Category: Watch Debates

Over the years lots of people have said to me “I don’t understand why you need more than one watch” so I thought perhaps I might take this opportunity to shed some light. You see the first thing wrong with that question is the use of the word “need”.

To be honest, very few of us need one watch these days because almost everyone has a mobile phone with the time on it.

But then this isn’t about ‘need’ is it?

 

Type ‘v’ Taste

Watch collectors seem to fall into two main categories – those who collect by brand or type and those who collect simply from personal taste. Some people will collect only Rolex for instance or only chronographs or purely military watches, whereas others will just collect those watches that ‘speak’ to them. For what my opinion is worth, it seems to me that the latter are those with the most courage of their convictions and confidence – and I can say that as I am one of the former. So, if it’s not about ‘need’, then what is this watch collecting business all about?

 

Pleasure

Well sometimes it’s about the pleasure that comes from choosing which one to wear today. Maybe it’s not your favourite; maybe that must be saved for a more special occasion and today doesn’t fit the bill. Now there’s an exquisite pain.

And that touches on another reason. Sometimes it’s about having just the right watch for just the right job. Lovely though a Patek 5120G is, it’s just not the right thing for an evening in the pub with your mates.

Equally, your stylish and fantastically crafted Sea Dweller just doesn’t sit well with your dinner jacket.

And an evening at the theatre with your wife? Well, that’s three already…

 

So, it’s certainly not about ‘need’ but a collection can have a practical side, not to mention the investment value. But that’s another subject all together…. and our Expert Guide to Investment Watches will help you build a financially sound portfolio, if that’s your desire.

If we’ve inspired you to own more than one watch, visit our collections where you’ll find a range of high end pre-owned luxury brands.

Or if you would like help finding a specific watch, get in touch as we’ll be more than happy to help.

 

Those in the watch loving world often rant on about how brilliant the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak is. That’s ‘Oh duh marr piggay’ – or ‘AP’ for short.

 

“Designed by Gerald Genta in less than 24 hours”, “Changed the face of watchmaking by being the first luxury sports watch”, “The first luxury stainless steel watch”, “Helped to save the watchmaking industry from the quartz revolution”.. blah blah blah.

 

The thing is, I never got it. For me, there was always something wrong with every Royal Oak I ever saw. Too big, too brash, wrong strap, screws the wrong colour, dial too busy…… until.

 

One day, a chap came in to see me with a box full of watches that he wanted to sell (“I have too many…”). One of which was a very plain 39mm, white dialled Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15300. This watch stood out amongst everything else in the box like it had a spotlight on it. It made me realise that I’d been looking at the wrong APs all along.

 

Genta may have designed this watch, but I’ve seen the original sketches, and they look ok but they’re not outstanding. And that’s the thing, this watch is OUTSTANDING. (I’ve added one of the sketches at the top of the page). It was the geniuses at Audemars Piguet who took Gerald’s design and turned it into a piece of impeccably crafted horological beauty. For instance, the way that the much talked about integrated bracelet fits the wrist and flows into the case is sublime.

 

The Details

And speaking of the case, the shape, the multiple bevels, the mix of satin and polish, the octagonal bezel, the white gold screws, all that stuff that people rave about, combine to make this particular Royal Oak one of the most beautiful watches I’ve ever seen.

The standard ‘Jumbo’ Royal Oak is sophisticated enough to wear with a dinner jacket (and it will fit easily under a shirt cuff) and casual enough to wear with jeans and trainers. So, the “First luxury sports watch” moniker was totally deserved.

These days the Royal Oak, and Royal Oak Offshore or ‘ROO’, is available in several sizes, styles and complications and prices can easily run into six figures. For me however, Monsieur Genta and Messieurs Audemars & Piguet nailed it first time back in 1972. A 39mm automatic in stainless steel on a bracelet with either white, black or if you’re very fortunate a blue tapisserie dial, and you have pretty much the perfect gents watch.

 

In Conclusion

There, I’ve said it.

By the way, not many things find their way into my personal watch box, but I’m delighted and incredibly fortunate to be able to say that this one did and it’s not going anywhere.

 

When watch lovers discuss their latest acquisition or perhaps their pride and joy with friends and family, the reaction that they receive sometimes can be one of disbelief. How could they waste such an enormous amount of money on a something to tell the time. In response to the quite understandable reaction – why are watches so expensive? I thought I would share with you my take on this.

 

First of all let’s be clear, what I’m not talking about here is the question of why a luxury watch costs as much as it does? That question has been asked and answered elsewhere many times.

 

What this is about is relative cost and not priority. I’m not making any judgements on priorities or life choices here; I’m merely making financial comparisons.

 

Now that we’ve got that over with, let’s look at some facts.

One of the most popular watches that we sell is the 1990’s – 2000’s Rolex 14060 Submariner at approximately £10,000. So, we will be using that for this comparison. The lifestyle choices that we’re using are wine, cars and holidays. No judgement here, no question of giving up one to fund another. Heaven forbids because I love all of them.

 

Wine
Wine is one that many people don’t think about. If you’re reading this page and you like a glass of wine, then you’re probably spending at least £10 – £15 or so for a bottle of your favourite tipple. We are told that a healthy amount of wine to drink is one glass day, and I’m sure that we drink a bit more at the weekends. Let’s say that an average wine lover drinks two bottles a week at £10. That’s £1042 a year or a little over £3000 in three years…

 

I love a glass of Rioja if anyone’s buying…

 

Cars

Cars are an easy one because the figures are readily available. If we keep our sums modest and say that you spend £40,000 on car, then after one year it’s worth around £30,000 and after three it’s worth around £20,000.

 

The cost of depreciation alone for your car is £20,000 over three years.

 

Holidays
Finally, holidays. If you’re family with 2.2 children and a taste for foreign travel, a comfortable but unexceptional two week summer holiday won’t give you any change from £10,000.

 

Do that once a year for three years and your total bill is £30,000.

 

You come back rested, relaxed and you have some great memories.

 

Luxury Watches

Now let’s look at your watch and try to give a little justification to the question – why are watches so expensive?

 

The initial cost of your Rolex will be on average £10,000 and that will buy you a world class example of a 2002 No-Date Submariner.

 

If you keep your watch for a year and decide to trade it back in, it’s now gone up in value and worth approximately £10,500. So, you have made £500! Now here’s the thing, if you keep it three years, it could continue to go up in value at 5-10% a year. I can’t guarantee that it will, but it often does.

 

Conclusion

In summary, over three years your holidays are costing £30,000, your car is costing £20,000 and you’re spending £3,000 on the odd glass of wine.

 

Suddenly, spending £10,000 on a Rolex which could be worth over £11,000 in three years, doesn’t sound too bad does it? As to convincing a doubting loved one who asks “why are watches so expensive?” Over to you!

 

If you need more advice, read our ‘Expert Guide to Investment Watches’

 

We are proud of our 5-Star Trust Pilot rating, check our many happy customer reviews.

Did you know that Oakleigh Watches was inspired by the strength and integrity of an actual Oak tree in my garden?

 

I often get asked about the name and the logo and I can’t mention either without acknowledging Felix who designed the logo for me at the tender age of 14.

 

Clearly, I love trees and as part of Oakleigh’s commitment to reducing its corporate carbon footprint, we have joined forces with an innovative new initiative called Ecologi and will now be planting 25 trees for every watch that our customers buy. I’m not physically planting them myself, (that might be above and beyond) but through a neat little widget on our website we automatically donate the funds every time a customer buys a watch. Rather wonderfully, every customer will get showcased in our Oakleigh Forest on our Ecologi profile page. You can see the species of tree you’ve helped to fund and where in the world they will be planted.

 

Since the beginning of 2022 we have already raised enough funds to plant over 19,500 trees.

 

A little bit of Ecologi background ….

Ecologi work with a range of tree planting partners who responsibly plant millions of trees a month on their community’s behalf. For the sceptics amongst you, we’ve done our due diligence and 85% of the money that we donate goes towards the planting of trees.

 

The initiative started with a cup of take away coffee when the Co-founder and CEO Elliot Coad asked himself – “how much climate action could I fund with the cost of my daily cup of coffee?”

 

The answer led to a revelation – that the pocket change that billions of us have, would not only be a significant upgrade to our own personal contributions to the crisis, but could also one day account for reducing half of the world’s emissions.

 

Small Change = Big Difference

Trees are the best tool to keeping the world’s temperature from rising above 1.5C and crucial in preventing ecological collapse. I’m personally over the moon at the impact this simple gesture can have towards tackling the climate crisis.

 

Ecologi offer lots of great ways to help save the planet including offsetting your carbon footprint, monthly donations to fund conservation projects and making meaningful gifts. They also encourage businesses and individuals to set sustainability goals and Oakleigh Watches will be using recyclable packaging and offsetting the carbon on all our shipments.

 

Get Involved

Please visit our Ecologi profile page and have a mooch around to see how it all works. Even better, join us on our mission. By using our referral link, Ecologi will plant another 30 trees in the Oakleigh Forest and you’ll be making a sustainable step in the right direction!

 

How it all began ….

I’ve written here before about my entry into the world of luxury watches which was mainly down to my dad and my older brother in the 1980s. When I was a trainee bank manager in the early 1990s, I found myself in a position to buy my very own luxury watch. So it was that I found myself on Saturday morning at Munsey & Co in Cambridge, with the intention of buying a Rolex. I discovered that I couldn’t afford a Submariner or a GMT Master. The £2500 or so that they cost was over my budget, so I remember looking at the Oyster Perpetual and the Datejust. At the time I felt they just lacked a certain something that I was looking for.

 

Obviously, I was disappointed, so I asked what else they had and was shown the Cartier Santos that you see in these pictures. I bought the watch and wore it every day for over 10 years, regularly having it serviced and the battery replaced. In the early 2000’s I fancied a change so bought a Cartier Pasha and sold the Santos to a good friend.

 

31 years later ….

Over the years, watches became an increasingly important part of my life. When Oakleigh began in 2013, I started mentioning to my friend that I would like to buy the Cartier back if he ever wanted to sell.

 

He held out for a long while and having owned the watch for over 20 years he approached me recently and said that he was ready to part with it. Of course, I jumped at the chance to buy my old Santos back.

 

I’ll be honest, it’s had a tough 20 years and is in serious need of some TLC.

 

I was however delighted to see that it is still absolutely complete in every way. All of the boxes, manuals, papers, wallets, everything. It even has six lots of service documents from over the years, all of which are in my name.

 

Serendipity

I bought the Cartier back on the 13th of July 2022. It wasn’t until I got home with the watch that another friend pointed out that the Saturday morning when I had visited Cambridge to buy my watch was the 13th of July 1991 – exactly 31 years to the day previously!

 

I do believe to some extent in serendipity and even if I didn’t, I would have to admit, that’s a hell of a coincidence.

 

My Cartier went straight into the Michlmayr workshops for a full service, a good clean and refurbishment and to source a replacement clasp for the bracelet. A month later it was back with me and as you can see from the photos, looking rather better.

 

I may rarely, if ever, wear it but this watch is special to me and the Massingham family won’t be parting with it anytime soon…

If you ask anybody who knows me and my taste in watches, they will tell you that I don’t like Breitling. Never have, never could, never will. Despite the fact it was a Breitling Navitimer that got me started in the watch trading business.

 

And now, my dislike is technically no longer really true.

 

It might be because my tastes have changed over the years but I suspect it’s more likely that I completely overreacted to some of the first ones I saw – that I thought were oversized, blingy monstrosities – and closed my mind to the brand from that point on.

 

Suffice to say, my mind is now open to new Breitling possibilities.

 

My irrational prejudice is particularly odd when you think that the watch that gave me the courage to start Oakleigh Watches in the first place was a 1975 Breitling Navitimer and it was exquisite.

 

It was a one owner, untouched Full Set that even had the little paper tag with its string attached – I didn’t buy it because it was something I was looking for, I bought it because it was too beautiful to leave in the shop. Just looking back at these photos now makes me realise that it was an experience that probably should’ve taught me something.

 

However, for years, when I thought of the word “Breitling” this is still what I pictured:

 

I’ve come to realise that it’s not the fact that it’s a Breitling that I don’t like about this watch is the fact that it’s huge, bi-metal and covered in diamonds. If you took a Rolex Deep Sea Sea Dweller, made it bi-metal and covered it in diamonds I wouldn’t like that either.

 

Let’s just say that over the last few months I’ve been re-educated by some of the Breitling watches that we’ve been offered and have bought and sold.

 

This Breitling Navitimer Montbrillant is a delicate and incredibly well engineered aviation tool and the detailing on the dial is superb – another one owner full set, it was also great value.

 

A couple of years ago we took this Breitling Colt Skyracer in as part exchange from a good customer and friend of Oakleigh Watches. I was sniffy about it at the time but to be honest, it was a cracking watch – well designed, incredibly lightweight and superb value for money. That was possibly the beginning of my slow enlightenment.

 

The journey was completed this week when I bought a nearly new Breitling SuperOcean Outerknown for stock and was smitten. This is a superb looking thing with styling and build quality to match any Tudor and a definite hint of JLC Master Compressor about it.

 

When I think that it’s as new and sub £3,000, it’s an easy decision.

 

In closing I would like to offer a formal retraction of my numerous previous slanders and an apology to Breitling lovers the world over.

 

Just please don’t offer me an iced out bi-metal Chronomat Evolution – there are limits

One of the questions that I’m often asked as a member of the luxury watch trading fraternity, normally by the ‘bloke down the pub’ is this: “So then, what’s the best watch in the world? “

 

My answer on these occasions is usually circumspect, but today I’m going to answer it properly.

 

The best watch in the world is a Casio G-Shock

Now this may not be the only use of the word “shock” appropriate to this article so to explain my reasoning I thought I would list a few characteristics of watch excellence and compare the G-Shock with some traditional luxury models.

 

So here we go:

 

1. Timekeeping – Accuracy is clearly vital in this business and the Swiss watchmaking industry is monitored by the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres – COSC for short. To earn the COSC seal of approval for chronometers, all mechanical Swiss watches are accurate to between -4 and +6 seconds per day. Rolex has recently cocked a snook at COSC and publicly announced their own ‘Rolex Superlative Chronometer’ standard which is -2 to +2 seconds per day.

 

With that kind of stringent standard, surely the current Rolex 116610 Submariner must be The Best Watch in The World for accuracy? Well, an average G-Shock is accurate to around 1 second a MONTH, so …

 

2. Validation and history – When looking for the best watch in the world, we want our choice to be credible and interesting with a great back story. A watch with real history worn by people whose decisions we trust.

 

One watch springs to mind – the Omega Moonwatch. IT WENT TO THE MOON (probably). It has the best watch story EVER and was chosen by men with exacting standards for whom timekeeping was vital and literally meant the difference between life and death.

 

However, that that was 1969 and over half a century ago. So, what do astronauts wear now? Yup G-Shocks. They are also issued to the US police force and soldiers including British and US Special Forces. Delta Force wore G-Shock watches during the ‘Blackhawk Down’ events in Mogadishu as did ‘Andy McNab’ and ‘American Sniper’ Chris Kyle. If you’re looking for validation of a watch being ‘fit for purpose’, look no further.

 

3. Robustness – If you’re going to spend a lot of money on a watch you don’t want it to be fragile and fall apart at the first encounter with a door handle (Ouch!).

 

Nobody understands this more than The Bremont Watch Company whose MB range of watches are developed alongside the Martin Baker ejector seat company.

 

To ensure that their watches are tough enough to withstand the rigours of fast jet flight, Bremont strap their watches to a mannequin in a rig which in a period of a few hours simulates the equivalent of around 20 years in an aircraft cockpit. They then subject them to repeated simulated aircraft crashes and ejections to ensure that they really are “Tested Beyond Endurance”.

 

The thing is that a mechanical watch can never be as durable as a quartz watch because of the way that their movements work. To test its durability, French diver and G-Shock fan Jean Michel did the following to his Casio DW-9052 GH-Shock:

 

• Immersed it in continually boiling water for ten minutes.
• In the course of an hour, he froze it to -40ºC and then heated it to +70ºC and he then repeated this another four times.
• Put it in a vacuum chamber for 24 hours.
• Pressurised it to +2 Bar.
• Cryogenically froze it to -65ºC.
• Ran it through a full washing machine boil wash.
• Took it diving to -40 metres.
• Finally, he drove over it in his Range Rover

 

 

You can see a photo of Jean Michel’s G-Shock above and …. it still works perfectly!

 

4. Value for money – As I’ve said on this website before, while costly, I believe that a well-chosen Swiss made luxury watch can represent excellent value for money. Read our article on Why are watches are so Expensive? (http://www.oakleighwatches.co.uk/arent-watches-expensive/).

 

Alongside all the usual suspects such as Rolex, Omega, Panerai, etc., Tudor is making some quite superb watches that are really well priced. The Black Bay is particularly good, and at £3,500 retail represents exceptional value for money. I really can’t recommend them highly enough.

 

BUT – you can buy a great G-Shock on Amazon from about £70.

 

I rest my case M’Lud – The Best Watch in The World is the Casio G-Shock.

 

But hold on a minute – Do you actually want the best watch in the world? Or do your desires lead you elsewhere?

 

Fortunately, very few of our lives, or schedules for that matter, would be seriously affected if our watch lost or gained four or five seconds a day. Very few of us get ejected from fighter jets, frozen in polar ice caps or scorched in Death Valley and if you’ve read this far you already know that buying a luxury watch has everything to do with desire and nothing to do with value for money.

 

The decision of which watch you buy, or wear should come down to your personal preference and your tastes as much as it does to anything else. This is all about ‘desire’ and ‘want’, not ‘need’ or ‘best’.

 

What do I wear? Well-being in the business that I’m in I’m fortunate to have a choice of a lot of lovely things, but unless I’m running Tough Mudder or climbing a mountain it’s definitely not going to be ‘The Best Watch in The World’ – it’s going to be something that makes me smile with pleasure every time I look at my wrist.

 

MUCH more important than ‘Good, Better, Best’….

If you’re reading this then you probably agree with my assertion that a special watch can become a very important part of a person’s life.

 

In fact, Patek Philippe’s ‘Generations’ adverts tell us that “You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation”. I’ve recently discovered that passing a watch between generations is not only a very special experience but that it can work in both directions.

 

While posted to Germany with the RAF in 1962, my father bought a rather lovely gold Omega dress watch. Sixty odd years ago such watches were worn on a daily basis and that’s what my dad did throughout my childhood so it’s fair to say that it was a familiar sight and I got to know it pretty well.

 

While walking on the beach one day in the late 1980’s, dad felt momentary confusion when the seconds hand of his watch snagged on the fabric of his shorts – he knew that something was wrong with this scenario but couldn’t immediately figure out what it was …. When he looked down, he realised that the bezel and plexi had both fallen off his watch and into the sand never to be seen again, exposing the hands to the elements, and to his shorts.

 

A quick discussion with the local Omega AD confirmed that the watch was beyond economical repair and the insurance company quickly replaced it with a horrible champagne dialled quartz monstrosity (It was the ‘80s after all).

 

Fast forward 25 years and this all came up in conversation over lunch one Sunday. Dad said that he had his old watch in a drawer somewhere and I asked if I could have it. I was delighted when he said that of course I could and went to find it.

 

I sat there remembering the beautiful round gold case, the white dial with its delicate gold hands and markers and the black leather strap.

 

I was very excited by the time he came back to the table but when he opened his hand, he revealed something that looked less like it belonged at a garden party and more like it had been dug up in a garden.

 

Of course, the lack of the bezel and plexi had left the dial and hands exposed to the damp air for the previous twenty odd years and this had wrought havoc. Everything was mottled and corroded and looked a real mess – ‘patina’ wasn’t the word.

 

When I looked at the case, I could see that it wasn’t solid gold (not a surprise as my parents were never wealthy) but gold plated, and the plating had worn through on many of the edges, revealing the base metal underneath. He did wear the watch daily for over 25 years after all.

 

The lovely black Omega strap and matching gold-plated buckle were also lost forever leaving just the case, movement, dial, and hands, all of which were in a real mess. However, this watch was a member of the family and being a confirmed ‘watch guy’, I had no choice but to rescue it.

 

I called on many contacts, each of whom set about tackling a different part of the challenge as they replated the case, made a new bezel from 18ct gold, restored the dial and hands, serviced the movement, and fitted a new plexi.

 

When it came back, I treated it to a new leather Omega strap with period Omega gold plated buckle and put it in the correct Omega box.

 

Of course, all of this work took many months, destroyed the originality of the watch and cost far more than it was worth to anyone but my family, but it was worth every penny.

 

Initially it had been my intention to keep the watch as my dress watch but as soon as I saw it all together, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to hold on to it and that it had to go to someone who would appreciate it properly. It was close to Christmas and so I wrapped it all up in festive paper and put it under the tree.

 

When he opened his surprise present on Christmas Day, there were real tears in dad’s eyes as he told me that it was like “meeting a very old friend who hadn’t changed a bit in all of these years”.

 

Nowadays he still wears his old Omega for special occasions, and I know that one day it will come to me and then to my son – not for a long while yet though. This is a piece of family history that will pass from generation to generation and will take a little bit of my dad with it wherever it goes – a very special watch that has become a very important part of our lives.