We meet Leeds watch dealer Jonathan Scatchard from 'Investing in Time' in Wetherby to discover the world of watch collecting, which is definitely worth a watch!
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00:00Hi, I'm Jonathan Skatchard. I am a watch dealer. We deal online mostly here at Beaucliffe Hall.
00:07I've been in the business now, it scares me to think, but over 40 years.
00:13So I've seen quite a lot of changes in that business.
00:15In the late 70s, there was virtually no interest in what we now call pre-owned or second-hand watches.
00:22Back then, you tended to get a watch for your 21st, and that was it.
00:25By chance, we had an Italian dealer in Harrogate, where I worked, and he would say,
00:32don't scrap them, don't melt them down, because that's literally what we were doing.
00:35We weren't even looking at the brands.
00:37And I learned an awful lot from him about what was desirable, why it was desirable.
00:41We often say that when you're going into collecting vintage watches, there's so many different versions,
00:48so many different ways you can go. It is literally like going down a rabbit hole.
00:51They're not like stamps or coins that you just put in the safe.
00:54They are practical. You can wear these every day, and you can change them,
00:57and I think that's a massive part of the appeal.
00:59The watch that started it for me with that Italian dealer was this beautiful Art Deco Rolex Prince.
01:07Art Deco was so huge and popular. Humphrey Bogart wore this model.
01:12But now, how many people really know who Bogart are and would be influenced by him?
01:16But that was, by far and away, the most expensive watch, the most desirable watch.
01:21We come through to another generation, probably my own generation, that remember the cars of the early 70s.
01:27Steve McQueen's films, he was the king of cool.
01:29And he wore this, which is a bit of a monstrosity to some people.
01:34It's a big square. It was radical. It was out there in the day in 1971.
01:38So, while that was a £10,000 watch, this, even in the middle 80s, was probably a £500 watch.
01:47It's now £10,000 plus. It's going past the Prince, because they've learned how few of these are actually made.
01:54And that's the way the market's gone, and I still see now there's another generation coming through.
01:59Probably the most famous and the best story would be the Amiga Speedmaster.
02:05Originally, it was designed for rally drivers.
02:08Unknown to Omega, in the mid-60s, NASA did a test on certain watches,
02:15which were the best to work in outer space because of the space program.
02:18And the Speedmaster turned out to be that watch.
02:24So, it's now known as the Moonwatch.
02:25This one's particularly valuable because it's what we call a tropical dial.
02:30The sun's got onto the dial and turned it from black to brown.
02:34And that's really rare, and that puts probably an extra £10,000, believe it or not.
02:40And back in the day, we'd have just replaced that.
02:42Got Omega to send us a new black dial.
02:44If you're thinking of starting, just have a really good look through,
02:48whether it's auction catalogues or whatever, not necessarily at the prices,
02:51but find what you like, and then try and become as best of an expert in that area.
02:57That's by far research, research, research.