Is it wise to sell my entire collection for 1 watch?

[edktr]

Hello fellow MWF members,

I'm in a bit of a dilemma. Two weeks ago I decided to pop into a Richard Mille boutique in Singapore to kill time while waiting for my wife nearby. I wanted to check out the pieces they have and try some on my wrist. I've always been interested in RM67-01 extraflat ever since it came out in 2016. I thought then, if there's any RM for me, its this one. Turns out they have 2 pieces in stock, rose gold and white gold with diamonds. I'm actually interested in the titanium piece due to the material durability, weight and less flashy compared to the gold options.

Tried them on and from that moment onwards I'm poisoned. RM67-01 is definitely the one for me. I also tried on RM29 and its actually not bad at all, not too thick, very light and the size is very wearable for a daily watch but the dial on RM67-01 is on another level. Since then, RM67-01 has been on and off my mind. I figured I can only wear one watch at one time, why not make it an RM, which means I have to sell my entire collection to fund for this piece.

A little bit about myself, I'm in my early 30s and have been interested in watches since I was a kid. Over the years, I've managed to obtain a few of 'iconic' pieces that has risen in price or I think will increase. I treat this hobby as one of the ways to hedge against inflation, so resale value is important to me. If I do sell everything, I'll probably get conservatively 60 - 70% of the RM cost, have to top up the remainder.

I know for the same amount of money the RM commands, there's a plethora of choices from all the top brands. Literally almost everything is on the table, but nothing catches my attention like RM67-01 so far.

The negative points of owning an RM to me:

• Relatively new brand, resale value uncertain? Compared to Rolex, PP, AP
• Even if it does appreciate in value, probably difficult to liquidate due to the high price. Not that I intend to sell it but its good to know that if it needs to be done, the value is there.
• Short service interval (2-3 yrs) and expensive maintenance bill, somewhere around RM15-20k for normal service I believe

Just wanna gauge some opinions. What do you guys think? Should I wait, do it, or look at something else?

Photo from today's The Edge paper really fuelling the poison

[D'Andy]

If it floats your boat, then why not? After all, it's your wrist and you're going to wear the watch; and a RM is not your run-off-the-mill watch like a Sub that every other person seemed to be having a piece or two. And given that you would only have 1 watch after the sale, you would definitely be giving the RM adequate wrist times, making it more value for RM 

[koryong]

I think you've actually answered your own question 

And when you said nothing else catches your attention like the RM, perhaps you've already gone quite in depth in the 3 other brands you mentioned, so it's only natural to get "tired" of them.

Whenever I feel like this, I take a step back and rethink what fundamentally appeals to me, both emotionally and financially ie. investment. Personally I'd stick with iconic time pieces any day.

Just saying ... 

[Cocas]

I will not sell any watch to finance getting another watch.

  By the way, please don't take my advice seriously because I never flip a watch before.

[el118]

better think twice. it would be extremely difficult to offload your RM without substantial loss if after few months you lost interest in the watch. (it is very normal to have lost interest in certain watch you were dying to get one before)

[G.MAC]

Have not liquidated an entire collection before. But have liquidated 1/3 of my collection for a piece. You hit the nail on the head when you mention the point of resale. Am not sure what is the 2nd hand value of RM and its appreciation/ depreciation so i dare not comment on the resale value. What i can assert is this, those that can afford an RM would have already owned one or would buy one new. The number of people being able to afford a RM is really limited. Finding a buyer is definitely a primary concern here. Since you use watches to hedge against inflation, i would not do it UNLESS you are willing to take a massive hit offloading it to a grey market dealer. Anyway the above is just my 2cts.

[Watched]

better think twice. it would be extremely difficult to offload your RM without substantial loss if after few months you lost interest in the watch. (it is very normal to have lost interest in certain watch you were dying to get one before)

I'm agree with this

[Jaymie360]

If it floats your boat, then why not? After all, it's your wrist and you're going to wear the watch; and a RM is not your run-off-the-mill watch like a Sub that every other person seemed to be having a piece or two. And given that you would only have 1 watch after the sale, you would definitely be giving the RM adequate wrist times, making it more value for RM 

Totally agree


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[mineralwater112]

What watches in your current collection?

If you have built up good collection over the years and I won’t recommend to sell away them for one Watch.


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[fireken]

Personally I would not recommend to go for RM unless you arewealthy rich.

Some interesting read for you:
https://www.revolution.watch/the-billionaire-boys-club/?archive

Pls share your collection if you decide to let go. Let see whether any grail within I’m looking for.

[ci54]

This is one question for the ages... I guess if I’m ever being confronted with this type of first world problem, I will most likely not be able to gather the courage to sell everything for one grail piece... Every piece was acquired after a significant event, so each has more value to it than the price tag.

[D'Andy]

Personally I would not recommend to go for RM unless you arewealthy rich.

Some interesting read for you:
https://www.revolution.watch/the-billionaire-boys-club/?archive

Pls share your collection if you decide to let go. Let see whether any grail within I’m looking for.

Wow, after reading that article, any non-convert would be tempted to convert to RM, barring the thickness of his/her bank account 

[Cocas]

Personally I would not recommend to go for RM unless you arewealthy rich.

Some interesting read for you:
https://www.revolution.watch/the-billionaire-boys-club/?archive

Pls share your collection if you decide to let go. Let see whether any grail within I’m looking for.

Wow, after reading that article, any non-convert would be tempted to convert to RM, barring the thickness of his/her bank account 

 
Horology Trinity are losing its fame to RM ?!?

[ChrisChong]

I won't because every watch has a special meaning behind it

[gregorysze]

To a certain extent, I can understand what you're going through. After building a decent collection myself, I sometimes find myself entertaining the thought of liquidating all of them, topping up a bit and getting that one watch to wear all day, errrday.

However, I always ask myself this question before that thought becomes more serious. "Can I really live with just one watch?" I mean, it all depends on your lifestyle I guess but in my case, there are times where I truly require a beater watch and I highly doubt that one watch I'm eyeing can suit that purpose.

So there's that and also the fact that it may be hard to recuperate the cost when you do decide to sell your RM considering what you use watches to hedge against inflation.

[fireken]

Personally I would not recommend to go for RM unless you arewealthy rich.

Some interesting read for you:
https://www.revolution.watch/the-billionaire-boys-club/?archive

Pls share your collection if you decide to let go. Let see whether any grail within I’m looking for.

Wow, after reading that article, any non-convert would be tempted to convert to RM, barring the thickness of his/her bank account 

 
Horology Trinity are losing its fame to RM ?!?

I do not see the horology trinity losing it fame to RM. RM is more on lifestyle watch to speak and show you are a wealthy person rather than a WIS. The owner probably would have collections including the trinity collection other than RM.

Besides RM is not something you would probably pass down to next generation while horology trinity is one you could pass down to next generation (patek slogan). And RM would probably won't have much resale value as the target market is niche and not everyone can afford one.

I would say watch is like a man fashion/cloth. You probably won't be wearing the same cloth day in and day out even it is good for all occasion. You might want change style to you suit your mood. It would be nice or better to have a set of collection rather one watch.

[yehlai]

It's like selling all the double storey + condo + semi d to buy a mansion

[JPSP]

I won't because it's harder to offload RM  and it takes a significant hit. Besides, I think you need a little diversity in your collection and there'll be other watches that will sing to you in the future (you're only in your 30s).   

[firewire]

You are still young, lots of chance for you to get a RM later in life.

To me people who owns RM are really wealthy and it doesn't bother them when resale value for RM is bad because they never need to sell them to be bothered with used value.

Since you are using your current collection as a hedge against inflation, its not advisable to liquidate it all and put it a RM.

From what I know resale on RM is really bad. Be prepared to loose 100k if you bought a RM11 brand new.

[Timeless]

Assuming u have made up the decision since u are able to tell the differences between these 2 models, considered the future value and maintenance aspects.

29 has a big date window at 4 o'clock, kind of legible in a quick glance, size wise is fit for most indoor and outdoor environments.

67-01 the indicators of WDH are meant for winding date and hands setting purposes, it seems like doesn't quite matching the Base and Minimal concepts as it's without the second hand. Size wise, it's perceives towards dressy and formal occasions.

On the other hand, RM have some collaboration with AP since the past, thus some of the technologies were adopted from AP. Idea and design are very much came from Mille itself. Branding image is pretty much appearing Sports and Status perceptions as endorsed by those Athletes and Celebrities most of the time.

IMO, no harm trying to get an RM if u really want to surrender all of your collections with certain top up amount. Service interval can goes up to 5 years or above since the movement is less complicated which compare to those single/double chronos, flyback, tourbillon etc.
On resale point of view in APAC, in fact SG, HK and IN are having quite an extensive markets to liquidate in cash or upgrade though.

Just my 2 cents IMO

[Lakland5569]

should you sell your entire watch collection for a watch that steals your heart (probably soul)?

Considering the fact that:

1) you have a good amount of watch collection that can fund 60-70% of your new grail watch;

2) Age (early-mid 30s)

3) Considering that your buying behavior (heavily consideration on resell value or value retention )

4) you good sir are aware of other options such as (PP, AP, VC etc etc)

before you make decision on purchasing, please consider the following too:

A) do you foresee yourself selling this RM in a decade time or anytime down the road?

B)what is the value retention for RM if you are selling it (check secondary market price)

C) if you buy a time piece, (aside from value holding or inflation hedging) what elements do you consider in a watch brand?

History (brand)>craftsmanship>aesthetic>Price Tag>rarity? (order of these elements is highly subjective)

In my honest opinion, if you dont plan to sell the RM in any future time frame, then please go for it.

(Maybe only for me) Liquidating your entire collection for a single watch that trapped your heart and soul, this isnt something that happens all the time (given the knowledge and exposure you had on watches). My guess is that given that you have reasonable knowledge and info on luxury watches, all the hot models from the top notch brand should be made known to you. If those hot models of other brand doesnt catch your eye or doesnt give you the idea of liquidating your whole collection, this means something (they dont worthy such 'leap of faith' / 'all in' emotions).

Also, part of being a watch collector, not only I find joy in owning some hot/discontinue models, the hassle and waiting/hunting is also part of the enjoyable experience of being a watch collector.

Maybe you can get the RM first, then start filling up your collection again in future times.

hope it helps. (congraz in advance for your new watch!)

[megaronnt88]

Yes. Then you only have to take care of 1 watch vs baby sitting many watches

[ebayer]

The issue with RM is that even if you want to sell, there aren't many buyers in that bracket so it may take some time to offload. And that's not even accounting for whether you make a substantial loss of profit.

Think the RM is just what you are craving now but once you get it, you will start hunting for another grail.

[vrscse23]

Nope. I will keep my current collection of watches and aim to save enough before getting the RM which youre eyeing on now.