The document provides tips for building a watch collection from a Christie's watch specialist. It recommends that collectors choose watches they genuinely like and will enjoy living with for a long time rather than focusing only on financial investment. The specialist also advises considering a watch's aesthetics, complications, rarity, condition, and provenance when selecting pieces to build a collection. Condition is particularly important, as the market highly values watches that are close to their original, unpolished state.

1. 32
Building
a Watch
collection:
Tips from
a Specialist
A comprehensive guide on
collecting watches from
a Capital Club member,
Christie’s Watch Specialist
based in Dubai
We asked Remy Julia, Watch Specialist
for Christie’s and Head of Watches Middle
East – India – Africa, to give us some
advice on what to look for when you start
taking your watches seriously.
The following will speak mostly to you
when you realise that you do not wear the
same watch every single day anymore, but
surely you enjoy the meaning behind pull-
ing this watch for that particular occasion.
Your taste and knowledge has evolved with
time through your research.
Whatever the case, your mind is made
up: you are going for a vintage wristwatch
sooner or later, or at least a discontinued
watch. In order to assist you in making the
right choice, our watch department not
only has a few tips for you, but also provides
advisory services throughout the year and
is the perfect place to pursue a collection.
AESTHETICS
First and foremost, the basic rule of watch
collecting holds true for any timepiece:
pocket or wrist; modern or vintage; rea-
sonably priced or high-end. You must at
least like, although it would be recom-
mended to fall in love with, the watch
you are about to buy. It is very true that
there may be profit to be made within the
watch-collecting industry but, that might
be neither a possibility in the short or long
term. As a private collector, rather than a
dealer, you should operate with the idea
of living with your timepiece for a very
FEATURE . WATCHES
long time, leaving the financial notions of
return on investment in the background.
Not that you should be blind to market
values, as knowing the market price is
very important when making a purchase,
but one should keep in mind that the right
timepiece in the right condition may only
be available on rare occasions.
COMPLICATIONS
When considering adding a watch to your
collection, you should also think of what
you need in terms of usability versus your
existing portfolio. Is it going to be a watch
you use only for important events (your
‘Sunday’ watch) or do you need a faithful
daily companion? Do you want a simple,
clean, easy-to-read dial or do you want
something with a bit more of a kick? In
the end, the answer to these questions will
tell you how complicated a piece you want.
The budget is a topic only you can answer.
A complication is by definition any
additional feature of a watch beyond hour
and minute hands. Watchmakers have
developed a nearly endless array of com-
plications over the years, from the simple
power reserve indication to complex cal-
endar, chronographic or even sidereal
functions. A good starting point for a
vintage watch collector would be either
a clean time-only piece or one of the two
most classic complications: a chronograph
or a calendar.

2. 33
FEATURE . WATCHES
The chronograph is the quintessen-
tial complication (after all, it allows us to
measure time on demand and has proven
to be a quite useful tool in the history of
mankind); furthermore the necessity for
chronographic scales prompted the crea-
tion of some of the most charismatic dials
ever designed, especially during the 1930s
and 40s.
Calendars, on the other hand, are
among the most useful complications. If
you are veering toward a calendar time-
piece, keep in mind there are different
‘tiers’ of calendar wristwatches: from the
simple ‘date only’ to the almighty per-
petual calendar, which takes into account
the leap year cycle and has to be manually
adjusted only once every 100 years.
RARE VARIATIONS
When it comes to vintage watch collecting;
a paramount factor is the rarity of a watch.
Some models are intrinsically rare, made
in as little as a few dozen pieces overall and
thendiscontinuedforsomereasonorother.
Other models have been indeed realised
in higher numbers, but certain examples
within the series present variations such
as a different case material or an unusual
dial layout, or an important retailer’s sig-
nature—such as Tiffany (United States),
Cartier (France), Hermes (France), Beyer
(Switzerland), Astrua (Italy) and Serpico y
Laino (Venezuela) among others. Auction
results of these double-signature dials are
fetching much more than regular exam-
ples. Some other watches were ordered
directly by head of state or government for
gifts, supplying their army or police. You
can find various examples in the market,
almost present in each and every auction.
Among the most notorious ones from our
region and appreciated by collectors from
all over the world are dials made for the
United Arab Emirates, Oman and Iraq,
with variations per country such as coat of
arms, airforce, army or ministry of defence
logo to name but a few.
Finally a colour shifted, so called
‘tropical’ dial often due to a combination
of factors: quality of coating and storage
conditions results in a colour change of
the dial, making the watch desirable.
For many collectors, part of the appeal
of vintage watches is the possibility of find-
ing such variations. While sometimes these
unusual pieces command a premium, this
is not always the rule and it is possible to
acquire nearly unique wristwatches at vir-
tually any price point.
CONDITION
Condition has always been a highly rel-
evant factor within watch collecting,
but recently it has seen a steep increase
in importance. The result at auction of
over-polished watches versus mint and
untouched examples varies sometimes
from 20-30 per cent to double the amount
and more.
You want to make sure that the vin-
tage piece you are about to call yours is as
close as possible to the original condition.
Many manufacturers provide access to
their archives: if provided with the watch
serial numbers (case number and move-
ment number) along with crisp pictures
of the watch, they will be able to tell you
at least the year of production and some-
times additional details such as the dial
configuration, the case metal and other
information. Of course, the watch should
match the information present on the
archives to make it legit from a collector’s
perspective. It is also highly desirable that
no parts (such as the crown, or the chron-
ograph pushers) have been exchanged
during a service over the years. You often
see the case of vintage Rolex Daytona with
service pushers simply because these were
automatically changed by the brand at the
time of service. The dial has to be well pre-
served and unrestored.
Ideally, collectors look for ‘new old
stock’ pieces: watches that have been
bought and immediately put in a safe to be
taken out just before being sold. Obviously
such items are as rare as the usually high
premium they demand.
PROVENANCE
A further layer of appeal can be given to
a vintage watch by its provenance. Fresh-
to-the-market and original owner pieces
are watches which have, respectively,
never been publicly sold. Or even better
are offered by the original owner who first
purchased them from a retailer. Also, the
presence of the original box and warranty
is held in high regard for vintage watches
as these items provide, on the one hand,
an additional layer of historical appeal and
originality, and, on the other hand, boost
the rarity of the piece: box and papers
were usually promptly discarded and
vintage watches which arrive to us still
bearing their original sale kit are a very
small fraction of the overall availability of
the market. Finally, if a watch was owned
by a remarkable individual—such as pol-
itician, explorer, artist or celebrity—it
will be much more interesting to the eyes
of collectors.
My day-to-day at Christie’s is to be
constantly close to the market offerings
and the ever evolving taste of collectors.
We organise two auctions per year in
Dubai, opening the season respectively
in March and October. I generally travel
one complete week to each international
auction in Geneva, Hong Kong and New
York in order to inspect watches in-depth
and advice clients from our region on
what has caught their eye, looking for
advisory in term of where to place their
interest or ‘bid’. The rest of the year, my
agenda is filled with advising all kind of
watch enthusiasts, young collectors and
established private collectors looking for
assistance in the curation of their collec-
tion, sometimes reshaping their portfolio
of watches to match their ever evolving
tastes. We are open to all and remember
that it is our duty to give a true point of
view on the market of fine watchmaking.
Remy Julia is
Watch Specialist
for Christie’s and
Head of Watches
Middle East –
India – Africa
The market only
values watches
close to their
original condition.
Polishing as an
exAmple changes
the proportions of
the case reducing
value among
collectors.