Luxury Watch Categories – Narrowing Your Choices

Rolex, Breitling, Audemars Piquet, Cartier, Omega… they’re all names synonymous with prestige and value. The watches hold their value, have a hugely loyal fan base and there’s a buoyant second hand market. If you’re considering entering the luxury watch market, it helps to know what you’re looking for, what styles are available, which are the best names to go for, and how to guard yourself against fakes or copies. Like most other things in life, luxury high end watches can be broadly categorised, and getting familiar with the various categories can give you a starting point that will narrow down your search.

 

Vintage watches 

Whether you’re talking about items of clothing or home decor, the word ‘vintage’ has a certain buzz about it these days. The wonderful world of luxury watches is no different, with certain vintage series being highly sought after and commanding high prices. Many used Rolex watches, such as an early Submariner for instance, have a special place in history and thus are more desirable than any old watch. COMEX, the French diving company issued Submariner models along with Sea Dweller models to their saturation divers in the late ‘60s.

Heirloom watches 

Value can be measured in far more than hard cash, although that’s always a consideration in any market where the commodity has a naturally high value. Watches that could conceivable fall into the heirloom category are the BreitlingNavitimer or The Master Memovox made by Jaeger LeCoultre. They’re watches you’ll buy when you’ve got one eye on the future as well as one on today’s value and appeal. It’s not just about prestige, although there’s a fair amount of that amongst watch aficionados. These are the watches that get handed down from one generation to the next, treasured by everyone who owns them.

Classic watches 

Watches like the Cartier Tank, the Rolex Daytona or the Jaeger LeCoultreReverso can be considered classics. They look as good in wear today as they did thirty odd years ago, and will continue to look great well into the future.

Fashion watches

Don’t assume that just because a watch falls into the luxury category that it can’t be considered a fashion item. Also don’t assume that just because a watch is a fashion item it must be a cheap throwaway that will have no lasting value or appeal. Neither is true. Rolex, for instance, produce watches that never go out of fashion. Regardless of changing styles and preferences for different metals or internal complications, the very fact of the Rolex name and quality engineering means their watches are both fashionable and investment items. Diver’s watches, for instance, are often bought by people who never go near the sea and certainly don’t need a watch that’s watertight to several hundred metres. The people who buy these love the functions, the dials, the technology and engineering genius that goes into making them. They are, in short, expensive fashion statements and there’s nothing wrong with that.

So there you have it: four luxury watch categories. Decide why you want one, under which circumstances you intend wearing it (business, leisure or everyday, for instance), then choose your styling preference. It’ll help narrow your choices down and make the final selection much easier.