Interviews – Luxury Watches Expert, Timepiece Consultant, Watch Stylist, Meehna Goldsmith

Dr. Bernard Cheong On Collecting Part 4

March 15, 2011 By Meehna Leave a Comment

1. What advice would you give to first timers about to embark on their first purchase?

Decide if this may be your ONE and ONLY purchase for the next 5 years. Budget .

Buy the BEST piece you can afford…and the one that you REALLY want.

Never buy what others want you to buy just to win their “respect”.

Even if the watch is cheap, and of low value…it still reflects accurately how you feel about life and labor (not that life is cheap, but you have other priorities), unless of course that is NOT what [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, IWC, Men's Watches, Richard Mille, Seiko, Women's Watches

Dr. Bernard Cheong on Collecting Part 3

March 11, 2011 By Meehna Leave a Comment

Dr. Bernard Cheong let’s us know if collectors are quirky folk, how he chooses which watch to wear and if you’d trade or sell his watches.

1. Is it true what they say about collectors (i.e. that they’re quirky/obsessed with the items they collect?)

NOT AT ALL. Not in the world of high-end watch collectors. They are among the finest and most discerning of people. As a group, the highest-level collectors are men and women who have a vast history of experience in collecting many subjects and objects BEFORE [Read more...]

Filed Under: Devon Works, Interviews, IWC, Lange & Sohne, MB&F, Men's Watches, Women's Watches

Dr. Bernard Cheong on Collecting Part 2

March 9, 2011 By Meehna 11 Comments

We continue our discussion with Dr. Cheong on his personal approach to horology.

1. To what lengths have you gone to obtain what you want? Anecdotes.

I have to SAVE to buy. By no means am I able to acquire with whim or plain carefree spending.

I compartmentalize my budget VERY strictly for watches. I do not use any money from my expenses for an automobile, house, travel or any part of my family’s other interests.

The most painful thing I had to do, was to give up ENTIRELY on my High End Audio collection and to stop purchasing expensive European two seater sportscars, of which I had quite a few over the last 10 years. In fact, I now have just 3 Toyotas of different configurations for my family. I do admit that I do own and drive a Porsche 911 (most of the time), which I bought new last year, but I am not a typical wealthy guy.

The Audio collection/hobby proved singularly the most expensive. Easily over the price of a brand new Mercedes SL coupe…horrors…and it had no returns upon liquidation.

2. Where or how do you purchase your watches?

I purchase almost ALL my watches from The Hour Glass, Sincere and Cortina. Authorised retail.

Why? To have access to information, good pieces, and so on…it is very important to build deep and broad relations with the major retailers.

3. How is the collection maintained?

Meticulously. In the best way possible. These are works of art to me.

Then again, they MUST be worn and shown to as many people as possible, that is the responsibility of any major collector of art. It is a terrible crime against the spirit of humanity to hide good art and not share it.

Also..the watches must be ENJOYED as if it were a fine wine, to be taken and savored and to have it flow into the veins and the blood. ONLY then, can one feel the emotions of the possession of a work of an artist; that’s why I avoid reviewing or commenting on watches that I don’t own.

I don’t believe in “test drive” analysis of watches, they are not cars and don’t react or perform, but they affect the emotions and the perception of whether one has spent away money, or has utilised it for benefit of the soul.

4. Who else in the family appreciates this?

My wife Dolly knows more, and is probably technically more knowledgeable than I am. She is probably recognized by IWC, Ulysse Nardin, Breguet, Dufour and Vianney Halter as a serious watch connoisseur.

5. Do you collect for the love of the beauty of a piece, or for the investment purposes?

I see my collection today as an active way of archiving important artifacts of human spirit and ingenuity. So…I buy the piece to preserve the labor and the history of the living standards of the time, locked inside them.

This can be seen not always by “beauty”…but by knowledge of how and by whom it was created. And very important, in what year…2008 to 2010 were financial crisis years…the watches bought then show the effect.

I do buy for investment…but as I buy for labor, then these are all naturally very good investments. But for 99% of consumers, this is NOT a reality!

6. What is the strangest item in your collection and why?

The strangest item is the Bulova Accutron watch that is regulated by the sound of an electromagnetic tuning fork. It was in the 60s the most accurate timing device made by man, till the advent of the quartz watch.

The ONLY item that is close to it today, is the Devon Tread 1, which I also bought.

You can see Part 1 here.

Filed Under: Devon Works, Interviews, Men's Watches, Ulysse Nardin, Women's Watches

Dr. Bernard Cheong on Collecting Part 1

March 7, 2011 By Meehna 10 Comments

The esteemed watch collector Dr. Bernard Cheong gave a taped interview in December at a Journey Thru Time 2010 at the Starhill YTL Ritz Carlton. He gives great insight into his approach to what makes a watch collectible as well as meaningful. I’m going to share it with you in four parts. Enjoy!

1. What do you collect? Specifics or notables.

Wristwatches that are made new, over these last 3 years or so. I did however, go into a phase which I acquired quite a few (100 or so) pocket watches and clocks between 1993 and 1999. But that was just a phase of collecting, much more of romantic [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, MB&F, Men's Watches, Richard Mille, Seiko, Women's Watches

Investing in Watches (Part 2 of 2)

October 7, 2010 By Meehna 1 Comment

The second half of an enlightening interview with watch collector and expert Dolly Cheong, who gives her candid views on investing in watches and the difference between value and exclusivity.

MG: What makes a watch a worthy investment?

DC: Capital gains for the simple minded: A complex mix of capital, emotional, and cerebral gains, for the women who look further. But seriously, here’s what to look for:

1. A piece that is hard to make. And even harder to make again!
2. Originality first, and then fine finish and edges second, no need to be handmade.
3. Platinum is good. Gold next.
4. Forget paying extra for diamonds, but if thrown in for free, or at low cost, fine!
5. Look for the place, the relevance that the watch itself has in today’s culture. Not the history of the company. In fact, once the seller or retailer talks about company history, I smell something fishy. Why would we pay more for the fact, if indeed it was a fact, that a queen had the same brand of watch in 1901?

MG: What was the first investment piece you bought?

DC: Lange Arkade in white gold with large date. Bought at US$10,900 in 1998. Today, even with the economy as it is, I guess it can fetch US$15k at worst, or US$20k at best.

MG: That brings up an important and controversial area of discussion. Can luxury watches really be investment pieces?

DC: First, take away the word “luxury.” I think many will find the word mildly offensive. Would people who seriously buy good property want the word luxury added before “property,” or for that matter “art” or “paintings,” as a provocative prefix? Yes, relevant pieces of watchmaking are investments, but only relevant, significant work. And these are usually very expensive, simply because of the dynamic behavior of any economic model. Fundamentally we all know about high capital investments, such as trained watchmakers and extensive R & D to develop new mechanical watches. It may take three to five years to develop a mechanical watch from concept to assembly. If you think about it, the wristwatch really has no practical reason to exist at high costs. However, it does. There is no doubt that it will grow and flourish to even higher costs.

MG: Why do some timepieces hold value and others don’t?

DC: To understand why certain specific timepieces will surely be of value, far and above what they are worth in the market today, one only has to ask questions of history. Certain postage stamps, violins, wines and first print books were made in relatively large numbers. Even art for that matter. Were these more delicate, more easily damaged, recreated and copied, than timepieces? Didn’t they have periods of total neglect, when the educated portion of the public ridiculed, even destroyed them, and viewed them as disposable? Didn’t almost all art, wines, stamps, books, and even automobiles have extreme variations in their form and values? Didn’t the precious, highly prized examples often have common parts of low value, pedestrian components, and were mass-produced at their time of conception? Watches will outperform all of these.

MG: Okay, then what is the difference between a 300K watch and a 30K watch? Are you just paying for exclusivity?

There are vast differences between these two examples. Some brands have their big profit margins with exclusivity, and it is not dishonest. The brand may have earned the right to be exclusive, such as Hermes and Cartier. It is, of course, a very uncertain “value”. On the other hand, some watches are expensive, because they are fundamentally very expensive to make. Does that mean both the 300k and 30k watch have a relatively close cost of production? In today’s environment, absolutely not.

MG: Can you provide some examples of what you mean.

DC: Okay, in some cases, people do pay for exclusivity. Take for example an extremely respected watchmaker making one piece versus a big brand making one piece. The later can always make others or of a different color or treatment, while the individual is a limited resource and may only live to make 10 more watches. Exclusivity can mean a good investment even though it may be of zero value if the work is silly or of no significance. At an auction at Sotheby’s, would anyone pay X dollars for an authentic piece of my physics homework versus would anyone pay X dollars for an authentic piece of Einstein’s physics homework?