Rarity, complexity and condition make all the difference when looking for a luxury watch. But while there are major gains to be made, it takes a good eye to know the difference between a clever investment, and a waste of time.

In such a vast and specialist industry where prices range from $1,500 into the millions, it’s difficult to know where to start. But the prospective investor can head to auction to find some of the most lucrative deals on luxury time pieces.
Geoffroy Ader of Sotheby’s says demand is highest for the best known names. "Most demands are based on the brands …the two ‘star’ brands are Rolex and Patek Philippe," Ader told CNBC.

Alfredo Paramico, fund manager at Precious Times which invests in luxury and rare time pieces, agreed that name is everything in this glamorous market.
Paramico brought three of the most exclusive watches in his collection – with a combined value of $40 million - into the CNBC studio.

"Here we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to have all together these three wrist watches, that are probably three of the most important watches in history ever," he said, displaying the platinum and white gold Patek Philippes.
Explaining the story and history behind each watch, Paramico showed that time pieces – just like luxury jewellery, antiques or wine – have a provenance which forms part of the value of the item.

The 18 carat white gold Patek Philippe he brought with him had sold in 1995 for 400,000 Swiss francs ($430,000). By 2010, its value had hit over 3.2 million ($3.47 million).

Heading to an established antique dealer is one way to source a watch with a proven history and origin. George Somlo of Somlo Antiques in London explained that investing in the right vintage watch is a good bet for troubled financial times.
"We’ve had many recessions over the past forty years, none of them quite like this one, but buying antique or vintage wristwatches and pocket watches has always been a very solid investment," Somlo said.
With Swiss watch exports up 19 percent in the first six months of the year, reaching $9 billion, the most significant demand has come from Asia.

Alan Walker, of technology consultancy Capgemini told CNBC that watch investment was on the up: "within the investments of passion category, it’s about 22 percent for jewellery, watches and gems.
"What we really noticed last year is exponential growth in Asia, in particular mainland China and Hong Kong, so that’s where the growth is coming from at the moment…we are seeing record returns."
Although an unusual investment, watch-buying can be more than just a hobby for the super rich; you don’t have to be a big spender to get into this market.

"It’s not a question of how much you can invest," said Paramico, "I think it’s important that you buy a watch which is in very good condition and is totally original, even if it’s a $2,000 watch. Quality is a key issue in this business, approximation is definitely forbidden."

He advised to look at the brand; even with contemporary watches, a good, established name will hold its value.
Paramico also gave his hint for a smart watch investment. For $5,000, he said a rose gold 1940 Patek Philippe with a square case is a good bet for the future.

You’ve probably seen a Rolex that doesn’t look quite right. (We hope you’re not wearing one.) It might look a little too plastic-y or maybe it’s ticking. Or maybe it’s on the wrist of the guy in that deli in Chinatown that makes you think, “Hmm, maybe I’m paying too much here. “ The number of fake Rollies out there is alarming. In fact, some estimates have it that for every real watch Rolex produces each year, there will be 10 imitations made—and Rolex makes roughly 800,000 watches a year. Follow our advice and you’ll avoid shelling out five grand for a certified Snubmariner.

The first rule is the most obvious: With few exceptions, including a very rare model from the 1950s called the Tru-Beat, a Rolex has a sweep second hand, not one that ticks along. This is because Rolex uses a mechanical movement (one powered by a moving rotor), not one driven by a quartz crystal run off a battery.

While the quartz fakes are easily identifiable, the scariest and most impressive fakes are hard to identify even by experts themselves. In some cases, the value of a Rolex can triple just because one word is written in red ink. The Red Submariner (Ref. 1680), for example, could sell for as much as $20,000, while the same watch with Submariner written in white will likely warrant just a quarter that. A smart criminal could simply replace the dial on such a watch and dupe you out of $15,000. The movement, case, crown, and everything on the watch will be authentic Rolex, but with a fake dial—well, hey, it’s just a watch, right?
Here’s what you need to know for each of the four most popular genres of used Rollies.

1. Modern Rolexes
All Rolexes made after 2000 should have a 3D hologram on the back featuring the reference number of the watch.
There should be a laser etching of the Rolex Coronet at 6 o’clock on the crystal. Note: The etching is very small and may require a loupe to see it, but make sure it’s there.
The crystal should be sapphire, which is scratch-resistant (we’re not saying you should try to scratch it) and reflects little when held towards light. Heavy reflections mean a plastic crystal, which in turn means you’re dealing with a vintage Rolex—or, more likely, a fake.

Check the bracelet. If you hold the watch by its head perpendicular to the ground, the bracelet shouldn’t droop downward. If it does, then that’s not a real Rolex bracelet (or at least not a modern Rolex bracelet).

2. Submariner
Only Submariners made from 1968-1973 (ref. 1680) feature the word “Submariner” written in red. What’s more, reference 1680s is the only vintage Submariners that have date windows. If you spot either of these details on a non-1680, it’s time for a new vintage watch dealer.

The presence of the word “chronometer” on the dial of Submariners is used to mark a very high level of accuracy. It was first used on a no-date reference called the 5512 in the mid 1960s and again on the date model, 1680. Nothing earlier than a 5512 should have the word “chronometer” on it.

Submariners have a double or triple locking crown, meaning there’s a small piece of rubber gasket underneath the crown. If you don’t see the piece of rubber, it means the crown isn’t sealed and you have a problem. (Well, if you’re diving you have a problem, if you’re topside, you probably just have a fake watch).

With a number of factories in Asia now producing fake dials for vintage Submariners, it pays to examine the dial with a jeweler’s loupe. Keep on the lookout for misprints, blurry edges, or dials that just look too new. A vintage dial should look like it’s been used for 40 years, not two weeks. You’ll want to see some amount of fading.

3. Daytona (Chronograph)
The most sought-after Rollie didn’t become an automatic until the 1980s. So anything sold as sixties or seventies Daytona better be manually wound.

The “Paul Newman” dial—which features an acrylic domed crystal and sub dials with block markers in place of lines—is rare, hyper-valuable, often faked. Check out the markers in the sub-registers: Contrary to what one may assume, they should be off-center. If they’re perfectly centered, it’s not an original dial.

Some dials will read “Daytona” and others will read “Cosmograph”, and some will even read both. Which watch is which is too much to get into here, so refer to a Rolex reference guide like 100 Years of Rolex to figure out if the dial matches the reference number. If you’re in the market for a vintage Rollie, don’t skimp on the book.

The main reason that the Daytona is so desired by collectors—other than that it just looks cool—is the fact that there have been so many variations on the model, including the use of various cases. You may see one with a waterproof Oyster case and you may see one that isn’t waterproof. You may also see Daytonas with metal bezels and others with bezels made from Bakelite. Also, in some instances pump pushers were used and at other times the watches were made with screw-down pushers. All of these things should be verified as appropriate for the watch you’re looking at.

4. Vintage Datejust / Day-Date
The design of these Rolexes is simple, elegant, and timeless. Which means that you may well spot a watch that looks just like a Rolex, except for the fact that it says “Seiko” on the dial? This doesn’t mean it’s fake; it just means that you’ll be paying for drinks tonight.

The crystal on Datejusts and Day-Dates was plastic until about 1980. At that point, they turned to sapphire crystals.
The Rolex Day-Date (aka the “President,” after Rolex gave one to Eisenhower in 1948) was never made in stainless steel, only yellow gold, platinum and white gold. If you see a steel Day-Date with Rolex on the dial, the watch is likely a Tudor (Rolex’s less expensive cousin, available only outside the States) with a replacement dial on it.

Rolex also makes a less expensive version of the Datejust called the Oyster Perpetual Date. The model is smaller than the Datejust, and it’s not uncommon to see an Oyster Perpetual Date with a Datejust dial on it. Be sure to compare the reference number (found between the bottom lugs on the case) to the dial to make sure they match.

Whether their wrist is adorned with a Casio, Swatch or DKNY, or clothed in a Raymond Weil, Rolex or Cartier, chances are few people look upon their watch as a serious investment.

Yet, as the legacy of the financial crisis sees creeping tax increases across the board, ‘wasting assets’ such as watches and clocks are increasingly being considered as an alternative investment by the more serious investor.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) considers such ‘mechanical’ items as outside of the capital gains tax (CGT) regime because they are deemed to have a lifespan of 50 years or fewer and are generally for personal use.

Of course, VAT is often applied at purchase but the capital gain arising from the liquidation of the asset is tax-free. No inheritance tax is applicable either.

According to Paul Fraser Collectibles, the online site of the former chairman and owner of collecting company Stanley Gibbons: “It has already been a good year for rare, collectible timepieces, with several new world records set for watches at auction – including the most expensive gold wrist watch ever sold at auction”.

Opinion seems to be polarised as to the best way to enter the timepiece market; detached, cool investment focus or starting with a personal item that has sentimental or aesthetic appeal for the investor.

Chris Brown, managing director of Fitzrovia Watches, says: “As with art, there is no point buying an alternative investment unless you actually like it.” He explains as “equity markets are so choppy”, he has seen an increasing number of people look for investments they can ‘“derive pleasure from, as well as a financial return”.

According to Tom Bolt, director of WatchGuru.com, which specialises in Rolex watches and other vintage timepieces, there is a gender divide in terms of collectibles.

Most traders and collectors are men and the mechanical expertise of models tends to be in men’s watches.
“If you think about it,” Mr Bolt says, “it’s much harder to produce a robust, durable watch on one-eighth of the size.”
Mr Bolt, who wears vintage aside from the exclusive Richard Mille modern watches, says: “The idea of people buying a watch to last them a lifetime is complete nonsense. Very quickly it becomes addictive.”

He adds with a chuckle: “[Vintage watch collecting] is the ultimate man’s addiction – that isn’t too damaging.”
Like brand new cars, the value of brand new watches tends to depreciate by approximately 40 per cent the moment a purchaser leaves the shop, further supporting the investment case of vintage models.

Mr Bolt believes depreciation of new watches to be even higher – perhaps even 50 per cent. One of the absurdities of the new watch premium is that a copy of a Patek Philippe classic watch costs £15,000, while the original it is copied from costs £6,000.
Mr Brown advises taking a contrarian view of the watch market, reminding investors a Rolex Cosmograph 6265, which was worth £882 in 1986 and considered “somewhat passé”, now commands £25,000.

“Yesterday’s lack of popularity is today’s rarity,” he adds. This is further buoyed when considering the only apparent recession-proof luxury watches are those that have been discontinued and therefore have collectable status.
Such pieces include the Rolex GMT II and Sea-Dweller, which ceased production in 2008 – although it is worth noting these are both products of the world’s most collected brand.

In addition to making it easier to ‘liquidate’ the investment at a beneficial time for the investor, another argument for remaining detached from any alternative investment such as timepieces is that, as with other collectibles – toys, for example – they command a higher price in mint condition, preferably unopened.

According to the auctioneer Bonhams, a watch could be worth up to 70 per cent more at auction if it is accompanied by its original casing and documentation.

Online consumer resource and Omega watch specialist Chronocentric.com states precious-metal watches and those carrying diamond inlays are sold new at 10-20x premium. At resale, “the values better reflect the market value, not the exclusivity premium,” it says.

The site warns against investing in timepieces with the serial numbers removed, which are heavily discounted, of poor-durability brands or customised, all of which negatively affect resale value. While more akin to antique furniture in some ways, clocks, which also fall under the HMRC’s ‘mechanical’ description, along with barometers and some scientific instruments, share many of the resale and collectible factors of wristwatches.

One additional element for investor consideration is physical storage, depending on the size and nature of the clock.
Although the price of grandfather clocks – known as longcases – has fallen over the past 10 years, some aficionados are viewing this as a buy sign, akin to Mr Brown’s advice to be a contrarian investor in timepieces.

The average grandfather clock is more than 2.1m tall – those less than 2m are considered grandmother clocks, for which there is less resale demand and are therefore riskier long-term investments.

Grandfather clocks with a value of less than £1,000 can be as costly again in terms of renovation, and these factors prove the importance of seeking expert advice and using a respected antiques dealer or clock specialist to either collate this aspect of a diversified alternatives portfolio, or to help purchase a one-off piece for both the home and financial return.

The cost of checking the authenticity of a timepiece is roughly £50.
There is no market index for timepiece prices, so valuations are typically based on a database of prior sales figures for that make and model and combined with the valuation made of that specific piece by an auction house.

If physical ownership of a tangible asset is not important to an investor, another avenue for investing in timepieces is to hold shares in listed producers, such as LVMH, of which Tag Heuer, Chaumet, Zenith and Hubolt are subsidiaries.

However, these watches and jewellery brands are a small percentage of the luxury brands company, and heavyweight brands such as Rolex remain private entities.

For exposure to global luxury brands, an investor might consider a traditional fund, such as Julius Baer Luxury Brands (a retail Oeic) or, for institutional investors, Pictet’s PF Premium Brands.

The latter invests in Compagnie Financière Richemont, which itself oversees subsidiaries such as Cartier, Montblanc and Ralph Lauren Watches.

According to Mr Bolt, there simply aren’t enough ‘investment-grade’ vintage watches available for investment funds to take advantage of the alternative asset class.

He says: “I’ve had funds come to me asking to invest £20m [in watches]. They are a wonderful investment – if you buy right you can return 100 per cent in 3-4 years – but there aren’t enough of them to make it work.”

While investors and advisers may be more familiar with the traditional route into alternatives, it would increase asset class correlation in the portfolio and omit the tax advantages.

The case, once again, for direct exposure to such alternatives – in moderation and with direction from experts – stacks up.
Of course, no adviser will suggest a serious client should switch out of traditional opportunities and opt for speculative, alternate investments such as this.

But in the wake of traditional assets all moving – downward – in tandem and given the higher-tax outlook, considering a small allocation to alternatives that may not only deliver healthy long-term returns but engage investors in their future wealth creation has per-haps never been more timely.

Top five collectable timepieces*
1. Rare 1943 Patek Philippe watch
Sold for £2,675,400 at Christie’s auction in May, the second-highest price for a wrist watch ever, and double its pre-auction estimate. It is the most expensive gold watch ever auctioned, was signed “Patek Philippe & Co” and billed at the auction as “unique and historically important”.

2. Qing Dynasty Chinese table clock
Sold for £2,450,000 at Sotheby’s in June; triple its auction estimate. The imperial tribute enamel table clock was produced by the Guangzhou Workshops of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, 1736-95.

3. Grande & Petite Sonnerie Tourbillon clockwatch
Sold at the Antiquorum of Modern and Vintage Time Pieces in Geneva for £204,500. This rare, 18-carat yellow gold watch dated to 1900 and was made for use in Moscow. The sale to a collector from Taiwan followed an intense bidding war.

4. Piguet and Meylan pocket watch
This musical pocket watch was sold to a Swiss museum for £164,000 in April, New York. Its original estimate was for £25,000-£40,000. Created with the Chinese market in mind, built in 1815, it is made of gold, enamel and pearls.

5. A 1929 Cartier Comet clock
This carriage desk clock, featuring the days of the week, date and alarm, sold for £160,000. It was a highlight of Patrizzi’s New York sale in March, which promised “the most important sale of Cartier time pieces since 1996”. Mounted on 18-carat yellow gold, it was presented with the original Morocco fitted box and Cartier certificate.

*By sales during 2010
Source: Paulfrasercollectibles.com

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Retro Vintage Antique Style Ladies Girls Bracelet Watch
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Recent industry reports show that sales of fashion accessories, including fine jewelry and luxury pieces, rose 17 percent in the first quarter 2010, after ending the year 10 percent lower in 2009. “Despite being a young show, coupled with global economic downturn, The New York Antique Jewelry & Watch Show continues to grow and be amazingly successful for exhibitors and attendees alike. We attribute a great deal of our show’s success due to our location in the jewelry capital of the world, New York City,” said Andrea Canady, fair director for GLM’s New York Antique Jewelry & Watch Show. “This year’s show is shaping up to feature truly extraordinary merchandise available at all consumer price points for viewing and purchase.”

With major retailers logging an uptick in sales due to increased consumer confidence and the stabilization of the stock market, luxury spending is on the rise. With signs pointing toward retail revitalization, the four-day New York Antique Jewelry & Watch Show, which opens two days prior to the JA Summer Show, will bring together more than 100 of the finest dealers in antique and estate jewelry and watches.

Show attendees, which include celebrities and well-known socialites from around the globe, will have the opportunity to view and purchase highly sought after rare and signed pieces, a wide variety of antique jewelry, exceptional jewels and gemstones and unique designer pieces, as well as the finest in personal timepieces representing multiple periods throughout jewelry history.

Some of the well-known brands on display will include, Louis Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany, Harry Winston, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Rolex, and many others. Here’s a preview of just a few of the most unique items available at the show:

Jacob’s Diamond & Estate Jewelry, based in Los Angeles, is featuring this rare late Victorian brooch, circa 1900. It is mounted in 18 karat yellow gold, featuring amethyst, carved ivory, diamonds and pearls.

Jerome Heidenreich, based in Los Angeles, will display this beautiful dragonfly brooch set with a GIA certified 1.81 carat natural fancy intense green-yellow diamond, circa 1960.

McTeigue Since 1895, based in New York City, is showcasing this magnificent Art Deco square sapphire and baguette diamond bracelet. The square sapphires are approximately 13.86 carats. Baguette diamonds approximately 8.40 carats in a platinum mounting.

Morelle Davidson, based in London, will display this brilliant Van Cleef & Arpels suite. This set is made of 18 karat yellow gold diamond and coral and is comprised of a necklace, which converts into four bracelets, a pendant, a ring and earrings. The diamonds are approximately 17 carats, circa 1980.

Raymond Lee Jewelers, based in Boca Raton, Fla., is featuring these exquisite platinum antique earrings with 10 carats of diamonds
Yafa Signed Jewels, based in New York City, is showcasing this stunning platinum, diamond and ruby brooch. It is signed by David Webb.
Show hours are from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, July 23; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 24 and Sunday, July 25; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, July 26. The one-time admission fee of $15 is valid for all four days of the show.

For additional show information, please call (239) 732-6642 or visit www.nyantiquejewelry.com.

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Retro Vintage Antique Style Ladies Girls Bracelet Watch
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Many of the pieces were from the famous 'Arman Collection' put together by world renowned artist Arman.
The auction was a huge success, with over 90% of lots sold and a sales total of $5,000,388. This was due in part to strong international interest, with phone and internet bids from Spain, Russia, China, Canada and Italy as well as live on the floor.
Although there were many great sales, the two stand-out performances were from Patek Philippe:
This top lot was a Platinum Patek Philippe Ref 3970, Ref. 3970 EP.

Created in 2004, the very fine and important, water-resistant, platinum wristwatch boasts a round button chronograph, register, perpetual calendar, moon phases, leap year, 24-hour indication and a platinum Patek Philippe deployant clasp. It brought $141,600.
Close behind was a white gold Patek Philippe Ref. 5970.

The very fine, astronomic, water-resistant, 18K white gold wristwatch has a square button chronograph, register, perpetual calendar, moon phases, tachometer, sapphire crystal back and an 18K white gold Patek Philippe deployant clasp. It was taken away for $138,000
"As confirmed by these results, prices realized for rare vintage and modern wristwatches have increased by 15% in the past year." commented watch designer and auctioneer Julien Schaerer. With the possible exception of vintage guitars, most investments haven't appreciated this well.

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Collecting vintage watches is a growing hobby in most parts of the western world. Men, particularly, are attracted by the romance and novelty of having a micro-engine on their wrist as both a time-teller and an image statement.
One of the most frustrating aspects of collecting vintage watches is the number of fakes, frankenwatches and fraudsters one encounters in pursuit of this noble, but increasingly costly, passion.

The comeback of the mechanical watch has drawn out all sorts of insects from under their rocks. The pursuit of one's passion for old timepieces will inevitably lead to numerous encounters with rogue repairers who charge house prices for inferior work, linear decendents of horse thieves who palm off fakes as the real thing, Doctor Frankenstein who create sought-after models from parts of other watches, the usual bevy of crooks and tricksters out to convince the gullible and the unwary to swipe their well worn credit cards.
In a recent seven day survey and follow-up I completed on the listing of vintage Omega Constellation watches on a major on-line trading site, more than 50 percent of all listings were of watches that were inauthentic in some way - that gives you some idea of what collectors are up against.

Caveat Emptor, rarity and product knowledge steer the purchasing behaviors of astute collectors in any collecting field and these three principles are particularly important when purchasing vintage watches on-line and through bricks and mortar dealers.
Frankenwatches describe the practice of taking parts from different watches of the same calibre series and 'creating' a new or better pedigree of movement. In some countries of Europe they are called 'Wedding' watches. This practice is especially prevalent in middle and higher end timepieces that are most sought-after by collectors.

In tandem with the obvious deception of Frankenwatches, there are a number of other intentional and inadvertent frauds that occur:

1. Housing a different movement in a genuine case or re-dialed model. If you are interested in collecting a particular brand of watch, get to know the calibre numbers of movements that power particular models. Calibre numbers are different to serial numbers and can best be described as the engine type (similar to cars: e.g. 2.5-litre DOHC V6 describing the engine in a current X Type Jaguar). Some calibres of a particular brand are more collectible than others, so it pays to know what's under the bonnet.

2. Using a similar movement series and replacing the part that has the calibre number. This is prevalent in watch brands that have numerous models and where the top line models fetch higher prices that the cheaper models. Often you can tell a fraud of this type through coloration contrasts or newness of the parts that contains the calibre number.

3. Placing a high end dial and movement in the wrong case. Many of the higher end vintage watches have case back numbers that can be checked with serial numbers to see if they match.

4. Replacing worn hands and crowns with non-genuine hands and crowns and claiming the watch is 100 percent authentic. A common problem with many vintage models that reduces the value of the watch. Before buying, build up a library of pictures of watches that you know are genuine and match a prospective purchase against them. On-line forums are a great way to acquire and swap pictures.

5. Badly executed dials and re-dials. Ask for super-sized pictures so you can examine the quality of the printing and also the placement of lettering. A bad re-dial will wipe as much as 30 percent off the value of the watch. Again pictures and the help of other collectors are invaluable in making sure you have an authentic watch.

6. Replacing numerous worn parts in genuine models with genuine parts. While this is a perfectly acceptable practice, it does indicate that at some stage in the life of the movement it was neglected or damaged. Knowledgeable and pernickety collectors look for signs of color variation on the movement and often avoid watches that are not of one color hue.

Look for scratches or gouges on the non-replaced parts, and look for corrosion or other signs of wear and tear. Ask the vendor for a detailed report on the history of servicing of the watch and its current condition. If the vendor cannot supply such information it is better to let the watch go rather than experience the disappointment of acquiring a watch that has suffered abuse in the past and having to deal with the ongoing symptoms of that abuse.

7. Claiming an old warrior is a handsome prince. Many vendors use descriptions like 'minty', '100% authentic', 'very clean', 'this one is a keeper', and so on. Most of these descriptions are useless if not backed up by evidence.
When examining a good quality picture of the watch movement, and always ask for pictures if you are buying on the internet, look for any discoloration of the surfaces of plates and bridges. Look for any signs of corrosion or parts of the watch that do not match in color, particularly rotor bridges and the part of the watch that contains the calibre or serial numbers. Look for new additions that show themselves by their shininess. These are all indicators of inauthenticity, parts swapping or at least major repairs.

8. Examine the movement for burred screw heads and scrapes and damage to the movement plates or bridges, which are sure signs of inexpert work, or at least indicate the movement was separate from the case for some time before a case was found to match. Checks for surface discoloration on the movement plates, blotches, corrosion, or parts that don't match the rest of the movement patina.

9. Examine the case back to determine whether the watch has had a hard life. Beware of excessive polishing that takes the sharpness away from the edges of the watch case, as that again indicates considerable wear and tear overall and devalues the watch.

10. A watch that has obviously had a hard life indicates carelessness towards its maintenance and irregularity in servicing. Generally speaking, mechanical watches should be serviced every three to five years, and it is not difficult to detect a watch that has been neglected because the signs of neglect are obvious to the naked eye.

Badly discolored watches with scratches, gouges to the movement, highly polished case backs and inexpertly refinished dials are sure signs of the amateur watchmaker at work and should be avoided. They can also point to a tired old movement jazzed up for sale and marketed with great hyperbole to the unwary Internet shopper.

11. Look carefully at the dial to see if screws have caused minor or major indentations on the dial. This indicates that incorrect or inauthentic screws have been used in the movement.

Look for corrosion on the dial or flakes that have come off the dial. This can indicate that a watch has spent some or all of its life in the tropics and was not serviced as regularly as it should have been. It can also indicate immersion in water.
Watches that are regularly serviced will have their seals replaced at service and should show few signs of moisture having entered the case. Remember rust under a dial cannot be seen and flaky dials can be a sign of hidden problems underneath.

12. Rust cannot generally be removed from watches and at best can be neutralized. A sure sign of neglect is corrosion on or near the threads of the case back or the area where the case back meets the case. These are signs of irregular servicing and signify the possibility of excessive wear of the movement.

Watch collecting is a rewarding past-time for thousands of collectors worldwide. Fortunately they congregate in various forums on the Internet and are generally very happy to share their knowledge and passion for particular brands. Build up and use your knowledge to better determine the value of the watches you collect.

An evenly colored movement, retaining much of its original sheen and showing signs of regular service demands a higher price and improves its value far better than a poor cousin that has been through the wars.

The exhibits will feature famous brands including Cartier, Rolex, Tiffany’s, Harry Winston, David Webb, Patek Philippe and Van Cleef & Arpels, most pieces being signed and many bearing extensive provenances detailing previous ownership by celebrities or royalty.
To excite participation to the event, MGM Grand is offering exceptional discounted hotel room rates to dealers and trade visitors.

In some quarters of the Russian Orthodox Church, church bells are still believed to have almost supernatural powers. Traditionalists contend that they can keep demons at bay, for instance, by sanctifying the area in which they are audible. For this reason, bells are still christened with holy water and anointed with holy oil.

Timepiece connoisseurs feel a like reverence for the minute repeater and sonnerie, watches that chime the time on tiny gongs fitted inside the case. Of all complicated watches, they are the most challenging to make.

In fact, chiming watches defy horological history, which in broad strokes is a story of decreasing manual labor and increasing automation. Today mechanical watches can be made entirely by robots; the first pair of human hands to touch such pieces is typically the buyer's.

Chiming watches, however, are in principle impossible to make satisfactorily through purely industrial means. The repeater, which chimes the hour, quarter hour, and minute "on demand" when a slide in the case is pressed, and the sonnerie, which, like a mantel clock, chimes the hour and quarter "in passing," require both a musician's ear and a surgeon's hand to construct and adjust. As watchmaker Donald de Carle wrote nearly 50 years ago in his famous manual on complicated-watch repair, the repeater, more than any other type of watch, necessitates a mind that is "calm, cool, and collected." Absent the human judgment involved in the final adjustment of the mechanism, repeaters would function poorly, if at all. That gives them an aura that no other complication watch can match--and a price tag as well. It usually starts in the low six figures.

The finest repeaters are works of art but were born of necessity: to enable the owner to tell the time in the dark. They come down to us from the era of candlelight, when most houses were nearly pitch-black after nightfall and the majority of people heard the time from the town clock tower. (Many early clocks, having neither hands nor dial, also marked the time by chiming. In fact, the word clock comes from the Medieval Latin clocca, or bell.)

What makes a repeater special is that it chimes on demand. Pushing the slide set into the case activates mechanical feelers that read the time from the position of the gears that drive the hands--akin to a blind person reading Braille--and then ring the hour, the quarter hour, and the minute in succession, and in a different tone for each unit of time.

Englishman Daniel Quare is thought to have invented the repeater in the mid-1680s. His first ones sounded the hour and the quarter hour on demand, and in 1687 King James II granted him the patent for the quarter repeater. More than 20 years passed before the five-minute repeater, which chimes to the nearest five minutes, appeared, and it would be 40 more years before the first true minute repeater appeared. No one knows the exact date or even whether the credit, usually attributed to Englishman Thomas Mudge, is correct.

It took the great A.L. Breguet, who counted among his clients the court of Louis XVI, to evolve the species decisively. Repeaters before Breguet were ungainly because the dome-shaped bells occupied a lot of space. He streamlined the watch by using gongs made of tempered-steel wire, which could be wound more than once around the inner circumference of the case. The result: a flatter, more elegant watch with good sound quality. Wearing one really is "like having the mind of a genius in your pocket," as Sir David Lionel Salomons, history's most ardent Breguet collector, once said. (Although today the Breguet Classique Grand Complication Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar would be on your wrist.) The final step in the repeater's maturity, the creation of a wristwatch repeater movement, was accomplished by Audemars Piguet in 1892.

The repeater and sonnerie are still a challenge to make. It requires incredible precision to craft a mechanism that can translate time into music within an accuracy of one minute. Giulio Papi, the complications master at the helm of Audemars Piguet Renaud et Papi and one of the world's top repeater experts, explains, "The repeater is an audible indication, and as such, the user expects the time being struck to correspond closely to that shown by the hands. While that seems obvious, it implies complex mechanical processes and the watchmaker must correct even the slightest eccentricities…to guarantee the closest possible match between the chimes and the hands." Still, even the best repeater may have up to a five-second discrepancy.

Then there's the fact that the repeater and sonnerie are musical instruments. It takes a Stradivarian watchmaker to craft both, as controlling the chiming tempo, a key element to a connoisseur, has to be done by ear as well as by hand. That reaches the apex of complexity in a sonnerie such as Gérald Genta's Octo Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon, which has four gongs (most repeaters have two) and rings the Westminster Quarters melody at each quarter and on the hour. As a master watchmaker at Patek Philippe has remarked, "the final hand setting of the regulator governor [which controls the speed of the chime] is instrumental in the resulting sound…allowing the unique, pure sound of the gong to remain the focus point when the mechanism is activated." The company takes chime quality and tempo so seriously that for decades the chairman, Philippe Stern, has personally approved every minute repeater and sonnerie before allowing it out the door.

Repeater manufacture has long been more art than science, with a dash of alchemy, too, like the persistent legend that the gongs must be tempered in horse urine in order to obtain the best-quality sound. (Watchmakers have told me this was actually done in the past.) But lately, high-tech innovation and outside-the-box thinking have conspired to produce a new breed of repeaters.
Iconoclast watchmaker F. P. Journe tossed out centuries of conventional wisdom to create his extra-flat Journe Repetition Souverain, a minute repeater with a movement barely four millimeters thick. (That's thinner than most modern simple automatic watch movements.) He achieved this in part by eschewing traditional wire gongs, which are round in cross section, for triangular ones, which are flat in cross section, thus taking up less room inside the case. He also crafted the case out of stainless steel, a material far superior to gold and platinum in resonance and sound transmission.

But it's still handwork that makes the Souverain a sonic beauty. "All the adjustments," says Journe, "have to be mastered one by one. Strength of the springs, hammers--there are many parts, and therefore many effects that have to be manually adjusted." That also means that production is necessarily low: Journe expects to create fewer than 20 Repetition Souverains per year, and only five Sonnerie Souverains. (Production of repeaters at other makers is equally low.)

A gong doesn't just ring a pure tone; it generates numerous overtones as well, and a badly made one will emit sounds that are not in tune with the dominant one. (In other words, the gong will sound out of tune with itself.) Gérald Genta claims its new Arena Metasonic Grande Sonnerie, made of a secret alloy whose lightness and rigidity supposedly outclass even steel, has the problem licked. Each watch is subjected to frequency spectrum analysis worthy of a physics lab--in fact, one at a French university developed the software with Genta--and the first time I heard it chime, its eerie clarity had the hypnotic quality Bram Stoker ascribed to the tingling, water-glass-like voices of Dracula's brides. Jaeger-LeCoultre's Master Minute Repeater goes at the sound problem by affixing the gongs directly to the sapphire dial crystal, which resonates more efficiently than a case.

Nonetheless, it's touch more than tech that makes a great repeater the subject of near-animist reverence. "Manual adjustment is what elevates the production of minute repeaters to an art form. It's what makes each timepiece unique," says the Patek Philippe master watchmaker. Even the ultra-high-tech Grand Complications Caliber 89 has to pass muster with an expert's golden ear before it's released. Machines made modern watches dependable, but it's the hand and ear that make the repeater inimitable.

Gérald Genta Octo Grande Sonnerie Tourbillion

It rings the time in passing and on demand by playing the Westminster Quarters, the same melody rung out by London's Big Ben. $810,200.
www.geraldgenta.com

Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Minute Repeater with Jumping Hours

A stunning Art Deco–style jumping hour repeater from the company that in 1892 put the repeater on the customer's wrist for the first time. $231,100
www.audemarspiguet.com

Patek Philippe Ref. 5074R

A perpetual calendar that adjusts for length of the month and for leap year, combined with a minute repeater. Patek Philippe chairman Philippe Stern still insists on hearing and approv-ing each Patek repeater personally. $518,500 (subject to change)
www.patek.com

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Minute Repeater

One of the new breed of repeaters that mix high mech and high tech: The gongs are attached directly to the sapphire crystal for unparalleled bell-like clarity and volume. $142,000.
www.jaeger-lecoultre.com

IWC Portuguese Minute Repeater

For the connoisseur who likes big secrets: The sapphire caseback shows off the pocket-watch movement that gives this 43-millimeter watch its heft, but only the slide in the case band--and the ringing of its gongs--reveal its musical heart. $86,000.
www.iwc.com

F.P. Journe Repetition Souverain

Both a hard-core traditionalist and a game-changing iconoclast, François-Paul Journe has done it again, creating the world's thinnest minute repeater. $165,400.
www.fpjourne.com

Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle Calibre 2755

In full court dress, this masterpiece combines a tourbillon, minute repeater, and perpetual calendar, and with its open dial, wears its heart on its sleeve. $585,000.
www.vacheronconstantin.com

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CITIZEN ECO DRIVE CALIBRE 9000 MINUTE REPEATER MANS WATCH
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Whether you’re buying a $500 Hamilton or a $50,000 Patek Philippe, you’re making an investment—one that could pay off significantly over time. Here, Edward Faber, owner of New York vintage retailer Aaron Faber Gallery, tells you what you need to know.

•Look for the big two brands. “There’s a pyramid with around fifty top brands,” says Faber, “but at the very apex are only two: Patek Philippe and Rolex.” Stick with them for quality and appreciative value.
•Ask for papers. “Original documentation that came with the watch when it was manufactured, with serial numbers, can add enormous value.”

•Know your metals. “With contemporary watches [those made after 1985], platinum trumps white gold, white gold trumps pink, pink trumps yellow. And all of those trump steel. With vintage watches, though, steel can often trump all the metals.” Why? “A steel chronograph made during the war years, in the ’40s, is extremely rare, and thus more unique and valuable.”

18K-gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date (circa 1980s, left) and 18K-yellow-gold Rolex Oyster Cosmograph (circa 1970s)

What Makes an Heirloom Watch
Want a watch that will outlive you? Consider the following
•Choose one that goes easy on the bells and whistles—like Patek Philippe’s white-gold Calatrava (shown). “The Calatrava concept is to keep it simple,” explains Hank Edelman, the venerable brand’s U.S. chairman. “This look was introduced in the 1930s to have a lasting style and an elegant, clear, open design.”
•Classic watches from respected high-end companies are pretty much guaranteed to increase in value—because they increase in rarity—over the years.
•Go for a timepiece that’s mechanical rather than quartz. Sure, quartz fulfills the “it lasts” half of the equation—but really, it’s the hands-on commitment and craftsmanship that you want to pass on to your son or grandson.

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Classic or vintage watches make amazing collector's items and gifts for collectors because of all they can bring to a collection, all of the experience and excitement that goes along with such a piece of history. Timepieces have long been not just functional as time-tellers, but also as indicators of status and indicative of the level of prestige of which an individual may be deserving. While these timepieces are so sought after and alluring, it is also important to note that there are a number of forgeries among classic watches and it is important to be on the lookout when collecting vintage or classic timepieces. No matter from what period an individual is collecting timepieces, this can be a very expensive hobby and it is important to protect this investment and ensure that the timepieces an individual is purchasing are authentic. No one wants to purchase a timepiece just to find out it is a fake, so make sure to confirm the authenticity of any timepiece prior to its purchase in order to protect yourself and your investment. There are a few key things to take into consideration when examining the collectability of a timepiece. In particular, the popularity, desirability and condition of the timepiece should be considered. There are a number of factors which may influence how enticing a timepiece may be as they are being considered for collectability. Historical milestones are always impressive pieces of a collection, including the first automatic timepiece, as is the technical quality and/or innovative design of the timepiece.

It is also important to consider the historical importance of a timepiece. Conditions of timepieces also need to be considered, especially in relation to similar timepieces or models in existence. If there is a low survival rate of a particular timepiece, this will make it more impressive and alluring to collectors. Collectors will also likely want to consider what potential a particular timepiece exhibits by way of investment.

For the most part, timepieces will be categorized as being uncommon, scarce, rare and extremely rare. At the same time, timepieces may be collectable, very collectable, highly collectable and an investment grade collectable timepiece, respectively. Some of the timepieces which are particularly collectible and desirable include the Rolex Daytona, the Vacheron Constantin, the Cartier Panthere, the Rolex Zephyr and the Gruen Curvex. When it comes to collecting timepieces, it is important to remember that the hobby does not need to be expensive or exclusive. Not all timepieces collected need to be in pristine condition. Rather, collecting vintage timepieces can include fixing them up and making them aesthetically appealing again. Watches are personal pieces and accessories and having a collection of them can truly bring to life a number of individual human experiences.

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