Given the Brexit scare and an increasing number of Eurozone banks resorting to negative interest
rates, are rare vintage watch collecting fast becoming an economically viable
alternative investment scheme?
By: Ringo Bones
With the Brexit scare and an increasing number of Eurozone
banks resorting to negative investment rates – i.e. the client will have to pay
these banks a set fee in order to keep their money safe instead of the bank client’s
money earning a set interest rate, the investment savvy are increasingly
looking into alternative investment schemes like prime real estate or vintage
wine. But as of late, the once rarefied world of rare vintage watch collecting
had attracted the attention of investment pundits.
In major metropolitan centers of East Asia, like Hong Kong
and Singapore, the amount of money changing hands in the rare vintage watch
collecting scene had experienced a 68-percent rise over the last decade despite
of the global credit crunch of 2008. Dr. Bernard Cheong a noted rare vintage
watch collector who has been at it since the age of 15 has recently been on the
East Asian investment spotlight after giving a press interview showing the
ropes of how to make money in the relatively esoteric hobby of rare vintage
watch collecting.
But watch expert Su Jian Xian warns that potential investors
should be careful because rare vintage watch collecting requires specialist
knowledge, that more often than not, is only available to those seasoned rare
vintage watch collectors – if you want to get the most out of your initial
investment. The fickle sway of fashion often dictates item valuation. Rare
vintage watches that fetched 10,000 to 12,000 US dollars back in 1998 and 1999 could have
since doubled or probably have halved in value today, but who knows, that World
War I era Patek Philippe wristwatch that you’ve inherited from your grandfather
back in the early 1990s might probably cost a tidy sum by now which could make
rare vintage watch collecting one of the most lucrative alternative investment
schemes you ever delved into.
