Credits: Article and images by Colin Alexander Smith @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/11/24/so-you-want-to-invest-in-the-watch-industry/
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Elsewhere in the world
Switzerland is not the only country that makes watches, of course. Japan’s Seiko and Citizen watches are produced by listed companies whose shares are accessible via European and Euronext platforms.
Seiko watches and stopwatches are manufactured by Seiko Group Corporation under the Grand Seiko, Prospex, Astron, Presage, and Seiko 5 Sports brand names, in addition to a range of electronic and other products.
Grand Seiko in particular has become a force to be reckoned with at the higher quality end of the market. Like Swatch, Seiko shares have performed poorly over the last 10 years but have recovered ground since 2020.
The same goes for Citizen Watch Co., which is predominantly a watch company known for its solid dive watches and extremely accurate quartz and atomic-controlled watches, such as the Chronomaster line.
Citizen also owns Bulova, La Joux Perret, Frédérique Constant, and Arnold & Son, and makes the workhorse Miyota quartz and mechanical movements.
Like Swatch Group, Citizen Watch Co. is, as its name suggests, a pure watch play if that is what you are looking for.
In the US, Movado Group (which owns Movado and Ebel) and Fossil (Zodiac) are listed companies, but the bulk of their watch sales derive from cheaper quartz and fashion watches.
Other ways to invest
Bricks-and-mortar watch retailing is booming, as evidenced by the opening of luxurious single-brand stores by the likes of Breitling, IWC, and Tudor and by acquisitions in the sector such as Bucherer (Rolex), and UK-based Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG), which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2019.
Following a strong run after its IPO, the WOSG share price has halved since 2021 but stands to gain from a retail recovery now that inflation is falling, and interest rates have peaked and are expected to start falling in 2024.
As with the above-mentioned conglomerates, an investment in a retailer such as Watches of Switzerland Group would spread your risk across a broad range of leading watch brands, including Rolex.
Caveat investor…
Investing directly in the early stages of a watch manufacturer’s growth offers both potentially large gains, especially if the company goes public one day, and a rewarding degree of involvement with the company’s management and its products.
Investing at the early stage also carries the greatest risk, in that private companies are notoriously illiquid and difficult to value, and you could lose your entire stake if the company folds.
If the next Roger W Smith comes knocking on your door looking for a backer for his latest hand-made manual-wind perpetual calendar, just remember the other golden rule of investing: never invest money that you can’t afford to lose.
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The Unintentional Watch Collector: An Unplanned Watch Collection Spanning Eight Decades
Credits: Article and images by Colin Alexander Smith @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/11/24/so-you-want-to-invest-in-the-watch-industry/