Well, that would be sick. Honestly, Gemma and Lena, my two daughters were like, “This is great, but we want one in pink and purple.” So I’m thinking maybe an Easter palette next. Shane is eager to do another one.
Do you have any more hobbies you could draw on?
Golfing for sure. Drumming—that really hasn’t been exploited in the watch,
Like if the registers look like—
Cymbals.
Exactly. And then the hands look like little drumsticks.
That’s great. I hadn’t really thought about it. You get credit for that inspiration.
Wow, I didn’t know you were a drummer. That’s so cool.
Funnily enough, there are a lot of drummers that are into watches. I think there’s something about all of my hobbies where you have to be a gearhead. Golfing is all about the clubs, the putters, the shafts, and the specs. Drumming, as well, is like: What kit are you using? What cymbals? What sticks do you play with?
Before you go, I want to ask you some general watch questions: When it comes to vintage dealing, what do you see as the biggest trend this year?
I think it’s condition, condition, condition.
I feel you’ve been banging this drum—pun intended—for years.
Yeah, collectors are getting much smarter about these things. It’s much harder to sell average or subpar vintage watches at high prices.
I feel like there’s a return to some of the old basics. The Submariner was very hard to sell last year for whatever reason, and now they’re very strong. Not where they were, say, seven years ago, but much stronger certainly than the last couple years. Universal Geneve has gone absolutely crazy. It’s hard to keep any in stock. Honestly, that was not something I would have anticipated 12 to 18 months ago. They were more difficult to sell in 2023 than in 2024. Vintage Heuer has gotten much stronger this year, too.
And then, obviously, vintage Cartier remains incredibly strong and the scholarship continues to deepen. Vintage Piaget is one of those things where everyone says it’s strong, but it doesn’t really sell that fast. Everyone likes the concept, but very few people are willing to actually pay for it.
They’re not very cheap.
They’re not cheap. But even stuff that’s $10,000 to $15,000 is very hard to sell, even when the gold weight’s like $8,000 or whatever.
I didn’t realize that Subs were soft—I would never think any of the Rolex icons would ever be difficult to move.
I think it’s because people saw it as kind of basic and not aspirational—what a guy would buy with his first Wall Street bonus check.
Last thing I want to ask:, What are your favorite watches you’ve sold this year?
I got Darth Vader’s Cartier Tank [a gift to David Prowse, the actor who physically played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy]. So that was really cool, and there’s a photo of him wearing it back in 1983. Nick Gould found it on Getty Images.
He’s everywhere.
I had a full set Rolex Paul Newman Daytona. That was really nice. It was one of the first Paul Newman Daytonas I ever sold. The collector came back to me, he made a handsome profit. I got it from the original owner who bought it in Miami at the Rolex retailer in 1971. Paul Newman Daytonas are still very strong. There’s a whole category of people who want them, and they’re very special watches.
I’ve had two of the “Dorè” dial [Patek Philippe] 3941 and they’re just beautiful watches. They have these gilt champagne gold dials with a little bit of a pinkish tone. They were the first two I’ve had in seven years of Wind Vintage. So they’re very hard to find, and I think kind of undervalued given their rarity.
See all of our newsletters, including Box + Papers, here.
Read the full article here
