How much is your grail actually worth? An expert guide to watch valuation
Time was when you used to buy a watch, keep it for life then hand it over to a relative in your will—with zero need to consider a watch valuation. But this is the 21st century where watches are now like Pokemon cards—swapped, traded and switched up. It begs the question, when entering into this brave new horological world, how do you know if your prize timepiece is being given its due worth? We sat down with experts in this area to safeguard ourselves (and you, readers) from making any mistakes.
Is your watch real?
First things first, before you even stick a price on your watch, you need to know if it’s real. “Obviously if you bought your watch from a registered dealer then this isn’t an issue,” says Adrian Hailwood, founder and managing director of The Watch Scholar – a provider of watch authentication and valuation services and training. “However, if you bought it from your mate Dave down the pub, then it may not be genuine. There are so many super fakes out there that authentication is the most important first stage.” For this, Hailwood recommends doing this in person at a registered valuer, which can easily be found with a quick Google search. He also cautions against so-called “lazy” valuators who say they can determine authenticity, and subsequently value, with images. “The AI situation makes this even worse,” he says. “That’s why it is really important to do this in person.”
Which price (site) is right?
Once your watch has been decreed as genuine, now you have to put a price on it.
“First of all, let’s look at where not to trust,” says Christy Davis, co-founder of Subdial, the pre-owned, data-driven watch retail platform. “Prices that are listed online are generally a poor guide to market price. By definition they tend to show what prices watches aren’t selling at. To understand where they are selling you need to see the watches that are no longer available.”
Davis also cautions against some authorised dealers. “Dealers can often be a bad guide too: their direct purchase offers try to push prices down, while their consignment offers promise unachievably high prices to get you to commit your watch with them,” he explains.
Hailwood agrees with Davis’s online scepticism. “Online watch marketplaces are full of watches that haven’t sold, at prices people want to sell them at,” he says. “A better option is looking at auction sites and at concluded deals, but even then you have to be careful as there is a good chance that it sold below the start price and that’s before you factor in that the price listed will not be what you will get because of fees.”
Where to get a trustworthy watch valuation?
Davis, unsurprisingly, favours a more digital-forward approach. “Look for someone that has great, trusted reviews, and also has the audience required to sell your watch,” he says. “For example, we focus on collectable models, and we’ve built up an audience of hundreds of thousands of people in that space who follow our Instagram and YouTube channels allowing us to place watches with the right buyers in a thoughtful way, and means we really understand prices that people are paying for them. Depending on what model of watch you’re looking to sell I’d suggest finding a trusted player in that space who has a good audience for it and is willing to be transparent with you about their pricing approach.”
Hailwood believes analogue works best, but agrees that finding someone who is an expert in a particular space is integral to your watch being correctly valued. “Ringing up dealers and asking how much they would pay is an option,” he says. “However, if it is a buyers’ market, be aware that everyone will lowball you.” Things become more interesting if you have a rarity. “By the time you speak to the fourth dealer, they will know what you have and what the three previous dealers have offered. In this instance, picking that first call is all part of the game, so find someone who knows your watch and will give you a fair price for it.” This means looking through a dealer’s inventory and working out whether that dealer is specialized or just interested in selling volume to a high-street audience.
Dealer decided. Now what?
Davis’s advice is to sell on commission. “It is a better way to get the best price for your watch. It’s what most of our big-time collectors tend to do. We inspect and authenticate every watch in our workshop and photograph them for listing. Watches are pre-circulated with specific buyers that we know might be interested and released in our Thursday watch drop. As a seller you can track the sales process, receive offers and follow buyer interest from your phone. When it sells you get paid straight into your bank account.” Hailwood also agrees that selling on consignment, whereby you hand over your watch to a third-party seller, to sell on your behalf, without immediately receiving payment, is the way to get the fairest price for your timepiece. It also allows you to discuss commission percentages with the seller so that you aren’t surprised when you don’t receive the full amount listed.
Ultimately, though, given the myriad market forces that cause the price fluctuations in the pre-owned watch market, the only advice that really holds when it comes to valuing your watch is caveat emptor. And caveat venditor.
First published on gq-magazine.co.uk
