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| Passion Investments: Watches |
Minute Precision
Tatiana Serafin
11/01/2004
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Michel Parmigiani, a diminutive man of 54 who likes to dress in arty black,
speaks French in hushed tones—until the subject turns to his passion: the watch
industry. The watchmaker has been in the business since the 1970s, but has been
creating custom watches and limited editions for only eight years, developing a
select following of clients, all of whom he knows by name, including Bill Gates
and Giorgio Armani.
 | | THE BUGATTI Type 370, which retails for $200,000, was commissioned by the car
company. It took four years to design and make. |
“Parmigiani is considered the Breguet of the 21st
century,” says Gene Stern, the owner of Swiss Fine Timing/Atelier Jewellers in
Highland Park, Ill. He sports a Parmigiani Chrono, one of a limited line with a
stopwatch function. Comparisons to the 18th-century Abraham-Louis Breguet,
considered the father of modern watchmaking, make the low-key Parmigiani smile.
But his voice soon rises as he spews forth a fusillade of complaints about
how much the industry lost when quartz watches became popular. “I try to reach a
timeless style. My influence is the ancient timepieces,” he says.
Parmigiani
has based his operations in what was once the watchmaking haven of Switzerland,
the town of Fleurier in the Neuchâtel canton. Whenever possible, he personally
delivers the watch to his client, and each year he visits retailers around the
globe to meet with customers. Sadly, he might have to gradually reign in his
face-to-face encounters because of plans to expand his annual production from
2,000 watches to 5,000 (though that is still a fraction of the 900,000 units a
year produced by Rolex or the 35,000 that Patek Philippe creates each year).
VALUE JUDGMENT
Michel Parmigiani’s meticulously designed and crafted timepieces are inspiring
collectors and attracting ever- higher valuations at auction. Their limited numbers and attention to detail increase their cachet, which may translate into
strong investment performance over the coming years. |
When it comes to the investment value of his watches, which are currently
available for very reasonable prices, Brandon Thomas, a director and watch
expert at the leading secondary watch auctioneer, Antiquorum, thinks the
increase in availability will help support and boost valuations of existing
watches. “He’s still finding his feet,” Thomas says of Parmigiani. “As soon
as more people become familiar with the name, the price will go up.”
Antiquorum has auctioned a dozen or so Parmigiani watches. The Parmigiani
Toric anniversary model, which the watchmaker issued to celebrate his 50th
birthday in 2000, sold at Antiquorum this year for only $7,500; estimates had
ranged from $7,000 up to $9,000. More frenzied bidding has been seen during the
sales of rarer pieces. In April in Geneva, a one-off piece made for Antiquorum’s
30th anniversary, the Perpetual Calendar Toric model, sold for $100,806, well
above original estimates of $56,500 to $72,500. “There was no previous market
example to go from,” Thomas explains of the discrepancy between the estimate and
the hammer price.
Christie’s has auctioned one Parmigiani watch in New York
and four in Hong Kong, and they have generally sold in the midrange of their
estimates. Retailers say Parmigiani’s limited editions and bespoke pieces are
the ones that offer the most solid long-term rewards. “When Parmigiani does
crazy unique pieces, it helps the sale of base goods,” Stern says.
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