When buying an expensive luxury item of any kind, it’s at all times wise to choose a brand that has a powerful history of maintaining its value under any market conditions. Of course, if you ever decide to sell or trade your watch for an additional, you do not want to be stuck accepting a fraction of the value you paid for it.
Likewise, if you’re investing in stocks or are considering selling a watch, you’ll want to be dealing with a watchmaker that has a track record of consistent growth. Unfortunately, most watch brands haven’t any value and instead become less and fewer valuable every year.
In fact, only about 15 existing brands are known to continue to grow in value. With that said, here are some of the factors that allow certain brands to become more valuable while others continue to decline:
Incredible Brand History and Endurance
Most of the luxury watch brands that have held on to their value are at least 100 years old and have thrived through numerous eras of economic uncertainty, war, and other major social disruptions.
So, probably the greatest ways to find out which watch brands have value, is to determine which ones have worked well 50-100 years ago. The long history not only proves the brand’s competence and experience in watch design, but also attracts investors looking to partner with the most successful watchmakers.
While the favorable past does not necessarily guarantee the same for the future, it is hard to imagine the downfall of any particular powerhouse watch brand. During luxury fashion remains an enormous global marketa certain brand should continue to perform as expected.
Country of Origin and Location of Manufacture
Switzerland is heaven for fail-safe watchmaking companies, with just about all of the best luxury watch brands based in the Geneva area. Of course, watches made here are more likely to grow in value than cheap alternatives made in Asia, particularly over the long term.
While smaller brands may experience exponential growth during trend season, in the end their value at all times declines when the next big thing comes along. On the other hand, leading Swiss brands have a formidable track record of increasing corporate value in a sustainable manner.
Steel Watches Have The Best Value
Surprisingly, it’s not the luxury watches made of precious metals and gems that have held the longest value. In contrast, the steel versions of the flagship models tend to value better because there’s a bigger market for them because they’re more popular and affordable.
This is an often disregarded factor — how easy it’s to liquidate or trade. With the online luxury watch market like Chronoexpert making it easier for people to shop, it’s worth investing in watch brands that are top sellers in numerous categories and kinds of materials.
Types of Certification and Movements
Finally, one thing that the most prized luxury watch brands tend to have is the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC) Certification. The best luxury watches are generally given away quartz movement certification versus less reliable automatic or mechanical movements.
This certification primarily serves to verify the quality, sturdiness and accuracy of finished products, thus instilling confidence in consumers and investors.
However, it should be noted that there are various COSC-certified watch brands for which there’s no known increase in value, so this attribute should be considered in light of the points mentioned above rather than as a standalone indicator of the watchmaker’s future growth potential.
