Watches as Investment: What Actually Holds Value

A Reality Check on Watches as Investment

The idea that watches are an investment has been sold hard in recent years, and it deserves a sober response. The truth is that the overwhelming majority of watches depreciate the moment you buy them, exactly like cars. Only a narrow band of references — the most sought-after models from a handful of respected houses — have reliably held or grown in value, and even those have proven volatile. Treating watches as a straightforward investment is the fastest route to disappointment.

That does not mean value is irrelevant. It means the sensible approach is to collect first and let value be a consideration, not the objective. Buy watches you genuinely want to own; among those, favour references with strong fundamentals; and understand that any appreciation is a bonus earned over years, not a return you can count on.

What Actually Holds Value

The watches that have held or increased in value share recognisable traits. They come from brands with deep heritage and consistent demand; they are iconic references with genuine cultural weight; they are often scarce relative to demand; and they are bought and kept in excellent, original condition with full sets. Strip away any of these and the case for value weakens quickly.

Traits of value-retaining watches

• Blue-chip brand with proven, durable demand across cycles.
• Iconic reference — a model that transcends specification.
• Scarcity relative to the number of people who want it.
• Excellent original condition with box, papers, and history.

Notice how closely these overlap with what makes a watch desirable to collect. That is not a coincidence: watches hold value because people want to own them, so the qualities that make a watch worth collecting are the same ones that protect its price.

The Costs and Risks People Ignore

Even for the right watches, the investment case carries costs that quietly erode returns. Servicing every few years is a real expense. Insurance protects the asset but adds annual cost. Buying and selling both carry friction — dealer margins, auction commissions, and buyer’s premiums — that can consume much of any paper gain. And a watch produces no income while you hold it; its entire return depends on selling for more than you paid, net of all these costs.

Then there is market risk. Watch prices, especially for the most hyped references, have swung dramatically — a speculative boom can reverse into a sharp correction, leaving those who bought at the top well underwater. Liquidity, too, is uneven: blue-chip references sell readily, but step down the ladder and finding a buyer at a fair price can take time. Anyone treating watches as an investment must price in these realities honestly.

The most reliable ‘return’ on a watch is the years of pleasure you get from owning and wearing it. If you would be content with that alone, you are buying for the right reason.

Buying With Resale in Mind — Sensibly

If you want to keep the door to resale open without deluding yourself, a few disciplines help. Buy quality over quantity; buy references with genuine, durable demand rather than momentary hype; insist on excellent original condition and full sets; and keep every document from purchase invoice to service records. Then wear and enjoy the watch, and revisit its value only when you actually intend to sell.

The collectors who fare best financially are, paradoxically, the ones least focused on money. They buy what they love, buy it well, care for it, and hold it for years. When they eventually sell, the same qualities that gave them pleasure — great watches, kept beautifully — are what the next buyer will pay for. That is the only reliable investment thesis in watches: buy the best, treat it well, and be patient.