It's Not Need, It's Appreciation

Last week, the popular show "60 Minutes" played a segment on Swiss watches. They interviewed Phillippe Dufour, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and even MB&F, talking about their journey, and where they are now. The watches made by these companies are extremely expensive (over $100,000), limited in quantity (< 500 pieces), and are at a high level of exclusivity (interviews required prior to designing). Watches of this caliber and tier are considered as assets and physical objects that appreciate over time, similar to famous art paintings.

But was that the original intention? Interviewing Maximilian Büsser, founder of MB&F, he said "it really really annoys me" when asked what he thinks about his watches being bought for the purpose of being an asset, with the intention of selling. He clarifies though, saying that he is "very happy" when customers "can not lose money or even make money" when re-selling one of his watches, stating it is the "beautiful gift for both of us."

The question goes back to "what is your intention" with your collection? Everyone has a different reason to collect. However, the foundational purpose of any collection is "appreciation", in 2 definitions of the word. Are you hoping that your collection will "appreciate" and grow in value, or is your watch collection for you to love, treasure, and "appreciate" the hard work, artistry, and artisanship involved.

One of the most important quotes in this video and arguably in all of watch making is this:

"We all know that what we do is pointless... A mechanical watch is totally pointless today. It was pointless in 1972 when the quartz era arrived, and so anybody who tries to tell you "yes, a mechanical watch has a point (EXCEPT for emotional art and artisanship), I don't think so."

-Maximilian Büsser, founder of MB&F

At the end of the day, the functionality of mechanical watches is indeed pointless; we have our phones that can have multiple time zones, smart watches that sync with all of our devices, and even digital watches that make telling time faster and more accurate than ever before.

However, while the original functionality of the mechanical watch is dead, perhaps it has given rise to a new functionality: appreciation. The question now becomes, what does appreciation mean to you?