Manufacturers at this year’s Watches and Wonders were taking a high-low business approach designed to maintain profits by narrowing the range of watches they produce (increasing efficiency); creating very expensive off-catalogue or limited edition showstoppers, often dripping in gems (to increase the value of sales to the super-wealthy); and discontinuing references that create capacity for something that delivers better returns.
There is also the act of discontinuing watches at the peak of their desirability, as we saw with Patek Philippe’s 5711 and some of the Rolex’s Daytona 116500 LN and a number of Oyster Perpetuals in the hottest colours and sizes a few years’ ago.
There is an emerging school of forecasting that tries to predict which watches will be discontinued, particularly by brands with the longest waiting lists like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille, because no more manufacturing of a certain model immediately caps the number in the wild.
Basic economics dictates that, if there are more customers for any particular piece than were ever made, prices will rise as long as that demand is maintained or grows.
This is what always drove the vintage watch market, but is increasingly affecting grey and pre-owned secondary market prices as well.
This year’s Watches & Wonders saw Rolex discontinue a range of well-loved models: the white gold Daytona Le Mans, two Datejust 36 models and the Yacht-Master II Collection.
Patek Philippe also said goodbye to the Nautilus 5980 earlier this year, despite it being a favourite amongst collectors.
eBay, which physically inspects and issues an authenticity guarantee for any watch sold for more than £2,000, has curated discontinued watches into one place in its online marketplace, with around 40 pieces currently advertised.
This bespoke selection of discontinued pieces includes the likes of the Rolex Datejust 36 Steel & Gold Champagne Palm Motif Dial, the Rolex Yacht-Master II Steel & Rose Gold, the Patek Philippe Nautilus Black Dial and many more.Â
“Watches and Wonders welcomes in brand new models, but we also see brands discontinue pieces to make way for these. With certain models now only available on the secondary market, our latest eBay edit allows collectors to find and own a piece of timepiece history, with the added benefit of being backed by our Authenticity Guarantee at no extra cost,” says Keith Metcalfe, European Director of Luxury at eBay.
The number of watches in the discontinued list is constantly growing, and eBay is in a position to go back through history and add flag every discontinued reference in its database.
Watchfinder has been doing this for some time, and has a deep list of models that are no longer manufactured running to over 4,700 pieces.
