Is Rolex an Expensive Watch? What is the value of your watch you bought 36 years ago!?

                                                               Ref 1803 Crica 1977

                                                    Ref 1803 Circa 1977

Ref 1803 with Stella Red Dial

There is no definition on what watch is classified as “expensive” and “Cheap”

Definitely a watch with price tag under $100 is average watch price. In most of the available general watch category, $100 can have 60% of the watch choice in the market. Something like $20 or below is cheap watch. However, you can go to buy 5 watches with $15, that is to say, $3 for a Watch in Ap Liu Street. For the Higher end watch, I have difficulty to define, all there is difficulty to re-define the “expensive Watch” is. Someone is wearing a Richard Millie Turbillon to play tennis, some of the collector buys Patek Phillipe with $1.3M in auction. A Cartier Crash has a price tag of $70,000 is just one toy in some celebrity jewelry’s box. To them that is not expensive... to me that is the money I can make use of for my retirement!

What are expensive watches made of? Why are they expensive?!

A watch can generally be a great investment, especially if you have bought them for a reasonable price compared to their estimated market value. Particular watches that seem to hold their value well are those that contain jewels such as sapphire gems. Sapphire is one the most expensive stones in the world making watches containing them particularly expensive!

All expensive watch uses Synthetic Sapphire with second to diamond for it hardness as the crystal. Cheaper watches use a glass crystal which is prone to be scratched and worn out. Some special crystal are made to the precision of 5 microns. Cheap watch glass are made with 30 microns or even worse.

Material cost itself is nothing as more expensive to the Technology that has been used to make the watch, the Blue mainspring of Rolex, has been the known of the best material for the main spring. That is free from magnetization and insert to temperature changes, a fake Watch may just use simple steel wire.

The most expensive watches will use a variety of rare gem stones, diamonds and crystals to cover the face – ensuring durability and scratch free surfaces.

The special features of particular expensive watches

Expensive watches are generally held together with a variety of screws rather than pins. But the quality doesn’t just end there. These screws are made from the same material as the watch. For example, your Rolex Day Date use solid 18KT gold pins to lock the strap onto the watch. Everything you see on the watch is made of Solid Gold with polishing. This just goes to show the quality put into expensive watches. You really do get what you pay for!

Each expensive watch should be solid in structure. The links contained on the strap would not appear cheap, jagged and they shouldn’t be able to be physically detached.

Wearing your watch in any weather and climate can cause some low priced watches a few problems, especially in the rain! With expensive watches, there should never be this problem. They are built so precisely and securely that the tightening of all of the screens will ensure that the watches are water-resistant and ensure that water cannot enter the inner workings of your watch. However that does not imply all expensive watch, some of the expensive watch cannot have very good watch-proof. Not even sweat-proof! So don’t use the price of a watch to determine the watch-proof feature. Some of the very expensive watch does not guarantee they will never fail, especially when they are dropped.

How about Rolex?
Rolex, on the other hand is one of the most successful and most conservative Swiss watch company

They do not have produced any Tourbillon, they do not use Titanium, they do not have ceramic case… they don't make DLC diamond like coating on the cast, the most expensive Rolex are still using oldest Precious “Gold*” or Platinum* to make watch. Well, to me, it seems that insofar the watch of Gold cannot be underestimated.

What is the value of a Rolex after using 37 years?
Rolex watch uses approximately 118 gram of solid 18Kt gold for a Day Date Ref 18039.

As for a long term investment, I think Solid Gold Rolex has the best power to retain value and a hedge to gain value again the inflation.

Rolex Day Date Ref 1803 1977

If I am not wrong in 1976, A Two Tone Date Just was HKD$1,786. A Ref 1803 was about HKD$9,000, after using it for 37 years, you still can sell the watch with HKD$60,000, if you do not like the watch, you can sell it for the gold, a Ref 1803 weight approximately 133 gram, you keep the movement, dial and hands, there are still about 103 gram of gold!

With Today’s gold price HKD$14,000 a tael (38 grams), you still get CASH HKD$28,460. Don't forget that you have been using it for 37 years!  But if your one is Stella Red dial I bet you would not sell it for its gold as it is having a value of more than HKD$200,000 how!

Note*

Gold has been a valuable and highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since long before the beginning of recorded history Middle Easterns 6,000 BC. Gold standards have sometimes been monetary policies, but were widely supplanted by fiat currency starting 1930s. Gold is still the most welcome article in Pawn Shops in HK and South East Asia as that is almost pegged with Dollar in terms of value.

Platinum was discovered by Antonio de Ulloa (1735) the same year Jehan-Jacques Blancpain found the Watch Company “Blancpain" in Switzerland.
HK Snob