How To Increase The Value Of Your Luxury Watches

A luxury watch is more than a timepiece. It's an investment , an object of value. With the right care and attention, its value can be increased. And while raised value is not a guaranteed result of the points below, it is more likely that your watch will sell better if you follow them. Read on to discover what you should do, what you shouldn't do, and what you might want to consider before buying an investment piece in the first place.

Keep it in good condition

Sounds pretty obvious, doesn't it. But what is 'good condition' for a luxury watch? From a collector's perspective, mint condition is the aspiration. Anything that happens to your watch to take it below perfection will decrease its value.
Different watches will put up with different kinds of treatment. Many Richard Milles, for example, are designed to withstand extraordinary handling. Consider the RM 35-02 Rafael Nadal. Like all of Richard Mille's Rafael Nadal models, RM 35-02 is extremely shock resistant. The movement is protected by an Incabloc system, which uses specially-shaped springs to allow the jewel bearings to move when subjected to impact. In theory, you could wear RM 35-02 during a professional tennis match—but would you really want to? Nadal does, but then he isn't paying for the watches. If you want to maintain the value of your Richard Mille luxury watch , I suggest you keep it off the court and return it to a watch safe when it isn't on your wrist.
Wear with care: that's the general rule. And if you don't store your luxury watch in a watch safe, then keep it in its original box. Don't let it get wet. And don't succumb to the temptation to polish it.

That's right: don't polish it

Huh? Surely polishing is the one thing that keeps a luxury watch in pristine condition, retaining its shine despite the thousand daily contacts with humidity, airborne particles, sleeves, shirt cuffs, children… Actually, polishing is the collector's nemesis. The proper way to clean a luxury watch is in an ultrasonic bath—preferably in a container that cannot scratch the metal. Audemars Piguet , for instance, places service pieces in a Teflon tray before ultrasonic degreasing begins.
Polish a luxury watch without taking such comprehensive precautions, and you'll do it more harm than good. Polishing causes microscopic scratches and can actually wear away the edges of a watch case. Over time, the distinctive angular bezel of your Royal Oak , or the signature lug-twist on your Omega Speedmaster, becomes blurred and imperfect.
Pop fact: at sale, it's not a good idea to claim your luxury watch is 'unpolished', even if it is. The term has become synonymous with misleading adverts for pre-owned luxury watches: so much so that the Vintage Rolex Forum has actually banned the term 'unpolished' from its pages.

Sell it within 5 years

The long-term value of luxury watches is difficult to predict. Some models, like the Paul Newman Daytona or the Nautilus 2499, have immense auction presence: but while you might have guessed the Nautilus, it being a superb example of one of the most important Patek watch families ever created, no-one would have tipped the Paul Newman for greatness when it came out. The fact of the matter is this: luxury watches usually only become a really big deal by chance.
Short-term sales are a different matter. Popular models, like the Rolex Submariner or the Hublot Big Bang, will always command decent resale value over the first 3-5 years of ownership. Particularly if you have bought cleverly in the first place. Focus on special editions of classic pieces—like the Omega Seamaster SPECTRE limited edition —and you'll stand a much higher chance of increasing value in those magic first few years.

Know your trends

At the time of writing in 2016, steel luxury watches were a trend: so buying them gave a good resale value. And at the time of writing, no-one knows how long this trend will go on for. So buying them in a few years time may not give a good resale value.
Understanding luxury watch trends clearly increases your chances of maintaining and raising value over time. Particularly if you're also savvy to the limited editions and special versions of legendary watches I mentioned above.
The point, really, is to understand that trends are short-lived things (hence the 3-5 year resale time I have advised). Capitalise with clever buying and prompt reselling, and it is theoretically possible to see a steady return on the pieces you sell.

Keep the documents safe

It's a bit of a fallacy that documents prove your luxury watch to be authentic: if you're in the business of selling fakes, it's pretty likely you'll have access to convincingly fake papers as well as convincingly fake timepieces. However, it's definitely true to say that modern, pre-owned luxury watches without the proper documentation is unlikely to fetch as much as a pre-owned watch with its documentation.
Papers, owner's cards, registration cards, box. Keep everything in pristine order and your watch will hold more value.

Service regularly

Regular servicing is essential for maintaining the value of a luxury watch. Spend any time researching the service requirements of the major brands, and you'll realise that these specialist timepieces require specialist care. Rolex and Audemars Piguet both have 10 major stages in their full maintenance service. Omega claims 26, though some of Omega's individual service steps can be combined to make one of Audemars Piguet's or Rolex's.
Recommended service intervals vary from brand to brand. Omega and Richard Mille both recommend 3-5 years for a full service, with a caveat that luxury watches subjected to regular submersion should be tested for water resistance every year.
I recommend a 2-year service interval to maintain value. A luxury watch is a delicate instrument: a machine powered by an engine that never stops running. You wouldn't let your BMW or Aston go for 2 years without a service, so why do any different with your luxury watch?
Key performance elements are checked and protected in a full luxury watch service. The movement is disassembled and cleaned. Worn parts are replaced. Seals are replaced. Once reassembled, the moving parts are oiled and allowed to settle. The watch is regulated. To all intents and purposes, regular servicing keeps a luxury watch in as-new condition.
Official Watches offers full aftercare and servicing for all luxury watches it sells. Maintain the value of your timepiece with our expert assistance.
You can view the newest additions to our collection of pre-owned luxury watches currently in stock here.
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