Hess: We are relentlessly seeking to expand our audience and focus on community. I think the days of just boring rows of chairs in auction rooms and paddles being raised are less interesting than experiences. We’re seeing brands sell watches with experiences. We should be embracing that also.
It bears noting that our last sale, just last month on June 5th, had just over 1,400 bidders from 54 countries. And one-third of those bidders were new. It also bears noting that a third of our bidders in the whole watches department last year were millennials and Gen Z. So our audience is getting younger, and I think there’s a benefit there.
What kind of benefit?
I like to say that the fun is coming back in watches. When we see 1,400 bidders, which was the most we’ve had in five yearsâand probably the most ever in our history, because I’m not even sure we tracked that number until five years agoâit suggests there’s enormous demand. People are pouring into our hobby.
We get so used to hearing, âOh, demand is down. Prices are coming down.â It isn’t totally the case. Yes, prices are coming down, but we’re seeing more demand than ever before. It’s just a newer audience and a younger one. People are as interested as they ever were in watchesâthey’re just more interested in them at a lower price point. We all, as collectors, heard people say in 2021, and 2022, âBoy, this isn’t fun anymore,â or, âI’m done. I’m so glad I have the watches I have. I could never afford them now.â
The truth is that the thrill of the hunt and buying watches is a big, big part of the fun in watch collecting, if not the majority. And when the barrier to entry was so high, it started to lose its excitement. And now that prices have come down, I see people, including myself, hunting more and more.
How do you capitalize on that as an auction house?
We’re leaning more and more into community, more and more into events. You know about RollieFest, which Sotheby’s is an enormous supporter of. And if we look at even little things like the auction room experience, it isn’t a lot of fun. What is fun, though, is some of the things we started to do in June: we had round tables all over the room, there were drinks served, every table had bottles of juice, and champagne was flowing. You could mix a mimosa or a Bellini. There were little hot dogs passed around and cookies in the shape of [Patek Philippe] Grandmaster Chimes.
Most people want to buy and own watches because they love them and they want to share their passions. The greatness of the hobby of watch collecting lies more in the human element of the owner than it does in the watch itself. Somebody once said to me, âYou buy the relationships and the stories, the watch is just a bonus.â
