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Swiss Watches as alternative asset / store of value
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Joe Soap
Posted: 14 September 2021 17:32:28(UTC)
#68

Joined: 24/01/2010(UTC)
Posts: 2,157
Bulldog Drummond;186149 wrote:
I have heard that you can also buy these things ex VAT if you fancy a trip to the Channel Islands.

I think you will find that the prices are inflated to be the same as the UK even though there is no VAT charged. Certainly, that's my own experience.
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April Ludgate
Posted: 15 September 2021 15:46:18(UTC)
#72

Joined: 19/08/2021(UTC)
Posts: 129
Been watching "Vigil" as well as "How to command a nuclear submarine" on Amazon. Not a Rolex Submariner in sight, you'd have thought a submarine is one place where a fancy watch would be safe from loss or theft
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TheWurzel
Posted: 15 September 2021 15:49:05(UTC)
#73

Joined: 11/02/2018(UTC)
Posts: 192
April Ludgate;186261 wrote:
Been watching "Vigil" as well as "How to command a nuclear submarine" on Amazon. Not a Rolex Submariner in sight, you'd have thought a submarine is one place where a fancy watch would be safe from loss or theft


Nothing seems safe on the submarine featuring in Vigil.
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Steve U
Posted: 16 September 2021 09:21:20(UTC)
#69

Joined: 30/08/2017(UTC)
Posts: 335
Joe Soap;186150 wrote:
Bulldog Drummond;186149 wrote:
I have heard that you can also buy these things ex VAT if you fancy a trip to the Channel Islands.

I think you will find that the prices are inflated to be the same as the UK even though there is no VAT charged. Certainly, that's my own experience.



these people give a 20% reduction for shipment to the Channel Isles - I bought an Omega in the Canaries recently, no duty there either.

https://www.swisswatchesdirect.co.uk/checkout
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Joe Soap
Posted: 16 September 2021 10:43:49(UTC)
#70

Joined: 24/01/2010(UTC)
Posts: 2,157
Steve U;186323 wrote:
Joe Soap;186150 wrote:
Bulldog Drummond;186149 wrote:
I have heard that you can also buy these things ex VAT if you fancy a trip to the Channel Islands.

I think you will find that the prices are inflated to be the same as the UK even though there is no VAT charged. Certainly, that's my own experience.



these people give a 20% reduction for shipment to the Channel Isles - I bought an Omega in the Canaries recently, no duty there either.

https://www.swisswatchesdirect.co.uk/checkout

Any reputable retailer ships to the Channel Islands without VAT. The same way they ship to the rest of the world without UK VAT. But that's not what the comment was about. The comment was about buying in the CI, not shipping stuff to there.

I had a quick look at the link and a 20% discount on TAG, Breitling and similar is quite easily found in my experience. You can get bigger discounts on those brands anyway if you shop around in the grey market.

My own experience is that buying anything desirable in the Channel Islands is never cheaper than the mainland. In fact, some retailers I could name charge normal UK retail plus a supplement for shipping costs to the Islands.

Ofcourse, other people's milage may vary.
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J Thomas
Posted: 12 November 2021 23:03:34(UTC)
#51

Joined: 22/02/2012(UTC)
Posts: 732
J Thomas;185253 wrote:
To me the real value in a watch is not the asset value, but the sentimental value.
For my 21st birthday I was given an 18 carat gold Longines mechanical wrist watch , Swiss made in 1975, numbered, Swiss hallmarked, and stamped Longines. Still keeps perfect time.
It was given to me by my Father and late Mother, and to me is beyond price, the value today is around ?, but it really would not matter if the value was £1 or £1 million, I could never sell it.


I thought I would return to this subject, as I am now considering purchasing a gold watch for one of my children.
However, I am really disappointed in the quality of so called 18 carat gold watches from prestige retailers nowadays, including the renowned Swiss makers. To be blunt regarding their offerings...there is hardly any gold in them. The casing and shoulders are so thin and fine that they are hardly more than gold plate, indeed the back casing of nearly all are either glass or silver. Despite this the retail prices range between £4k to 50k, for at most a half dozen grams of gold.
The watch I received for my 21st birthday had over two ounces of 18 carat gold, and everything was solid thick gold including the back case. The cost was only £550 and I still have the receipt. A jeweller I spoke to said they just don't make them like that any more, and to custom make a similar specimen from a prestige house would be well into six figures. Very sad, hyperinflation with much lower quality. I'm tempted to buy a vintage specimen and have it refurbished instead.
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Joe Soap
Posted: 13 November 2021 08:10:12(UTC)
#52

Joined: 24/01/2010(UTC)
Posts: 2,157
J Thomas;194538 wrote:
J Thomas;185253 wrote:
To me the real value in a watch is not the asset value, but the sentimental value.
For my 21st birthday I was given an 18 carat gold Longines mechanical wrist watch , Swiss made in 1975, numbered, Swiss hallmarked, and stamped Longines. Still keeps perfect time.
It was given to me by my Father and late Mother, and to me is beyond price, the value today is around ?, but it really would not matter if the value was £1 or £1 million, I could never sell it.


I thought I would return to this subject, as I am now considering purchasing a gold watch for one of my children.
However, I am really disappointed in the quality of so called 18 carat gold watches from prestige retailers nowadays, including the renowned Swiss makers. To be blunt regarding their offerings...there is hardly any gold in them. The casing and shoulders are so thin and fine that they are hardly more than gold plate, indeed the back casing of nearly all are either glass or silver. Despite this the retail prices range between £4k to 50k, for at most a half dozen grams of gold.
The watch I received for my 21st birthday had over two ounces of 18 carat gold, and everything was solid thick gold including the back case. The cost was only £550 and I still have the receipt. A jeweller I spoke to said they just don't make them like that any more, and to custom make a similar specimen from a prestige house would be well into six figures. Very sad, hyperinflation with much lower quality. I'm tempted to buy a vintage specimen and have it refurbished instead.

In 1975 that was approximately what I earned in a year. Myself, I would put the money into the movement, not the casing.
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mdss68 on 13/11/2021(UTC)
J Thomas
Posted: 13 November 2021 08:43:20(UTC)
#53

Joined: 22/02/2012(UTC)
Posts: 732
Joe Soap;194547 wrote:
J Thomas;194538 wrote:
J Thomas;185253 wrote:
To me the real value in a watch is not the asset value, but the sentimental value.
For my 21st birthday I was given an 18 carat gold Longines mechanical wrist watch , Swiss made in 1975, numbered, Swiss hallmarked, and stamped Longines. Still keeps perfect time.
It was given to me by my Father and late Mother, and to me is beyond price, the value today is around ?, but it really would not matter if the value was £1 or £1 million, I could never sell it.


I thought I would return to this subject, as I am now considering purchasing a gold watch for one of my children.
However, I am really disappointed in the quality of so called 18 carat gold watches from prestige retailers nowadays, including the renowned Swiss makers. To be blunt regarding their offerings...there is hardly any gold in them. The casing and shoulders are so thin and fine that they are hardly more than gold plate, indeed the back casing of nearly all are either glass or silver. Despite this the retail prices range between £4k to 50k, for at most a half dozen grams of gold.
The watch I received for my 21st birthday had over two ounces of 18 carat gold, and everything was solid thick gold including the back case. The cost was only £550 and I still have the receipt. A jeweller I spoke to said they just don't make them like that any more, and to custom make a similar specimen from a prestige house would be well into six figures. Very sad, hyperinflation with much lower quality. I'm tempted to buy a vintage specimen and have it refurbished instead.

In 1975 that was approximately what I earned in a year. Myself, I would put the money into the movement, not the casing.



The watch was purchased by my parents in 1982, I was not 21 until 1884. Although the jeweller bought it directly from Longines in 1976.
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Joe Soap on 13/11/2021(UTC)
Bulldog Drummond
Posted: 13 November 2021 10:10:51(UTC)
#54

Joined: 03/10/2017(UTC)
Posts: 6,253

Thanks: 2935 times
Was thanked: 11838 time(s) in 4405 post(s)
J Thomas;194550 wrote:


The watch was purchased by my parents in 1982, I was not 21 until 1884. Although the jeweller bought it directly from Longines in 1976.


Congratulations on having made it to the ripe old age of 158. Clearly good genes.
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1 user thanked Bulldog Drummond for this post.
J Thomas on 13/11/2021(UTC)
J Thomas
Posted: 13 November 2021 11:26:45(UTC)
#55

Joined: 22/02/2012(UTC)
Posts: 732
Bulldog Drummond;194567 wrote:
J Thomas;194550 wrote:


The watch was purchased by my parents in 1982, I was not 21 until 1884. Although the jeweller bought it directly from Longines in 1976.


Congratulations on having made it to the ripe old age of 158. Clearly good genes.


Yes, I deserved that for not reading before posting BD.
And not sure I would really like to live for another hundred years, although that Amazon character is spending billions on dna research to make sure he lives to at least 140, so he might still be around.
However, nobody seems to be able to answer the question. Why has the price of 18 carat gold watches risen exponentially, whilst the actual gold content has decreased substantially. It seems to be the worst of all world's, especially as modern watches are certainly no better mechanically than my 1975 model.
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