Luxury watch investment firm found to be in breach of contract

A company founded by Singaporean watch expert Dominic Khoo that runs a luxury timepiece investment scheme has been found by the High Court to have breached its contractual obligations to five investors from Hong Kong.

- Selina Lum

Justice Teh Hwee Hwee ordered the company to fulfil its contractual obligations by repurchasing luxury watches for the $2.5 million it had offered the investors.

The Hong Kong-registered company, named The WatchFund, uses money from investors to buy luxury watches, which are then held by the investors.

Its agreement with the five investors was that the company would repurchase the watches within a year to sell them at a profit to other buyers.

Mr Ben Wong, Dr Edmund Liew, Mr Gary Wong, Mr Wong Nga Kok and finance company MCA had sued The WatchFund and Mr Khoo in 2021 after the company cancelled its offers to repurchase the 15 watches that the investors had paid for.

MCA also sued on behalf of a sixth investor, Ms Yung Choi Ha, and won nominal damages from The WatchFund.

In a written judgment on April 30, the High Court found The WatchFund to be in breach of contract, but it dismissed the plaintiffs' claims for misrepresentation.

The plaintiffs had claimed in their suit that Mr Khoo had said the watches were bought at less than 50 per cent of recommended retail prices, but the value of the pieces was in fact lower than the amount they invested.