7 of the Biggest Watch Collecting Myths - Watches as Investments, Grail Watches & More

now if you've been into watches long enough you've probably heard just general ideas being thrown around pretty loosely and you just kind of take them on their face value but in this video we're going to be looking at seven myths or misconceptions that are thrown around quite a bit in watchmaking and wanted to kind of address them here so in this video we'll just kind of address the myth or the misconception and then get into some ideas just unpacking why that might not actually be the case now i'd love to see comments down below as well if you have other myths and things that are just thrown around very loosely in watchmaking so feel free to do that as well before we jump into this video just a couple cool announcements on teddybaldestar.com i launched a few new brands on the site one being ball watch this is a brand that i've wanted to add for quite some time having a connection to cleveland ohio where i am base i think this is just a fantastic fit probably one of my favorite reviews and videos i've done in the past was of a ball watch we went to kipton ohio so just added many models from their line to our site as an authorized dealer in addition to that we also have added accutron really awesome vintage inspired pieces uh whether they were talking about their tv case style watches or of course their high frequency tuning fork style watches as well so definitely go check those out teddybaldstar.com full authorized dealer of all the brands that we carry quick and fast fulfillment dedicated customer support in nine out of every ten dollars that we generate goes right back into this content that we're creating now first myth that we have here is watches as investments now let's first address this can you make money in buying and selling watches absolutely there's a whole dealer market that exists around this very idea so i do not want to dismiss that but in terms of watches as investments and watches appreciating in value i think people glamorize this a bit more than really what the reality is in many instances now unpacking this idea as watches as investment if for a good investment you would want to see a return on your investment when it comes to watches there are basically three brands that actually have appreciated in value and this is still something that's only happened in the last i would say 10 years there's been more of an explosion of this this did not exist to the same degree that we've just seen now in the last 10 years but rolex patek philippe and audemars piguet those are the three top brands in terms of appreciating value across many of their models uh there's other brands that of course will have exceptions to the rules so like brands like omega or dealing with like vacheron with the overseas kind of now seeing a little appreciation or with omega and some of the limited edition or very uh specific speed master models maybe looking at the silver snoopy that has just exploded in regards to uh aftermarket value but these are rare and when you're talking about investments if you're looking at any other investment portfolio say you're looking at mutual funds things that you would look for is longevity in the marketplace how long has there been a just a proven track record on a return and how sustainable is this investment so in terms of like i mentioned all the watches and investments a lot of the boom has happened in the last five to ten years we really don't know what this is going to look like in a longer term period so if you see them as a short-term investment maybe that's one thing but i think this idea is a little bit off base compared to what you would see from other avenues and another key principle when you're looking at investments is diversification as mentioned there's really only three strong brands that are pretty consistent in their appreciation and this has only been consistent over five to ten years really and that's where we've seen most of the boom with that considered imagine if you're going into the stock market and looking at say there's only three stocks that are truly going and appreciating over this amount of time would you really look at that whole market imagine how we our whole perception the stock market would change if that was the case that's kind of the truth when it comes to watches and looking in this area also the ability to get into the game is difficult if you are trying to get into these brands or these select models there's a reason why they are actual investment opportunities it's because you have to really put a lot of skin in the game to get that return it's risky also if you are one of those flippers what a lot of authorized dealers do and it's part of just kind of what they get pressure from the brands to do this especially rolex is if they are detecting flippers that are coming in and are just selling it immediately many of these authorized dealers are set in place to cut those people off so if it's that type of world where you're going in and just flipping right away you're basically cutting off your supply or your ability to reinvest again all of these factors i think make the case why watches are not great investments you're dealing with a very small sample size not a long time and just a lot of volatility that's happening in the marketplace and just a lot of capital just to get in just to get started makes this a very difficult thing and i think for most people out there watches as an investment is just straight up a myth now going on to the number two myth we're going to be looking at the exit watch terms that get thrown around quite a bit grail watch exit watch grail watch i think is a real thing the problem with i find with grail watches is there's sometimes baggage associated with the idea and people just assume that once you get the grail watch you're done it's forever complete i will never have to buy another watch again i have an overall approach and maybe some other people will disagree but i find with myself and many other collectors is you are starting to move towards that grill piece or maybe you acquire that grail piece you expect to feel a sense of completeness where you almost get to a position of this is my exit watch i will no longer need any other watches once i achieve this actual acquisition but usually what happens is you acquire that watch the feelings of course are immense when you do acquire it it's usually a big accomplishment and you feel very fulfilled in that moment but when you're dealing with material goods there is no completeness of the individual when you are acquiring a material good it's an insatiable thing that you're trying to really quiet down and typically when you get these watches it doesn't actually create that exit watch scenario i find with many collectors as they buy that exit watch maybe it's not immediate but maybe a month or a few months down the road they're already trying to scratch another itch and they don't feel that completeness that they have the concept here that i really just want to drive home is the idea that if you're going into acquiring a watch as it being the end-all be-all you're always going to be left disappointed this idea of grail watch being the final thing or the final hurdle in your collecting journey i don't think that's a healthy mindset to have in many instances of course you want to strive to achieve that watch you really want but have the right expectations that go along with it i think a lot of people are just left being a bit underwhelmed by that experience after a while because at the end of the day it is just a watch and you need to have the right expectation and the key to happiness i think in a lot of ways is expectations if you see it as just an amazing watch a part of your journey a huge accomplishment maybe you tie it to a specific accomplishment when you go ahead and acquire it that's going to give you way more fulfillment because you can attach it more than the actual material itself think about that exit what that actually means when you say that and are you really going to be able to walk away in my case as well as other people's cases i don't see that exit watch scenario really being true and i think this is just a straight myth enjoy the collecting journey for what it is and really anticipate what a watch is for you and what it isn't for you now number three is a definitely a myth that's probably not as prevalent with people that are in the know in regards to watches but there are still certain types of collectors and just people maybe that are on the outskirts first getting into watches that believe this idea and that is switzerland always makes the best watches or switzerland makes the best watches now let's be frank i mean switzerland in terms of their pedigree and construction and what they've been doing for centuries in the world of watchmaking is of course really hard to beat but there are plenty of other makers when you're talking about uh development of watchmaking and if you look at the history i mean there are plenty of places to look you can look uh at the united kingdom you know even the united states had some great uh just history in watchmaking what was done during the industrial revolution and the progression of the railroads you could also look at france with abraham louis brigade and what he was doing and contributing to watchmaking and now from a contemporary perspective you can look all over the globe look at japan and what they're doing from their case finishing materials with the likes of credo or grand seiko and what's happening in that direction or even seiko at a more affordable end it's not just about high complication you have to look at what people are doing at every single segment of the market and when you look in that direction that's where japan i think really does i think allow themselves to stack up quite well with the swiss are doing you also could have germany be a great representation of this as well in that one thousand dollar price range to five thousand dollar price range germany really does kill it in that price range i think there's a ton of value in that range that even kind of destroys some of the swiss counterparts in many instances this is not to say that swiss watches are bad but it's a very myopic point of view to just think that switzerland is the one and only when it comes to watchmaking and again people that are into watches i think understand this but when you flip around like a dad along a data graph for the first time and just look at that you get a window into a world that just goes to show there's much more happening beyond just the country of switzerland now for myth number four just going to just say water resistance in general there's basically a few different spins how i am looking at this for one the myth of just what is capable water resistance for the task mostly around 30 meters now 30 meters this is probably one of the most misleading concepts in all watchmaking when you see 30 meters and think about what the actual depth that would be you're probably thinking you could do whatever you want with that watch and this is just something that's thrown around quite a bit but how you should really be looking at 30 meters of water resistance is splash resistant these watches are going to be tested in static environments when you're dealing with underwater ex just environments and talking about the pressure associated and actually the movement in different positions that a watch would be undergoing if you're swimming or diving that's a totally different type of scenario compared to these different tests that are happening and just being able to really indicate that pressure that it can withstand so totally different you're not going to want to swim with a 30 meter watch also a couple other points in regards to just misconceptions here mostly is what is really necessary for certain tasks i i see a lot of people saying like you know oh 100 meters of water resistance you know that's that's not you know it's not great i can't do whatever i want but like actually think about what a hundred meters is i know again it's not as just straightforward as this but like that's 300 that's over 300 feet i mean if you go into your you know local city and i don't know where you're at in the world but you probably have some type of large structure that's 300 feet tall just get sit at the base or stand at the base of that and just look straight up and see really how deep that is the amount of people that are ever going to come into contact with this type of scenario is ridiculous another thing that i see thrown around i'm actually guilty of this i've done this in the past is saying like it'd be nice to see a screw down crown and a watch that has 100 meters of water resistance but if a watch has 100 meters of water resistance and they're able to do without a screw-down crown then who am i to say that they should add a screw-down crown sure it does help with just additional protection but there are sometimes downsides with you know screwing down a crown there's threading on that crown that could perhaps go and that could create some challenges in its own right and just the idea of screwing in you probably if you've been into watches long enough maybe experienced just crown damage and things that would happen with that type of threading on the crown also when looking at just the idea of testing water resistance i think there's a lot of just ideas around oh if i have 200 meters of water resistance then i am good for life at 200 meters that's not the case of course you're going to need to continue to test that watch over time if you really are pushing it to the limit say you have 100 meters of water resistance and you actually are really testing that watch to lower depths you are going to want to test that regularly sometimes multiple times a year it really depends on the amount of activity you're dealing with if you are pushing it to the limit but the real reality is when it comes to water resistance these things are tested way beyond what most people are ever going to have to experience or what that watch is going to experience with you having it on your wrist it's just kind of ridiculous at times i see enthusiasts saying like oh like 200 meters 300 meters 500 meters like there's just such a weird view of what is necessary and how that's going to actually impact their wearing experience you see people talking about their thousand meter dive watch and all the security it gives them and all they're doing is just standing in an above ground pool and you're like all right all right buddy i mean it's just kind of ridiculous at times and just the ideas around water resistance both the misconceptions as well as what people think is required for certain tasks now next up we have all watches or mechanical watches should be running at cusc specification or should be running incredibly accurate now there's a reason why quartz watches became so widely adopted they were cheaper to make and for the intended job of accuracy when watchers were being judged for that basic utility of telling time as being the number one reason to own one i don't think that's the case anymore there was a lot of reasons pretty much every reason to go for a court's watch now since court's watches were adopted there are a lot of people that associate that idea of accuracy in putting a false level of expectation on what a mechanical watch should output now cosc in terms of being a cost certified chronometer versus a quartz watch even then we're talking about a huge gap most quartz watches even the cheapest quartz watches are going to be running around maybe 15 seconds to 30 seconds or maybe one second off from perfect time of day that's usually the range that you're going to see and then a lot of these high accuracy quartz movements maybe something like the precision precision is from bulova for example you know running it like 15 seconds off from perfect time of year there's these high accuracy quartz movements that's just a different game that is being played now when you flip that over to just traditional mechanical watches now i will see people sometimes saying like oh man my you know edit 2824 is running at plus 12 seconds a day it's trash it's a faulty movement people have just a total off idea about what is actually acceptable when it comes to a mechanical watch and just to provide some evidence here let's just go through some of the basic movements and what they're actually specced out to perform at so when you're talking about a myota caliber the 8000 series we're talking about minus 20 to plus 40 seconds per day these are just specs that are being provided from the factory sometimes they outperform this but that is the range in which they are specifying for the 9000 series a little bit better minus 10 to plus 30. now moving to seiko this is where i see a lot of enthusiasts i think having some false expectations or some improper expectations when it comes to performance a 4r series is plus 45 to minus 35 seconds a day or a 6r35 minus 15 to plus 25 seconds a day i see people saying like oh my seiko you know five is running at plus 25 seconds a day this thing sucks it's always a faulty movement in reality that is right in the wheelhouse if not i would say you know right there in the middle of where these specifications are for what is being rated by seiko so keep that in mind and even for an edit 28 24 2. now there's different grades of course and that is going to affect things but for a traditional edit 28 standard grade caliber we're talking about plus or minus 12 seconds up to plus or minus 30 seconds if you're getting something really unregulated keep that in mind you know if you're getting a watch that's running at let's say like eight to like 15 seconds a day and you're getting really discouraged saying this is horribly run not every mechanical movement is running at cost specification and even then we're talking about minus four to plus six it's not crazy accurate if you're comparing it to a quartz movement so if that is not the expectation that you have for your watch i probably would just tell you that mechanical watches are not going to be for you and you probably should go for a quartz watch but expectations again like i said in the beginning of the video key to happiness and just have the proper ones when you're going in the direction of mechanical watch these things are much more than just being able to tell the time as i don't think many of you probably need to hear that but some of you might now next here we have the idea around in-house movements are always superior to third-party movements this is an idea that i have certainly covered in the past but i just want to keep beating it kind of home because there are still people that bash third-party movements and there are instances where this is i think warranted if you are a brand that is just slapping a third-party base in your movement and charging twelve thousand dollars for or even less than that then yeah and i think you have the right to be called out but people i think just have a false sense of what are the positives and negatives associated with this and saying that in-house is always superior now there are certainly reasons why in-house are favored by many people typically you're going to get some proprietary technology or some advancements in things like power reserve resistance against magnetism and things of that sort that's usually we're going to be seeing as well as just up decoration and just craftsmanship that is taking place there but when you're getting into that kind of gray area of like say two thousand dollars in like six seven thousand dollars like that general range you have to kind of really factor in what are the positives and negatives associated with going uh in-house versus third party now first to address the kind of gray areas around in-house for one there are i think just some i would say murky type of ideas when it comes to what classifies as an in-house movement you'll see some brands you know building these in-house calibers but maybe sourcing different parts and this happens all the time and really the true reality is most brands are not producing everything in-house there is definitely some you know grabbing from different places where coming to hairspring screws jewels that's pretty common practice and still classifying something as in-house and that's one thing no really a lot of brands are actually producing true in-house by that definition so the definition in theory is i think a little bit great to begin with also you're seeing brands kind of navigating doing some shortcuts when it comes to acquiring a third-party provider of movements and basically having it start to be part of their umbrella and that is their way of just kind of bypassing hey we make things in-house now and you know that bring up the question is that actually in-house that is really up for the individual to decide if etta is making something for a swatch group brand maybe most of it is being produced within their facility but then something is being done in an at a facility does that technically qualify as being in-house that's the gray area the other element here is just talking about cost per service now servicing is just one of those things that nobody likes to talk about and kind of consider when it comes to watches however it is a reality and if you're into watches long enough you are going to be confronted with a time where you need to service your watch and it can be very expensive if you are going the in-house direction even for a traditional third hand like three-hander watch now in edit-2824 if you're gonna get that service typically you're talking about you know a few hundred dollars is typically the range in which you're gonna you know see for that that can change depending on where you go what is needed what is the kind of the work that needs to be done for that if you need to go store some parts say if it's something from like uh you know a tudor watch and you had to like you know want to get rolex parts that can allow it to get a little bit higher up in price but mostly going to be relatively in that range in the hundreds of dollars usually a few hundred dollars to get something serviced and that's kind of a general expectation for in-house three-hand watches i mean if you're talking about rolex we're talking multiples of that it's not upwards of a thousand dollars and this is just for traditional three-handers if we're talking about chronographs or high complications this is where it starts getting into thousands of dollars to service for certain watches out there and you're also dealing with the idea if it's something that's very bespoke or obscure you might have to send it back overseas and there's a lot of challenges with the logistics and the amount of time it takes to actually get a turnaround you can't just send it to any watchmaker also when you're talking about just parts this is another difficult thing to source when you're talking about vintage watches and vintage in-house just older caliber this is the double whammy here because it costs more and it's a very specific type of challenge to actually do the service but in addition you have to go spend some money on getting the the real parts there are shortcuts to be had but this is where you start getting into just adding parts that were not intended for that movement and there's a lot of difficulty with that and actually sourcing that creates long timelines for being able to get that part and then also a lot of just costs that come associated with that and you're dealing with third party movements you're not dealing with this you're not dealing with the uh exploding costs that are associated with ownership cost per ownership is a real thing you also have the ability to know that serviceability is going to be easy by any watchmaker and getting parts is going to be easy as well and that these are just time tested these have been in the market for decades there are a lot of just in-house movements that are going to have some growing pains associated that that happens all the time and you definitely want to get a when some manufacturers just kind of knew with their movements making sure that they have a good warranty that's associated i mean you saw with aorus kind of putting a 10-year warranty behind their new caliber 400s i think that's a good sign but that's not always the case and sometimes there are some you know just issues coming out of the gate with new movements and these are just all things to consider now in-house there's a lot of upside and a lot of reason to go that direction but i think really what the point is here is that don't be so quick to dismiss third party movements as being a great opportunity for you to just go forward with because there are a ton of upsides that i don't think people truly appreciate to the degree that they should now for the final myth this is dealing with crystals and it's just the idea that sapphire are always superior for every use case in instance now sapphire crystals in many cases are going to be probably the most sought after and one title desired by a consumer mostly because of their resistance against scratches but this again doesn't tell the whole story if i am gonna deal with say a luxury dive watch you know i probably do want a sapphire crystal because that is going to you know allow me to have the most ability to kind of take the general wear and tear but where i think a lot of people don't consider is there are other elements at play here other than just the resist the resistance against scratches for one when you're talking about the actual durability sapphire is more prone to shattering than other crystals like acrylics so something to consider there they are the most prone when you're talking about high impact just banging something against it with just that type of just velocity there are true risks of shattering and you can see pictures online of probably finding shattered sapphire crystals it does happen but again pretty rare and in most cases sapphire are going to cover you for general wear and tear and in many instances are going to be that durability choice but where i think people don't really consider is what are the aesthetic differences between the different crystals and why different manufacturers would choose a different type of crystal this is something that people just think okay sapphire crystal way to go always but there are a lot of downsides when you're dealing from an affordable perspective especially looking towards sapphire when you're dealing with sapphire from an affordable perspective or just any perspective there it's a little bit harder for material to work with when you're dealing with a dome sapphire there are a lot of things to keep in mind for one it is going to just be harder to create that dome effect to create that dome effect it is going to cost more money and in turn going to create some different challenges also the hue of sapphire and the look of sapphire is totally different than other crystals when you're looking at something like mineral mineral i find is very clear and vivid it looks as if you're getting a sapphire crystal with double ar coating very visible kind of has a nice middle ground between that of an old-school acrylic while also getting some of the just clear visibility that comes with a sapphire in that so it's almost a combination of those two things there of course are going to be some downsides with the resistance of scratches and not being able to buff them out so that is one thing to consider there for mineral but the look of it is incredibly different and can create a very good visual appearance look at something like the seiko cocktail time versus a seiko watch on the other end that has a sapphire crystal the doming effect that can happen from that crystal would not be as possible at this price range with a sapphire and it also just creates i would say a more clear view within when you're dealing with sapphire as well you're typically going to need coatings to even get that but usually high reflections it kind of looks a little bit more industrial for a lot of sapphire crystals it doesn't have this kind of artistic vintage hue in some instances that i know a lot of people like including myself so that is something to really keep in mind you know you're going to have to consider that when looking in the direction of sapphire sometimes going to have more of a flat look then when looking at acrylic and has a light crystals i think a lot of people are quick to dismiss these and saying oh this is a cop out for just being cheap but again i don't think that gives a full appreciation of what these kind of just crystals are going for when you look at the omega speedmaster with the sapphire crystal versus it has a light there's a lot of reasons to go for the hezelite when you're talking about just what it looks like and how it just looks when you're looking at the dial the vintage hue of the crystal the doming effect of it and also being able to buff out scratches it's really easy you get some polywatch you can just buff out any of those scratches or basic scratches in an acrylic crystal so you're almost getting the upside of that cool dome look and that warm hue and more you know and sometimes just a better visibility than sapphire while also getting the ability to buff out scratches as well if you're you know being able to you know use poly wash and do that there are coatings and things like that that kind of kind of get into the mix here but just seeing the actual durability as the only reason to own a crystal that's kind of the myth here people just see like oh not gonna be able to handle scratches this thing sucks i don't want it at all not thinking about the visual impact a different crystal choice can have on a watch and how it could just make it maybe a bit more appealing when you actually put it on the wrist but alright guys that is my list of seven myths probably could do another one of these so please leave comments down below what are some other myths that you see getting thrown around quite a bit in watchmaking that people just kind of accept as gospel without really looking into it any further let's see comments down below also if you did enjoy this video thumbs up subscribe and hit the bell icon as well really would appreciate that that does help out the channel and definitely go check out the new watches from teddybalthester.com two new brands ball watches a favorite of mine and then in addition to that also looking at the new accutron pieces as well we have over 25 brands on our site full authorized dealer full factory warranty for anything that you purchase so you're completely covered if anything goes wrong we also have dedicated watch specialists so book a consultation if you have any questions please definitely take advantage of that time this is something that nobody really else is doing that i am aware of in the industry getting really true watch nerds that can actually talk to you about your next purchase and help you out for things that you're looking at so definitely take advantage of that this is something i'm really excited about and you know was really just anticipating getting this moving so definitely take advantage again but guys thank you again so much for watching be well and i will see you all very soon

Channel: Teddy Baldassarre

Views: 441,581

Keywords: teddy baldassarre, teddy watch, teddy watch review, teddy watch education, watch myths, watch collecting myths, teddys watch collection, watch water resistance, watch 30 meters, watch accuracy, watch cosc, watch education, watch masterclass, watch collecting masterclass, bark and jack, hodinkee, jenni elle, talking watches, watch shopping, rolex, zenith watch, zenith el primero, tudor, tudor black bay 58, best watch under 100, best watch under 300, best watch under 500

Id: LVE247JSW9Q

Length: 26min 1sec (1561 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 10 2021