The cachet of owning a luxury watch from a top-tier brand, be it Rolex, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin or anything else, is that it serves as a status symbol. Increasingly, such time pieces have also become a store of value.
A quick look on the internet will tell you that a pre-loved Rolex Daytona Submariner will set you back just £50 short of £50,000 from Mappin & Webb. Some prized one-off pieces are now hitting ten times that value. This is the lucrative pre-owned market place which means business for the jewellers in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen is buoyant.
On average, Rolex watches command a 20.3 per cent secondary market premium, while Patek Philippe watches sell for 39 per cent over retail, and Audemars Piguet models can be resold with a 14 per cent return, according to one investment site.
“Luxury watches, from prestigious brands, have always been an investment and the appetite for these incredible timepieces shows no signs of waning,” says Richard Laing, retail director, at Laings.
Buchanan Street is now home to Laing’s new luxury store. The company is Scotland’s oldest family-run jewellers which, since 1840, has specialised in both watches and hand-crafted jewellery.
The company’s founder, James Laing, provided Clydebuilt ships with timepieces and precision instruments. His sixth-generation grand-daughter, Wendy Laing, and her husband Joe Walsh, the chief executive of Laings, own and run the company as it exists today, and they continue the founder’s love of timepieces.
“At Laings we are proud to showcase the world’s most prestigious brands and have cemented ourselves in the future of luxury watches,” says Laing.
But watch collectors with multiple pieces are now looking at how they can maintain and trade their timepieces.
“We understand the importance of watches as an investment with our watch service centre. Our state-of-the-art centre provides a purpose-built destination for timepiece servicing requirements and is part of the continuing journey of the high-quality timepieces that we are preserving, allowing them to feed the demand of the investment mindset,” he says.
“There is a bright future for high-end watches, as something to enjoy for generations and as something to invest in, and we are delighted to be part of the next chapter.” says Laing.