Week in Watches: Rolex raises prices; releases from Grand Seiko and Hypebeast
Plus a Royal Oak QP to preview the first big auction of 2022
Happy Sunday. This weekend, we’re trying a new format: Week in Watches. Think of it as your favorite Axios/Morning Brew/Skimm, but for watches. Let me know if you like it or hate it, and we’ll think about how to integrate it into a regular schedule.
It’ll be a short rundown of everything you need to know from the week in watches: news, new releases, auctions, and anything else fun or noteworthy.
Today’s ‘sletter is 1580 words, a 5.5 min read.
Week in Watches is a weekly email from Rescapement. To get the most important watch news delivered to your inbox every week, subscribe now:
RELEASES
Seeing the (Grand Seiko) forest for the trees
For those already struggling to remember the litany of Grand Seiko references in the brand’s ever-expanding book of numbers, it’s not getting any easier. GS has already released a few watches this year: First, there were the icy-blue “Soko Frost” US-only editions. This week, it’s the SLGA 009 “White Birch”. For a minute, it was one of those “wait, didn’t I already read this press release?” moments. See, Grand Seiko introduced the White Birch dial last year, and people loved it. It even won “men’s watch of the year” over at GPHG.
So it makes sense they’d double down on the White Birch, which looks vaguely like the classic GS “Snowflake” dial. But unlike last year’s release, which featured GS’s new Hi-Beat Caliber, this one’s got the brand’s signature Spring Drive. Sure there are also some aesthetic differences too, but let’s not get too wrapped up in those.
GS says: “SLGA009 captures the quiet mood of the white birch tree forests near the studio in Shinshu, where all Grand Seiko Spring Drive watches are crafted.” Very serene.
Both the new SLGA009 and last year’s White Birch have an MSRP of $9,100.
Rolex increases (some) of its prices
For the twelve people that might buy a Rolex at retail this year, prices just went up. In addition to the above, a couple of notable increases:
Rolex Explorer (Steel): $7,200, up from $6,450, a 11.6% increase
Rolex Explorer (two-tone): $11,150, up from $10,800, a 3.2% increase
I highlight these models to show the big jumps in Rolex’s hype models, and the relatively flat MSRPs for everything else. Usually, we see Rolex raise prices by a few percent across the board each year.
Big hype, big jumps. But this year, stainless steel models saw 10% jumps, while two-tone and precious metal models saw modest (or no) increases.
Take the Rolex Explorer. Prices for the stainless steel model increased 11.6%, while prices for the two-tone model increased just 3.2%. It’s often said that Rolex makes bigger margins on its two-tone and precious metal watches compared to its steel models. I mean, imagine walking into a Rolex boutique now. You want the new 36mm steel Explorer, but (of course), they don’t have it. But then the sales associate says “I bet I can get you this beautiful two-tone model in less than a month, and it’s only a few thousand bucks more.” Honestly, I kind of liked the two-tone already, and as the price gap between steel and steel/gold watches shrinks, it becomes even more tempting.
Be different? By the way, everyone wants steel watches anyway, so why not bee different and go two-tone?
Meanwhile, US inflation hit 7% in December 2021, the highest since 1982.
To tie it to the Grand Seiko White Birch above: For ~$9k, you can get a no-date Sub or the new White Birch. Which are you choosing?
Vintage is back: Excelsior Park
Excelsior Park is back. The watch brand whose name sounds like an apartment complex you can’t quite afford died off during the quartz crisis, leaving behind nothing but a legacy of some of the most elegant vintage chronographs you’ll find scrolling through eBay late at night.
Now, the brand is back. The project of Guillaume Laidet, who also re-launched Nivada-Grenchen in 2020, the re-launch draws explicitly on the vintage EPs that your favorite vintage collector describes as having “buttery chronograph action” in every For Sale post.
They’re gorgeous. Especially that salmon dial. Selitta manual-wind chronograph movement, 39mm, available for pre-order at $2,159.
The vintage trend. Other zombie brands have also been re-launched in recent years: Sherpa Watches (paying homage to Enicar), Tornek-Rayville, and HYT Watches, not to mention the Massena Lab Uni-Racer. It’s interesting to see how enthusiasm in a vintage brand can drive a re-launch, and how that re-launch can then drive increased incterest in those very vintage watches.
Took an L: The Hypebeast x Timex M79 ‘Fuschia’
Cards on the table, I took an L on this one. I dutifully fired up Hypebeast sharply at the appointed time on Wednesday morning, hoping to get one of the 500 limited edition Hypebeast x Timex M79s. They sold for $300, but by the time I tried to check out, all 500 were all long gone.
Vintage inspiration. Maybe it was the hypebeast provenance. Or maybe the vintage inspiration of the fuschia-and-blue bezel. But this Timex LE spoke to me in a way few others have.
More hype, please. I loved this release for so many reasons. Sure, it’s from the literal hypbeasts, but it’s affordable, thoughtful — paying homage to the vintage GMT-Masters with bezels that have faded to a beautiful pink and blue — and accessible. This is hype done right.
3x on the resale. Meanwhile, they’re already listed for $800+ on eBay.
AUCTIONS
There are a couple of auctions in Monaco this week, at Artcurial and Antiquorum. Here are a few of the highlights from Antiquorum.
Is there a ‘Tyler, the Creator’ Effect?
We saw a Cartier Tank Quadrant sell for €9,100 at Monaco Legends last October. Since then, we’ve learned that none other than Rescapement Collector of the Year™️ Tyler, the Creator bought it, and he’s been wearing it all around (in addition to his other Cartiers).
The Tyler Effect. Antiquorum has one on sale this week, with an estimate of €5-15k. But have others taken notice of Tyler wearing around this Quadrant the last few months, perhaps increasing its popularity? Tyler’s watch from Monaco came with box and papers, which doesn’t look to be the case here and could have a (negative) impact on the price.
Obus Opus. Of course, the Cartier Crash experienced the Kanye effect, exploding in price after Kanye started wearing one in 2018. Sure, the Obus Quadrant isn’t an icon like the Crash, but it’s got some bonafides of its own.
Playful provenance. The Obus was introduced in 1923 and has been produced in limited numbers since. Like Tyler’s example, this one was produced in the 1970s. According to Antiquorum, this watch originally belonged to French humorist Thierry Le Luron.
See the Antiquorum Tank Obus here.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar
If you haven’t heard, this year is the 50th anniversary of the original Royal Oak. But another important Royal Oak was introduced a decade later, in 1984: the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar reference 25554. QP for short (it’s French don’t ask), this series of Royal Oaks takes two of APs innovations from the decade prior: the Royal Oak design, along with the ultra-slim, serially produced QP movement.
First generation. It’s estimated as few as 300 of these first series QPs were produced, defined by their smooth metal dials and lack of a leap-year indicator.
Luxury realized. In the 70s, AP basically invented the idea of the “luxury steel sports watch” when it introduced the time-only Royal Oak for the ludicrous price of CHF 3,750. A decade later, it combined this form with the complication of complications, a perpetual calendar. The result feels like the ultimate realization of a luxury watch. And this is long before the Royal Oak was a hype watch, but from when AP and others were still fighting to survive after the quartz crisis. It’s AP going all-out as a watchmaker, proving to the world why luxury watchmaking should still exist. And I love that.
Estimate €200-400k. Check out lot 171 here.
A vintage Patek with an odd square case
Finally, I could feature a lemon Zenith Daytona that’ll probably do buckoo bucks, a Tiffany Nautilus (🥱) or Antiquorum’s cover lot, a Daytona 6263 Paul Newman. Instead, I thought I’d highlight a personal favorite from the auction, a vintage Patek ref. 1485 with a curious waterproof square case.
A waterproof wonder. Realesed in 1940, the ref. 1485 is one of the oddest vintage Pateks you’ll find. The case is made by a favorite casemaker, Taubert (later Borgel). To achieve waterproof technology in the square case, Taubert invented a patented two-part case that’s secured in by three sliding bars that lock the case together.
1 of 20. According to John Reardon, approxiatemly 200 were made, and less than 20 are known to the market.
Estimate €5-7k. Check out Lot 37 here.
THROUGH THE WIRE
📅 Year in Watches: 2021. I put together a year in review for A Collected Man, asking nine collectors and enthusiasts the same question: “What was the most exciting thing about watches this year?”
🏎️ TAG Heuer celebrates 60 years of the Autavia with 3 new models.
🇺🇸 What watch was Barack Obama wearing on New Year’s Eve?
BEHIND THE ‘SLETTER
If you follow on Instagram too, you’ll see I’m trying some new content formats in ‘22. Whether it’s working with Hairspring here to feature some of the best watches for sale around the internet, or Week in Watches (WiW) like this, my goal for 2022 is to try different things and to post more regularly. I freelanced for a bunch of publications in 2021, but Rescapement is something different and I’m hoping to build it more this year.
Week in Watches is a weekly email from Rescapement. To get the most important watch news delivered to your inbox every week, subscribe now:
Two thumbs up on the new Week in Watches format. Keep doing your thing.
Definitely dig the format. But of course wouldn’t mind more of your in-depth writing as well! Side note: I also enjoy when you share some non-watch links too. Can always do with some extra recommending reading.