Bonhams Guide: How to Buy Luxury Watches at Auction

Buying watches at auction can often give you access to rare, vintage, one-of-a-kind pieces that you may not be easily able to find elsewhere. Buying at auction offers a number of benefits including expert authentication and vetting. It also offers access to a wide selection of watches from a number of brands, often from around the world via online auctions.

If you’re looking to start your own collection or you have a collection you’re looking to sell, auctions could be a great place to start.

We spoke to Sarah Fergusson, Senior Specialist for Watches at Bonhams in Edinburgh to hear about her exciting career. We found out more about the watch market in the UK and asked her advice for our watch enthusiasts.

Can you explain a bit about Bonhams and your role there?

I’ve been with Bonhams for two and a half years but I have over fifteen years' experience in the auction industry. I started as a jewellery specialist and I am part qualified in gemmology too. In my first professional role I looked after jewellery, watches and coins auctions. Within a couple of years I realised that my passion lay with watches, rather than jewellery. This was partly because I was seeing some wonderful pieces come through. In my second job, and my current one, I only work with watches and I love everything about them.

I cover Scotland for Bonhams. Day-to-day I value watches, catalogue them and pass them to my London colleagues to be sold there in our dedicated specialist sales. Watches are a big part of my life outside of work too, they are my passion. I’m an occasional co-host on the Scottish Watches podcast, the number one watches podcast internationally. I'm also a member of RedBar, the watch collectors' group that boasts chapters all over the world and write for Oracle Time magazine. Instagram is a great place for watches too and I’m active there as @herwatches.

Are you noticing any trends in the pre-owned watch market at the moment?

The watch market, both new and pre-owned, has been a fascinating thing over the last 15 years. Over the last five years we’ve seen a shift towards a more inclusive taste. Yes, the bigger steel sports watches from brands including Rolex are always in demand, but also smaller 'dress' watches are definitely in vogue.

Bidders, buyers and collectors are more discerning when it comes to vintage pieces too. Now they are more educated and looking for watches as original as possible. Vintage Rolex Submariners are still very desirable but if one has many service (replacement) parts such as a new bracelet and bezel, buyers now opt to pay less.

In terms of brands, Cartier and Piaget have surged in value. For 'watch people' both were considered to 'just' be jewellery brands that made watches too. Watch connoisseurs didn’t appreciate them due to their use of many quartz (battery) movements instead of mechanical. Now, the competition for pieces from these companies is huge. We’re always looking for watches by them. Dealers, collectors and people that aren't enthusiasts are all competing for these watches and some have tripled or more in value in a very short space of time.

What advice would you give to someone looking to start or grow their watch collection?

Try on as many watches as you can. It’s fun and easy to browse online but there are many watches that you will love on screen that you feel nothing for on the wrist, and vice versa. Also, there are no silly questions. Ask as many people as many questions as you can. Pop into boutiques and auction houses and speak to the specialists. We all love talking about watches and there are no hard sell situations, especially in the auction context. Try not to fixate on investment either, we cannot predict whether a watch will increase or decrease in value to a great enough extent. You should buy what you love, what you think you will wear and will work for you, so long as you do a little research first, and ask those questions.

How would a collector go about selling their watch collection?

Auction is an excellent way to move on pieces from your collection. It’s a very public, democratic and market-driven way of selling. The specialists give watches a guide price informed by the most recent sales of similar pieces. The watch is then presented to the bidders across multiple online platforms, and during in-person viewings. Excellent photography and in-depth descriptions are also provided. Bidders then complete online, in person live in the room, or over the phone or by absentee bidding. This ease and inclusivity of bidding opportunities means that top prices are achieved, with no limits.

To reassure you, there’s also a reserve. This is a minimum that the auctioneer will accept for your watch. It’s the best of both worlds - a guarantee of a minimum but no restriction on the maximum price achievable, the sky is the limit. There’s expertise available to you throughout the whole process. From valuation and authentication to cataloguing and photography, and from marketing to auctioneering and beyond.

What factors typically carry the most weight in valuation at an auction?

When it comes to vintage, particularly rarer and more valuable pieces, originality is definitely key. As I mentioned, a watch with all original parts is the most desirable. These are rare because watches, like cars, need maintenance. Most brands recommend servicing every 3-5 years depending on movement type. During servicing, parts are often replaced. Brands want to release their product back out into the wild in excellent condition.

Original boxes and papers are also sought-after, many of these get lost or thrown away over time, which is understandable. A story is perhaps the hardest thing to quantify for but it can add hugely to the value of a watch. Rolex collaborated with French diving company Comex for around twenty years beginning in the 1970s. They worked to improve diving watches for use by professional divers. Rolex watches, including their Submariner and Sea-Dweller models, with 'Comex' to the dial or caseback were issued to Comex divers so they are far fewer in numbers than those available to the public. Add to this that these watches come with a rich professional owner history, and often an archive of log books, equipment and paraphernalia, and the value of these watches can reach prices of £50,000 to £250,000.

Do any past sales stand out to you over your career to date?

There are a few watches that have been very important in my career so far. One I see as part of my 'origin story.' While in my first role, I handled a rare Omega Speedmaster that had red hour markers to the dial, instead of white. Bearing in mind that I was more into jewellery at the time and had not dealt with any watch of significance yet, I had not spotted this detail to the dial, neither did my colleague who took in the watch and handled its cataloguing. We started getting enquiries from all over the world about it and on asking a very excited client about it I learned of its significance. I was captivated by the importance of this small detail, and the ramifications of it, and the web of history that it sat in. The world of watches and watch history opened to me and I haven't looked back since.

I then had the honour of handling another example while in my current role at Bonhams, with the same red markers, again from a Scottish client. To my delight and professional joy, this means I have been lucky enough to oversee the sale of two of an estimated 10-20 of these pieces thought to exist. And that feels really special.

Finally, how important is insurance to watch collectors?

We always advise our clients to insure their watches but to make sure they take very particular advice from their insurer or broker. We offer verbal and formal written valuations for insurance, making sure that the client has that conversation about how they’re going to replace a piece if it ever becomes necessary. Replacement value can be an auction value, pre-owned retail value or a new equivalent value. These are usually three very different figures. Regular valuations are important too, values can change massively in a short period of time, just look at Cartier prices!