A young Belgian student, Mr. Mathieu Bogaert who is graduating from the MSc in International Luxury Marketing at Oxford Brookes Business School, interviewed Andrea Foffi about the world of Vintage. We publish the first part of this very interesting interview:1. When can a watch be defined as a vintage watch?
When it’s out of production /from 1940 to 1980 and some of discontinued model from early 90s
2. What is the difference between the pre-owned/secondary and the vintage watch market?
The pre-owned/secondary market is regarding watches in production (and recent discontinued model) You can buy new from secondary/grey market (foreign warranty) or used but in good condition. This markets are mainly for popular models
3. What, in your opinion, were the most influential factors behind the vintage watch market boom?
The very high price with Big Auction (rarity, reperibility and preserved condition)
4. What is your opinion on the influence of the internet on the vintage watch market? The increase of knowledge that is shared, and making the watch world more accessible for everyone etc.
Surely the Internet has expanded the audience of fans and has improved knowledge of the subject. One thing to point out is that young people who are highly advantaged and Internet savvy are having the opportunity to experience a world they wouldn't even have come close to before. So the advent of the internet for the Vintage watch market is certainly positive.
5. Patek Philippe and Rolex are the most desirable brands in terms of collecting, what made their status so great?
They have been always invested on quality and innovative design, most of their models have been choosen and worn by popular fellows in the past and present. Most popular Rolex for sports and iconic models and Patek for classic chronograph and complications featured)
They are both 2 historical brands that have always made high quality models and have managed to maintain a standard of quality and exclusivity.
6. What do you think is the biggest change in watch collecting that has happened over the last 10-15 years?
Online information and social which made very easy to exchange photos, information etc.. due to increase of prices most of people look forward to investing in watches market
7. What is your opinion on people starting to collect watches from an investment standpoint instead of collecting because of genuine interest and passion? Does this have an influence on today’s market? if so, negative or positive?
The approach that I think is the best is to approach this world if you really have a passion; there is no doubt that the large amount of money that goes around the world of the watches has generally attracted many investors and speculators. The world of Vintage watches is my job but above all my passion. From my point of view I see positively the approach of investors to this world but I will continue to buy the objects that excite me ... if I often make a good investment then I can only be happy.
8. Looking back at the past two decades, can you describe the different trends (what was more sought after/bought during a certain period of time) the vintage watch world has seen? And what is the upcoming trend you expect to see?
The past trend was the quality of the watch. The first thing for a Vintage Watch is the quality and everything must be original. Now the trend is for special and limited edition so a lot of Brands are creating new models but in limited edition. In the recent past, quality and rarity of pieces have made the market and the trend was to add a lot of pieces in a collection) Today the market is strongly pushed on from dealers and auction houses, today a single piece can go easily higher then hundreds thousand euro .
9. If you had one piece of advice you could offer to (young) new collectors, what would it be?
Choose less known Brands and choose only high quality models.( Omega is an excellent brand, a used s/s Speedmaster as entry watch at 4000 euro is an excellent purchase and investment.
