All Watches Brands

With its millionaires and mansions, Naples is on the map for its wealth.

Where there's wealth, there are watches. And not just any watches: Rare and collectible watches.

Thierry Stern, vice president of Patek Philippe in Geneva, Switzerland, traveled to Naples this week to attend a private dinner with admirers of his company's elegant handmade timepieces, which take at least nine months to produce and are among the most expensive in the world. The company's priciest watches carry six-figure price tags.

"In our small little town of Naples, we are probably one of the top dozen retail stores for Patek Philippe in the United States," said Bruce Yamron, president and CEO of Yamron Jewelers in Naples, which organized the dinner.

At any given time, Yamron carries 75 to 100 of the company's watches, the least expensive of which goes for $11,000 to $12,000.

Bikes | Canon "We have the wealth. We have the inventory. Having the inventory is a big part of the puzzle," Yamron said.

While Yamron sells to collectors, most of his business comes from customers "looking for a beautiful watch," he said.

Yamron is the exclusive distributor of Patek Philippe watches from Marco Island to Sarasota. The two companies have worked together for more than three decades, but this is the first time a high-level executive from Geneva has agreed to come to Naples for a special event.

During a dinner overlooking the Gulf of Mexico at the Bay Colony Beach Club on Thursday night, Patek Philippe showed off rare pieces from its private museum in Geneva and watches from its new 2007 collection. Seating was limited to 85 people.

The event was "oversold," and there was a waiting list, said Ursula Pfahl, Yamron's chief operating officer. The club couldn't fit any more people, and Yamron didn't want to lose the special feel it created for the event.

Many of those attending were seasonal residents of Naples, including a collector with 32 rare Patek Philippe watches.

The company, which has been in operation since 1839, is the last independent, family-owned watch manufacturer in Geneva. It was founded by Antoine Norbert de Patek and Adrienne Philippe, who had an ethic for "pure" watchmaking.

Kings, queens, popes, prime ministers and presidents have owned Patek Philippe watches. So have movie stars and tycoons.

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Some say it's a sign of the times in Southwest Florida - pawn shops in our area say the days of cheap electronics and used guns are over because Rolex watches and pricy antiques now fill their shelves. Owners say they have a whole new breed of customers and they are people you wouldn't think would need some quick cash.

We went to some local pawn shops Friday and what we found was pretty eye-opening. Inexpensive items were sparse while pricey jewelry and vintage guitars filled the store.

"All that's coming from your people who used to do well and unfortunately today are having a hard time making ends meet," said pawn shop manager named Ryan. "Your real estate brokers, your car dealers, your mortgage brokers, a lot of your boat dealers."

Larry, of Larry's Pawn and Jewelry, says in the past few months he's seeing a whole new breed of customers - the upper-middle class.

"Traditionally, what we had was the person who made 35 to 50-60 thousand a year, and had a family of four. Now what we're seeing are the people who were making hundreds of thousands a year because they're just not making anything now," said Larry.

Larry says his pawn shops have set record numbers in the past few months. Sales are up 10-percent and 40-percent more products are coming in this year than when compared to last.

"They were extra things they were able to afford when the economy was good here. And now that it's not, they have to bring those in," said Ryan.

"Vintage Les Paul guitars that you would only see maybe one a year; we're seeing one a month now," said Larry.

"A carot-35 diamond, princess cut does not come from the average person," said Ryan.

Now many items that were once priceless to their owners have a bargain of a price tag for potential buyers.

Just to give you an idea of how much you can expect to make or spend inside a pawn shop - if you bring in a $100 item, you will get about $25 bucks for it depending on its condition. And they'll probably turn around and sell it for about $60.

A three-day long bonanza of wristwatch auctions has begun in Geneva with around 800 rare timepieces expected to sell for around 15 million pounds in total.

The auction comes as experts say watches have become the new must-have status symbol of the world's super rich.

Rolex has one highly prestigious collector: President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who is famously partial to chunky Daytonas as part of his fascination with bling success symbols.

He has also been seen sporting a Breitling Navitimer, as well as Breguet, Cartier and Pe'quignet watches.

"Very rare watches are supplanting expensive cars and houses as must-have status symbols," said Karin Tasso of Antiquorum.

"A watch is so much easier to bring into the dining room than a car," she said.

Prices continued to rise, she confirmed, with growing interest from the Asian market.

"There are a lot more millionaires out there than there used to be and when you have the pocket to match your collector's passion, the sky is the limit," she said.

However Ms Tasso warned that the trend was moving away from ostentation: "The real snobbism today is to buy a watch for a million pounds that looks unassuming, even shabby. It's like buying a mink coat and passing it off for rabbit," she said.

The highest price went for a Patek Philippe Reference 1591-a relatively understated stainless steel watch with perpetual calendar and moonphase mechanism, but the only waterproof example of its type.

It was aquired by a Maharaja in 1944 who wore it during polo games and gave it to the man in charge of organising his wedding. It went for 1 million pounds.

Another royal item, owned by the late Saudi King Ibn Saud-a 1950 Rolex triple calendar, moon phase wristwatch with a rare "star dial"-was bought for 155,000 pounds.

Also on sale was the first model of the Oyster Perpetual Submariner series. The iconic Submariner was worn by Sean Connery, alias James Bond, in Dr No. and Goldfinger. The piece fetched 70,000 pounds.

Patek Philippe stole the show with a rare pocket chronometer with one-minute tourbillon incorporating a movement made by the company in 1929 but only cased in 1993.

It combines nine "complications"-such as moon phases, a perpetual calendar and power reserve indicator-and was bought by an American collector for just over 400,000 Swiss francs.

The sales by three leading auction houses include historically unique items, such as a Breguet made for Josephine Bonaparte in 1800-four years after her wedding, with a gold case encrusted with blue enamel and diamonds which sold for 650,000 pounds-seven times the estimated price.

The exquisite jewel, which Josephine offered to her daughter Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland and wife of Napoleon's brother, Louis, was bought by an American collector.

It was one of over 430 pocket and wristwatches to go under the Christie's hammer in what it described as its "most exquisite ever" auction of world-class watches.

Auction house Antiquorum kicked off the auction series on Sunday, with 280 lots bringing in more than 9 million Swiss francs from bidders competing in situ but also via telephone and online.

The auctions round off today on Tuesday with Sotheby's sale of 158 choice lots.

These include a pair of beautifully wrought gold, enamel and pearl-encrusted perfume sprinklers conceived to look like flintlock pistols.

Made around 1806 for the Chinese market, each conceals a tiny watch complete with matching key.

Source: Yahoo News

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