Business News
Swiss watch exports totaled 1.8 billion Swiss francs (CHF) in September 2019, a 10.8 percent increase over the year prior. through three quarters of 2019. the value of exports totals CHF 15.9 billion, an increase of 2.8% compared with last year.
As has been the case, precious metal and gold-steel bimetal watches continued to drive much of the growth. Meanwhile, the volume of steel watches exported was down, though slightly less so than in recent months. So, even with all the hype surrounding certain stainless steel models and another brand introducing its own stainless steel offering seemingly every week, these watches are not primary drivers of the industry as a whole. While it might be wise from a strategic point of view to have a stainless steel sports watch in your lineup, these aren’t the big ticket items driving exports as a whole.
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Way back in 2012, John Mayer wrote an article for a young Hodinkee titled “The Five Best Buys in Vintage Rolex for $8,000 or Less”. It was a fine article with a lovely premise: you don’t need to be rich like John Mayer to own a desirable vintage watch from the Crown. Well, I’ve covered the fact that since then, most of Mayer’s recommendations have ballooned in value, most now trading in excess of five figures. So where’s a modest collector to turn? Enter Tudor.
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Note: This is not a paid placement in any way; it’s simply a writeup about my buying experience with Chronext.
Towards the beginning of 2019, I set out to buy a new — or gently worn, pre-owned — watch. I had my eyes on a Nomos Club Campus, but knowing new watches like this tend to lose at least 25% of their retail value once you take them home from the authorized dealer, I was reticent to buy at full retail price.
Like any decent enthusiast, I set up my alerts and scoured the forums to find one at a pre-owned discount. I also checked the grey market and pre-owned websites that the watch community loves to hate: Watchbox, Crown and Caliber, Watchfinder, and so on.
But one kept popping up that I’d never heard of before: Chronext. As I tried to dig into the company, it turns out not many others had heard of it either. They raised $34 million at the beginning of 2018 and the company was seeking another $25 million at the beginning of 2019, but I couldn’t find much on the actual customer experience. Most of all, one thing stood out about Chronext: The low prices.
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Who says you can have a decent watch auction in Chicago? While the rest of the world is gearing up for the fall watch auction season, Hindman Auctions hosted a watch auction of its own last week, headlined by a couple Pateks and some other modern gems. Here’s a look at just a few of the pieces that sold in the West Loop last week.
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In-depth on the only King from the Crown.
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The Swiss watch industry reported an export value of 1.5 billion Swiss francs (CHF) in August 2019, an increase of 1.5% compare to one year prior. This continues the slow upward trend of 2019; through 8 months, export growth is at 1.9%. It’s not a bad showing considering the global political and economic challenges, but is substantially down from the industry’s strong 2018 which saw growth of 6.3%.
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Discovering “transitional” Rolex from the 1980s and 1990s.
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It seems the media embargo is up, with seemingly dozens of publications publishing their Apple Watch Series 5 review today (The Verge and Hodinkee being perhaps the best). But, I always look to Jonathan Gruber’s Daring Fireball for the best and hottest Apple takes. He’s particularly adept at explaining his experiences with the Apple Watch from the perspective of a self-professed watch lover. He’s talked about his love affair with his Rolex Submariner before, explaining that, even as an Apple fanboy, he prefers analog watches.
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Back in March, the prodigal son returned. John Mayer returned to the Hodinkee universe, joining Ben Clymer for Talking Watches 2 to show off some 20 watches from his collection. But let’s look back at that original video, some 5 years old now.
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Tell me if this sounds familiar: you’re perusing the internet late at night or scrolling through your Instagram feed, when you spot a good-looking watch from a brand you’ve never heard of. You quickly realize you’ve discovered a new microbrand, and while you’re tempted to make a purchase, you also don’t want to drop a large chunk of change on a watch you’ve never even seen in person before.
Well, Rich Park (YouTube: whatsonthewrist) also kept encountering this problem, and heard of others with the same problem. So, he decided to do something about it. Enter MicroLux.
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Over at Horolonomics, Economics Professor Brendan Cunningham offers perspectives on the watch industry that only an economics professor could. This time, he’s taken on the “watch safety net,” proceeding to answer the question of why so many of the rich and famous (especially those engaged in dubious affairs) seem drawn to parking significant sums of money in luxury timepieces.
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It’s nearly fall auction season time, when the big auction houses will trot out their Daytonas, Pateks, and other expensive lots one last time. It’s set to be a big season: Phillips is leading the way with a thematic auction featuring Jack Nicklaus’ Rolex Day-Date and Marlon Brando’s GMT-Master. Phillips also recently opened its new boutique store, Phillips Perpetual in London. On opening day, Phillips said it had 40 timepieces and over £3 million worth of inventory. Big news for the biggest watch auctioneer.
But, before the bigger auctions of the season, Sotheby’s is hosting an online auction with bidding ending on September 10. There are over 100 lots on offer, mostly in the mid-priced to downright affordable range, so it’s an opportunity to pick up a new fall watch. New season, new watch, I always say. Let’s take a look at some of the most exciting lots.
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If you haven’t heard, new Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr wore a Richard Mille RM 11-03 Flyback Chronograph in his first regular season game with the team. Beckham had been seeing wearing the $200,000 watch in practice this summer, but then, we were talking practice. A live action NFL game is another matter entirely.
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As a lead up to the fall auction season, Sotheby’s is holding an online watch auction through September 10. There are over 100 lots on offer, mostly in the mid-priced to downright affordable range, so it’s an opportunity to pick up a new fall watch. New season, new watch, I always say. Let’s take a look at some of the most exciting lots.
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While Naomi Osaka may have closed out the first weekend of the U.S. Open with a loss, the defending champion’s wrist looked good while doing it. The Citizen Ambassador was wearing a titanium Citizen Eco-Drive throughout her tournament, including in her third-round defeat of U.S. phenom Coco Gauff, where she displayed some real class in victory.
Osaka was also wearing a Citizen Eco-Drive when she won last year’s U.S. Open and this year’s Australian Open. She was wearing the same Eco-Drive model in a different colorway in last year’s U.S. Open, but the one she was wearing this year U.S. Open might be the best yet.
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While there’s plenty of places in Chicago to go shopping for watches (see my list here), there’d always been a certain lack of brand boutiques that meant Chicago could never compete with cities like New York, London, or even Miami or Los Angeles as a watch shopping destination. In almost an instant, that’s changed, with the opening of three boutiques from Richemont’s stable of brands.
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While there’s plenty of places in Chicago to go shopping for watches (see my list here), there’d always been a certain lack of brand boutiques that meant Chicago could never compete with cities like New York, London, or even Miami or Los Angeles as a watch shopping destination. In almost an instant, that’s changed, with the opening of three boutiques from Richemont’s stable of brands.
IWC, Panerai, and A. Lange and Sohne have all announced the opening of brand boutiques at 11 E Walton Street, in the Waldorf Astoria hotel.
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Every month, London’s Watches of Knightsbridge hosts an online auction. Typically the lots are nothing too expensive; just good honest watches from a trustworthy house. This August’s online auction features about 50 lots, ranging from a Rolex GMT-Master 16750 Pepsi on the high end to a few little dress watches from Longines and Omega on the low end. It’s a great way to start paying attention to auctions (perhaps even picking something up) without being scared away by blow-out-your brains prices.
Let’s take a look at a few of the best lots from Watches of Knightsbridge’s August online auction. We’ve got a couple Rolexes and the world’s first wristwatch without a crown.
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Fellows, a UK-based auction house, is hosting its Watch Sale on August 13, featuring some 400 lots. With that many timepieces up for sale, there’s a lot to sort through, so here are a few of the lots to pay attention to. There will be live and online bidding, if you’re not local to Birmingham, but looking to drop some pounds.
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This is our first partnership post, from our friends over at NOMOS Watch Club. We’re always looking for fun and interesting partnerships, so if you’re interested, please reach out.
Our friend Christopher over at NOMOS Watch Club recently paid a visit to Berlinerblau, the Berlin-based in-house design and marketing firm of Nomos Glashutte. Berlinerblau is home to about 40 Nomos employees, all of whom are singularly focused on created the “Nomos look”, perhaps the finest modern execution of the Bauhaus aesthetic, in watches or elsewhere.
Christopher sat down for an interview with Nomos product designer Thomas Höhnel, who provided some insights on the watch design process, working at Nomos, and the future of the Glashutte watchmaker.
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