Vintage Watch Collecting: An Economically Viable Alternative Investment Scheme?

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.