Do you have a dive watch you no longer wear? Read on as Lyon & Turnbull’s Head of Watches, Sarah Fergusson, discusses an interesting development in the timepiece market.
There is quite the renaissance happening in the world of watches. For the last 10 years, auctions have seen the prices of most high-end timepieces climb, with costs rising especially steeply since 2018. Indeed, 2020 saw a number of new auction records set.
The price of gold has increased hugely over the past decade; that is not what is behind this rise in demand, however, as the most desirable and valuable watches in the current climate are made from steel.
A watch for every situation
Sports or tool watches are those built with a purpose beyond telling the time. An incredibly important piece of equipment for the wearer, these first came to the fore in the 1950s. After WWII, the rise in popularity of more exciting – or perhaps extreme – hobbies prompted Swiss watch companies to produce watches designed to assist the user and keep them safe.
The most successful brand at creating these was, and still is, Rolex. From the GMT Master for aviation and the Explorer for speleology, to the Daytona for car racing and the Milgauss for scientists, they covered many bases.
One of the most popular models was of course the Submariner. Of those exciting hobbies, the most accessible was diving. With the invention of the Aqua-lung and the films of Jacques Cousteau in the previous decade, by the 1950s diving was a truly aspirational and popular sport. Along with breathing apparatus, in order to stay safe at greater depths, another essential piece of equipment was the wrist watch.
This tool, with its unidirectional bezel, allowed the wearer to keep track of the amount of time they had been under water. First released in 1953, the Submariner was the culmination of work to that point on the creation of reliable waterproof timepieces. Its main advance was its resistance to pressure at great depths, capable as it was of functioning at 100m – a significant achievement at the time.
The popularity of diving explains the popularity of the Submariner 70 years ago, but why is it so popular now? The interest in vintage watches can be tracked through auction results and naturally, as with any commodity becoming more popular, it is those that were the best in their day that are the most desirable now. The Submariner has also seen consistently improved iterations produced in the intervening decades, and it is still produced today. This familiarity with the model has kept it in the minds of admirers and will do for years to come.
Now is the time to sell
As more and more collectors and connoisseurs join the watch-buying masses at auction, is now the time to sell? The answer is undoubtedly yes. Many living in the North East of Scotland will have dive watches of many brands that faithfully served them throughout a career at sea. Perhaps stowed away in a drawer now, these very practical tools can now serve another purpose and generate significant sums for their owners.
But what about the current situation we find ourselves in? 2020 was a very difficult year for many, but not for those who chose to sell at auction. Lyon & Turnbull saw record results across all categories after a swift and efficient shift to selling live online through a number of platforms. Reaching literally millions of bidders, these platforms operate worldwide and allow everyone to participate, driving up prices.
Get a free auction estimate and current market advice
Interested in selling? Entries are currently invited for Lyon & Turnbull’s Watches and Select Watches auctions taking place on March 9 and April 22 in Edinburgh and London respectively.
Contact Head of Watches Sarah Fergusson on 0141 333 1992 or email photographs to sarah.fergusson@lyonandturnbull.com for a free valuation.