The downside of popularity.
The Flip Side of Bespoke
Even giants like Rolex can't allow themselves the luxury of turning down custom orders due to their prestige. But this Swiss manufacture has come up against the flip side of their popularity, and it has even led to some lawsuits.
We're referring to the case Rolex won against the workshop Artisans de Genève in February of this year. The workshop had long earned a living by customizing the most popular models manufactured by the watch giant.
Moreover, Artisans de Genève used to purchase a decent stockpile of Rolex watches on the sly, who then tweaked the appearance of these watches as they saw fit, heavily advertised their business, and successfully traded these updated Oysters.
The Swiss High Court who heard the case ruled to allow the customizers to continue experimenting with Rolex watches, but only when approached by a person who has already bought a watch, and begs to have it changed to their own sketch. It should put an end to pre-ordered Rolex watches.
Truth be told, Rolex was also infuriated by the fact that the customizers often removed and reapplied the great watchmaker's name from the face of the dial, along with lengthy marks like "Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified", "Cosmograph", etc. But the court decided that clients can remove and reapply trademark signatures if they want to.
But from now on, the workshop can only advertise the sale of customized watches if Rolex gives them the green light, which clearly won't happen. Moreover, Rolex has already invited their clients to choose how to configure their future purchase on their website for some time now.
There's a choice of Datejust case sizes between 31 mm, 36 mm, or 41 mm in diameter, you can pick the metal that will be used as the case material, the bezel design, bracelet, and even the dial color. Rolex also offers a choice of languages to be used on the calendar disks of Day-Date watches.
This could actually be a bit of a slippery slope for the holding, given that full-blown personalization of Day-Date models has yet to be rolled out. But it may only be a matter of time, and soon the turn will come for Daytonas, then models in the Professional line, right up to the Perpetual 1908.
But this blunder goes to show that you no longer need to be an Arab sheik or a very close friend of this watchmaking giant to order a custom-configured Rolex.
Are Anniversary Models Always Winners?
Spoiler alert: no they're not! You'd think that big watchmakers' anniversaries would be a top source of modern "sleeping beauties". All the stops were pulled out for big dates (and smaller ones too) over the past year, but sooner or later, the party will end, and these limited editions will "fall into a deep slumber".
This looks like it could have potential! And that's one of the biggest pitfalls. Collectors know that models from anniversary collections are launched religiously by major watchmakers, and that's why these watches won't cause some fifty stirs over the next few years.
A prime example of this would be the fate of ten super complicated Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 5002, albeit not launched for the anniversary year, but still inspired by the Star Caliber 2000 made to commemorate the new millennium.
Another example would be the seven-piece Vacheron Constantin Tur de l'Île Grand Complication launched in 2005 when the maison marked its 250th anniversary. Neither of these models yielded high dividends for their owners.
Some of the first most desirable ten Sky Moon Tourbillon models have already been listed at auctions, and they've generated an average year-over-year growth of just ten percent within almost a quarter of a century.
And a Ref. 5002P sold for USD 2.8 million in 2021, which was even lower than the growth rate mentioned above. Housing prices have risen at a more intense rate, and inflation has risen even more rapidly.
And most interestingly, later versions of the Sky Moon Tourbillon which began to be referenced 6002 are attracting a lot of attention from collectors. As for the Tur de l'Île Grand Complication, it sold for under USD 1.5 million at an auction held by Antiquorum in Monaco in the same year of 2021.
It was first sold for over USD 1 million, and another one of these "hot" pieces was sold the year it was launched by the same Antiquorum for USD 1.5 million. What went wrong? The post-Covid excuse doesn't cut it.
The most likely explanation is that too much P.R. was invested in the model launch, and it did more harm than good. Some might ask, then what about the unique steel minute repeating Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A-010 that sold for USD 31 million at Only Watch 2019?
After all, isn't the record-holder a carbon copy of the model with the same name that was launched to mark the watchmaker's 175th anniversary? But no, this wasn't about it being an anniversary model, this was down to its steel case. Not only does this case material enhance sound amplification and propagation, it also makes the watch unique.
The Pitfalls of Experiments
If there's one thing collectors are prone to forgetting, it's probably the diverse array of experimental watches by big-name manufacturers. Firstly, they're released fairly frequently. Secondly, these watches are sometimes introduced without any ceremony or high-profile announcements.
But true fans will of course remember all the Patek Philippe models from their Advanced Research progam. Remember the hullabaloo over a one-piece auction for the experimental Aquanaut Travel Time "Advanced Research" with Error Dial?
But this year they'll surely be hoping to see for one of the fifteen-minute repeating Patek Philippe Advanced Research Ref. 5750P/001 Fortissimo models. Minute repeaters by this grand maison are timeless and perpetually in demand — especially this particular model with an advanced all-mechanical fortissimo “ff” system for sound amplification and propagation.
Its case is made of platinum, as if to show that Patek Philippe is even capable of rising to the challenge of making platinum minute repeaters sound louder and clearer than steel. It takes a painstaking amount of time to make each of the 15 concert models priced at CHF 590,000.
But ever since they were launched three years ago, experts can hardly wait for one of them to resurface at an auction. And if any watch could give last year's Rolex "Stelline" and "the End Game" a run for their money, then it's got to be the concept pieces by Jaeger-LeCoultre, decorated according to all the canons of haute horlogerie.
Who can remember how often they've resurfaced at the auctions? Only two have been sold in the past two years, and both of them went under the hammer for less than their starting price.
Previosly (part I)
Credits taken from: www.instagram.com/artisansdegeneve, www.antiquorum.swiss and official websites of manufacturers