I currently own a as ceramic GMT master 2 black bezel and my wife has the two tone version and to be honest I'm only really a 1 watch person. Saying that I've recently been thinking about maybe a hulk or a deep sea then thought why not just get the two of them and maybe say two rolexs every year for the next 5-10 years and build up a large collection. Would that be a good idea for long term investment, say in 30 years are they going to have a good return or just around the same value but obviously with inflation.
Rolex as an investment.
What an original idea!
How come we have not discussed this before.
Hang on....
It is if you buy before Tuesday...
Lol yea well was thinking about the enjoyment I would get having a good few watches to pick from. Obviously I know there's better ways to invest money but would buying rolexs be better than just having the money sit in a bank that's what I really want to know ? Opinions please
I would say there are better ways to invest any spare cash. I view collecting watches as a hobby with a cost, particularly if you end up buying new, without a discount.
Also note its not just BLANKET ROlex. Its only SOME rolex.
Ie if you buy these models you will be safe:
Better than your savings account: DAYTONA, BLNR
Equal or maybe abit better: HULK, SUBMARINER
Your Black GMT is readily available at discount so you need to choose wisely.
History would say yes, but the future can't be told, so history means little.
At the end of the day, pretty much anything is a better investment than leaving your money in the bank right now.
Given current fashion. But that changes. Guessing the watches people covet in 15 years time is going to be very hard. And given tech trends there may be no watch market. Ie what does the current 14-17 yo want.
Investing your money in magic beans might be a better option.
If it was me? Buy Lloyds bank shares. Thank me later.
J
I remember reading similar things about the value of Rolex watches approx. 10yrs ago; basically the article I read claimed that they were as good as money in the bank. Fast forward to today and the advice has proved correct, although we've seen some severe price rises over this period so perhaps it's nor representative.
Many on this forum get hung up on a few Rolex models (Hulk, Daytona etc) but if I was looking to buy I wouldn`t be looking at these 'forum darling' models. Bought secondhand, the lesser models such as the Datejust and Air King can be a sound investment; the 2002 16234 Datejust I bought in 2007 (from a dealer) would sell for significantly more than I paid, the Air King I let go in 2009 would've almost doubled in price, the 116200 Datejust I foolishly sold in 2011 would be worth around 40% more than I let it go for..........there's a definite trend developing here!
Having said that, there's no point buying watches you don`t like based on possible investment value. However, I`d be quite happy to buy a couple in the £3000-£4000 category safe in the knowledge that they wouldn`t depreciate and, over time, would possibly creep up in value. As ever, it's paramount to buy at the right price; paying over-inflated prices is like shooting yourself in the foot. With the benefit of hindsight, buying a couple of Rolexes in mid-2015 would've been wise, but we could all say that.
I certainly wouldn't rely heavily on Rolex watches as an investment vehicle, but provided I liked the watches I`d be happy to buy a couple and enjoy owning them. Indeed, that's one reason I haven`t sold my Datejust.......to coin an old Yorkshire phrase 'it's eating nowt'.
Paul
Yes it would be steel sports models only. I got my other two and really good discounts new but steel rolexs seem to be very hard to get a discount at the moment, that's why I was looking at hulk and Dead Sea blue don't mind paying full price for them as think there good investments compared to the rest of the steel models
Last edited by Gmtmastertwo; 27th October 2016 at 18:41.
Watches are for enjoyment. That is the only sensible reason to buy them. And a most excellent reason too.
Its always so nice to come back to a subject discussed so regularly.
A carefully selected and purchased car would potentially be a faster route to capital appreciation. Although the bubble will burst one day.
EG you could have bought a Porsche 911 Turbo (996) 3-4 years ago for £25k. Approaching £50k today for a decent one. Bigger gains possible if you spend more...
Agreed, if you want an investment you would be better off buying shares (Lloyds do seem good value but this is not a recommendation). As members have pointed out, if you were to buy a watch as an investment you would more than likely never take it out the box to wear and enjoy it. Also, if you did scratch or damage the watch you could lose any profit made.
Any investment can make or lose you money over time relative to any others. This applies to cars, wine, art, watches, bank shares, property.
Putin invades Poland
China nukes Japan
South and North Korea have a punch up
and the Saudis start a war with Yemen.
and if you are lucky a Rolex might buy you a tin of beans.
you will be interested in this web site, it is like pension investment but using watches as the investment currency, some people have added almost a third to their pension pot, very interesting idea
http://www.procentia.co.uk/horologyinvestment/potfolioadditions
Eastsider was correct- cars such as 911's are a good bet but you need to know your stuff-
A 3mt old 911 turbo at 96k is always gonna be financial suicide.......but as Eastsider said- a older 996 turbo
that has done its depreciation is now going up and up.....same with 964's, 993's and now 997
gen 1 turbos......but the boat has already sailed for the air cooled really
What kind of moron pays 50k for an old Porsche?
http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...mmon-problems/
"To get to the point, it has had a lot of "common problems". Every time you turn around, I'm replacing something; water pump, battery, alternator, ignition switch, IMS bearing, engine mounts, numerous oil leaks. Now my check engine light is on again. What's going on?"
Last edited by GrandS; 28th October 2016 at 22:12.
Agreed you need to know your onions or say buy a mates that you know is a decent bet.
I can remember luxury cars the last recession and it didn't matter what it was or how old but you were going to take a bath with them.
For Porsches the ship has sailed though 996C4s cars still can be had for ok money.
I strongly suggest to members of this forum that they become acquainted with the following terms:
Balanced Portfolio
Investment risk mitigation
Over investment into any single category of asset is akin to walking into William Hill and having a punt on something.
It will depend on the market, whenever you wish to sell them.
A good few years ago I was buying and selling longcase clocks. I couldn't buy them quick enough. In some cases they were sold before the purchase money had left my bank. They were going for £2000-£10,000.
Now? They're going for hundreds.
I know a couple of dealers who bought them for an "investment"...............they are still waiting.
K.
Watches would be a poor investment IMHO as in 20 years who can say if there will be the same interest given technology.
I'm happy to have a few but I'm small time compared to most on here.
I'm just buying anther one that I fancy, I hope at bets it will track RPI. If not I won't lose much but I will enjoy ownership.
One this for certain cash is not an investment.
Who knows what will go up and by how much. But if you are patient, you can buy something for a good price and in doing so create a margin for yourself
Eg my friend bought a VW golf some years back for around 6k. Used it for 5 years and obviously spent money in consumables, as appropriate. It was a good car to start with and didn't need things replacing. Sold it for 4.5k I think. Cheap motoring.
Same guy was patient when looking for his house to live in. When one came up for 600k in Richmond in 2006, he bought and has slowly refurbed it. It is probably worth 1.4m+ now.
He could have bought the same car for more and he could have bought a refurbed house for more as well. But exercising patience and buying cheap means he's ahead of where he would be otherwise
You need to factor in the cost of servicing the watches as well; plus if you're keeping that many you'll have to consider a safe deposit in a bank! You wouldnt really wear it as many have said as this would be a "business" per se.
Some Rolex are getting scratch quite fast on the bezel, then very difficult for selling, so if you are being a Rolex as a long term investment: try to not wearing it too much, no diving, exchange the bracelet with a simple one as it will bet scratch too, and replacing it is quite expensive.
I am always telling my wife when I am buying a new watch that it is for "long term investment" I hope she believes me :) (LoL)
My view (well almost everyone) is cash is making nothing and feel various investments, bonds, funds, shares, property, WATCHES all have merit, it works for us. As with all you have to look at a ten year period and generally all will come good.
When I look at what I have purchased over the past 6 years I am pretty sure all have held their own and a number have increased in value during my ownership. No, they have not made a fortune but they have given great enjoyment.
I am confident if you purchased (correctly) a 15 year old+ 14060, 5513 or 16710 now in ten years time you would see a healthy increase.
Pitch
Steel Zenith Daytona, Matt 5513, 1803 on prezzy will all triple or quadruple maybe more in 15 years. As long as they are in good original condition and you can wear them every day without worry.
This is from experience it's not rocket science!
M
Hahah yup, in 2007 I was given some great advice, from a mate who is a director of a big Ford franchise, the new RS Focus was about to be launched, for a few £k deposit he could get me at the front of the delivery list so I would get delivery in the 1st week. Supply would be very limited for months and he said, I would easily find a buyer at list +£3k for it. They were delivered in 2009... just after the world fell over, it cost me £7k near as it made no difference, to get rid of it lol I would have just kept it but it was neon green and not that great a car.
Back to Rolex, if I wanted to invest in Rolex at the normal end of the market, i.e. Not explorer dialled subs etc, I think I would go for gold or bi metal watches, the presidents, Day Dates and DJs etc just because they are out of style at the moment, so chances are they will be the must haves at some point in the future. Maybe add Explorer/2 into that mix also the new Air King if that dies quickly (as it's a bit marmite.)
I just think the Subs GMTs etc are only going to give "inflation" increases.
Most of us will have succumbed to wearable technology by then, no one will care about Rolex watches!
For invest value by an original Apple Watch :)
So let's just suppose someone bought a few Rolex 5513's (God forbid as an investment) because that seems to be a dirty word on here by some!!.But that person thought it a good investment,and wouldn't he have been right too.
So just why do some feel repulsed at the question of a watch as an investment when it's clear to see that history shows some have sold for huge amounts of money.
Certainly no one has a crystal ball to predict where huge amounts of money can be made,be it in shares watches or otherwise.
The question doesn't bother me whatsoever,I bet many on here have watches they will hold onto until that time comes to let it go when they see a nice return on their not "investment".
I invested heavily in chavtimers back in the 90's, sadly I was caught and sentenced by the courts.
I think the issue is that people WANT to view watches as "investments" as an excuse to spend more money than they can realistically afford on whatever they fancy at the time.
So they kid themselves that cleaning out their bank account for a 10k watch is a sound financial move rather than a rash impulse buy.
I doubt what you say tbh,I don't think,in fact I know I couldn't justify spending money I shouldn't on a watch as an investment no matter how I wrap it up to sound good sense.
A person doing that would be foolish,and would have to wait a good while before a possible profit to have him happy again,and if the years in between had him having to feed his family beans on toast,then not a good investment I don't think........not unless his family like beans on toast.
The key is in the question.
One invests money in order to get a return.
If the question had been along the lines of - which Rolex is likely to depreciate least. Or even - which Rolex is most likely to hold it's value or even appreciate a little. In either case I think you'd be right about the motivation of the questioner.
In the modern world a lot of people, many more than you might imagine, want to kid themselves they can own a flashy watch ( or insert your luxury item of choice) and sell said watch at a profit in the future. Sort of like cake and eat it syndrome.
Put another way, do you count your watches are part of your investment portfolio? I know I don't.