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Superyacht crew love watches. I loved them when I worked on yachts and still do. The interesting part about buying watches is this. If you know a bit about what you are doing you will never lose Money on a watch. In fact you may even make something! So, here are our top 5 watches that are not only popular with crew but could actually make you some money. In short, if you see one of these on your travels, buy it!
Rolex Daytona;
The Daytona was released all the way back in 1963 and was named after the Florida City (more specifically the racetrack) of, yes you guessed it, Daytona.
This is the most sought after watch in the Rolex range. The waiting lists stretch to over 2 years at the moment. The stainless steel one is the one to have. So, if you ever see one in a shop on your travels, snap it up. It’s better than money in the bank.
Patek Phillippe Aquanaut
Believe it or not this is pretty much the bottom of the Patek Philippe range but so cool. Most people don’t know what they are. If you can get one, and it’s a big if it will be worth double what you paid for it as soon as you walk out of the shop! Now for the tricky part. Patek won’t just sell a watch to anyone. They want to vet you first to make sure you aren’t going to sell it straight away. So, beware. If this is what you do then you will find yourself on the Patek blacklist. Having said that, it’s such a cool watch we expect you would want to keep it for a while anyway.
Omega Seamaster Diver 300m
Omega have been making great watches for a very long time. Over the last ten years new prices have gone up steadily, as has the quality of the movement. This one is strong, looks good and won’t let you down. Plus, you can walk into a shop and actually buy one without waiting. It’s not going to make you a fortune overnight but Omega’s tend to hold their value well. Great watch, sensible price.
Tudor Heritage Black Bay
Some of you may never have heard of Tudor but that makes them even cooler right? Tudor is actually the sister company of Rolex. Also based in Geneva and founded by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdforf in 1926. Tudor remains part of the Hans Wilsdorf foundation alongside Rolex. The BIG plus here is that Tudor has always aimed to provide the high standards of Rolex at a more affordable price. Add to this the fact that they share movements with Breitling and you can see the pedigree. Nothing to be sniffed at here. Very similar proportions to the Rolex Submariner the Black Bay is a great option if you wince at the price of modern Rolex’s.
Rolex GMT Master II “Batman”
Yes we know that’s two Rolex’s in one article but they are popular for a reason. The Batman is a modern take on one of watchmaking history’s most iconic watches. The first GMT was released back in the 1950’s as Rolex developed it for Pan Am. Pan Am pilots crossed time zones a lot with the advent of transatlantic travel and the dual timezone watch helped to keep track of multiple time zones at once.
The “Batman” is a particularly hard watch to find brand new and used prices are substantially higher still. However, because the GMT has been around for such a long time there are plenty of Pepsi dial (blue and red), coke dial (blue and black) and standard black dial watches available used. Still not cheap but a real keeper, we think!
