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Collectors of wristwatches, like any collectors, are passionate about their hobby. As Peter Machlup, trader in fine watches points out, “most men, and a fair number of women, are wild for good watches. Even if they cannot afford them, they are still able to admire and appreciate them. But those who have been bitten by the bug have a high level of obsession.”
For some it is a symbol of status, a blatant show of wealth, for others it is a fascination with the intricate mechanical workings of timepieces. All of them, though, love the history, the stories behind the big brands and the mystique of a watch’s intricate mechanical workings.
Most of the big, top-end brands are Swiss, and the story of fine watches is largely the story of the Swiss watch industry. Companies like Rolex, Patek Philippe and Jaeger-LeCoultre were born in the chocolate-covered mountains and valleys of Switzerland. An article in Fortune pointed out that “Whatever it does, the Swiss business goes first class.” By 2000, sales of mechanical Swiss watches were up 80% in the US since 1996.
Strangely, though, this was a tale that very nearly stopped ticking in the 1970s when the Japanese swept the world with its highly accurate, mass produced, quartz movement watches. Then, around the late 1980s and early 1990s, an interesting change occurred: bored with soulless Japanese technology, watch lovers started collecting older timepieces. This was virgin territory and the pioneers had to learn what was rare, what was desirable, what would hold its value and what brands and models would fetch the highest prices. They learned about the history of watchmaking, went on the hunt and opened up a vast new territory in which to spend their boom-time dollars and pounds. In the process they helped to revitalise Swiss watchmaking.
The Swiss watch and clock industry appeared in Geneva in the middle of the 16th century. It has its roots in the Protestant movement, when, in 1541, reforms implemented by Jean Calvin banned the wearing of jewels among other pleasures. This forced the goldsmiths and other jewellers to turn into a new, independent craft: watchmaking. By the end of the century, Genevan watches were already reputed for their high quality, and in 1601, watchmakers created the Watchmakers' Guild of Geneva.
A century later Geneva was crowded with watchmakers and many headed for the Jura Mountains. As Peter Machlup explains, in the long cold winters of this area, there was not much entertainment, so hundreds of “little gnomes spent their days in their wooden chalets, finely calibrating, carving and decorating watch parts, helping to create the image of the perfectionism of Swiss watchmaking.”
The following centuries saw hundreds of new inventions and developments. In 1770, for example, Abraham-Louis Perrelet created the "perpetual" watch, the forerunner of the modern self-winding watch. In 1842, Adrien Philippe, one of the founders of the renowned Patek Philippe company, invented pendant winding watches. The nineteenth century also saw the invention and production of complicated watches and the introduction of special features such as the perpetual calendar, the fly-back hand and chronographs.
Mass production of watches began at the turn of the 20th century, but it was just after the First World War when the wristwatch became popular. During the war, when soldiers needed both hands for combat, pocketwatches were found to be a nuisance. The first wristwatches, therefore, were simply pocketwatches with a strap attached. They were not terribly sturdy but over the next decades the mainly Swiss watch companies competed with each other to make watches that were waterproof, resistant to the effects of magnetism (useful for pilots), more accurate and long lasting.
The decline of Swiss watchmaking began when, in 1967, the Centre Electronique Horloger (CEH) in Neuchâtel developed the world first quartz wristwatch, the Beta 21. The technically advanced Japanese took up such technical developments with alacrity and, for about twenty years, accuracy was prized above the craftsmanship of the Swiss watchmakers.
Peter Machlup explains that until as recently as ten years ago, watch collectors only looked for antique watches, as few new fine watches were being made. With the resurgence of Swiss watch market, however, “such magnificent watches being made, there is almost no need to collect old watches, because the new ones are better than the old ones ever were. The ingenuity, the complications, the specialisation, the designs, the execution of the designs, and the marketing have helped make the Swiss watch market what it is today - electric, vital, happening.”
The community of watchmakers, as a result, is a collection of the very old and the very young. For 20 years new watchmakers were not being trained, but since the industry has become “sexy” again, there are hordes of youngsters who would not look out of place on Bill Gates’ campus, working away in the workshops and manufactures of Switzerland. Another sign of the modern flavour of the Swiss watch revival is that there are new wristwatch magazines coming out that track trends in the latest designs and technology and provide welcome publicity for the manufacturers.
Peter attributes the revival partly to watch collectors themselves. They put money back into the industry, which was channelled into research and development, which led to more sophisticated new watches, which in turn are being added to collections. “There will always be demand for old stuff, but collectors cannot ignore the newer watches,” adds Peter.
The most collectable watches are mechanical and serious watch lovers avoid quartz movements like the plague. Mechanical watches are not completely accurate, though, but this is seen as one of their most desirable features. “I think it is because we have become so bored with our high-tech lives,” says Peter, “that we need to take refuge in craftsmanship. It makes these watches live and reminds us that they were created by human hands, not churned out on an anonymous production line.”
Peter points out that many people may have inherited a watch but, unaware of its value, have simply locked it away in a bank vault or left it to gather dust in the back of a drawer. If it is one of the brands that hold their value, he encourages them to find out what it is worth. “You never know – you may be sitting on a sizeable investment.”
He clearly loves the cut and thrust of negotiation as much as he loves the watches themselves. Part of the pleasure is sitting in his stylish offices in the new Melrose Arch complex, sipping espresso, paging through his library of watch-related volumes and listening to him relate the background to each timepiece. It is easy to become more than just a buyer of one watch and to turn into one of the growing community of watch collectors.
Peter speaks about his beloved watches in the same knowledgeable and passionate way that as any collector of fine objets d’art. He also has the ability to inspire the same love in his clients. “Even the most jaded, world-weary customers will find themselves captivated by these beautiful timepieces and the stories behind them.”
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