A Culture Unto Itself

Many factors influence the desirability of luxury timepieces, and current trends tug firmly at a culture for collecting them. But for better or worse?

- Evigan Xiao

Few Hobbies Have Eccentricities that match those of watch collecting. Passionate enthusiasts often go to extreme lengths to acquire specific timepieces. The hobby is a resource-intensive one. Collections may be measured either by the time it took to gather them, their combined monetary cost, or sheer rarity. Intrinsic value, it seems, is inextricably tied to desirability.

Steeped In Luxury

Watches and social status have a shared history that goes back to 1510 when the first pocket watch was made. The skill required to miniaturise a time-keeping movement meant that only the wealthy could afford to benefit from this expertise. The use of rare metals such as gold and platinum in the casework further elevated the status of the pocket watch to a luxury item. As such, pocket watches were often indicative of a family in good standing and treated as heirlooms, passed on from father to son.

The addition of rare metals and jewels in watchmaking, along with refinements in the craft, gave rise to a more grandiose image for the pocket watch. In what is perhaps horology’s most recognised example of a celebrity endorsement, Queen Marie Antoinette commissioned Abraham-Louis Brequet to make an automatic-winding pocket watch in 1782, one which contained all known complications at the time. While it wasn’t uncommon for the social elite to commission reputed watchmakers, it is interesting how this particular example resulted in what is now known as “hype”.