting phenomena for watch buyers and collectors is the so-called “misprint”. Watches that make it to market with detailing that is by freak or fortune wrong, can later prove to be of significant value. For example, Chrono24 says that searches for Omega’s Olympic watches have seen a 200 per cent surge this year. 

For Omega, timekeeping sponsor of Tokyo 2020, this was meant to be a bumper year – watch industry followers may remember that before Covid-19, there was a story about how Daniel Craig had been personally involved in the development of his Bond’s latest Omega Seamaster. That watch, which has now been for sale for months, will finally make its big screen entrance in No Time To Die in April next year, a full year later than planned. Despite this, interest in Bond watches has soared. Chrono24 reports a 40 per cent spike in searches for Bond watches on its site.

There has been increased interest in James Bond watches throughout this pandemic

But what of less time-sensitive investment pieces? Patek Philippe, Rolex and Audemars Piguet tend to lead the cohort of “sure-things”, each making waiting-list watches that have a better likelihood of accruing value while they’re on your wrist than most. 

In September, Rolex released a new Submariner. The outgoing model was already a scarcity and news of a novelty sent buyers into a spin. So much so, in fact, that some models – the soon-to-be-discontinued green “Hulk”, for example – are apparently going for 80 per cent over retail on Chrono24. 

That in itself is an interesting shift. Such quick margins lure flippers, but in the last couple of years those superhot brands have flexed their muscles, assuring retailers they will withhold supply if they’re seen to be selling watches to anyone out to make a fast buck. Retailers aren’t taking this lightly and many have joined forces with brands to blacklist buyers whose buy-today, sell-tomorrow is hyper-inflating the market. Is that fair? It doesn’t matter – it’s what’s happening.

Popular ‘investment’ watches, such as the Rolex Daytona, have also been steadily rising in value

Predictably, Rolex models make up the top five most searched for watches, but what is interesting about Chrono24’s data is that the top five most popular brands on its site include Breitling and Seiko at three and four (Rolex and Omega are at one and two, AP is fifth), a duo that have played a good hand during the pandemic. Breitling’s Summits and sustainability pledges and Seiko’s re-editions and tie-ups have caught the eye. Volume obviously plays a part too, but that should still be a wake-up call for those brands that decided 2020 was the time to hit the snooze button.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, though, let’s not forget the picture is not entirely rosy. The FHS’s latest figures have annual exports down more than a quarter on last year, the biggest fall in 80 years, although that appears to have been because of factory closures, rather than a drop-off in global consumer appetite. Chrono24’s data suggests that demand is very much alive and that some watches remain a fine investment. Time waits for no pandemic?

chrono24.co.uk

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December 12, 2020 at 06:00PM
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The pandemic made this Rolex soar in value – and it's not the only one - British GQ

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