Question on Value of Previous Owner and Provenance

[happy_jon]

Apart from the obvious where an owner is famous such as Paul Newman, do people when they buy at auction/second hand market subscribe any value to the person who wore previously owned the piece? Or where they got the piece from?

For instance, if a someone managed to acquire all his/her Rolexes new from an AD (not grey market). Say this collection had all the desirable professional steel series Daytona, Subs, GMTs, Sea Dwellers etc. Would buyers be willing to pay a premium if the watches were all sold in a group (because they were sold new to one owner) or would people not care and think the watches are worth more individually.

Also, I heard that for instance some people desire to get the James Cameron DSSD with a New Zealand AD warranty card because he lives there and loves NZ. Not sure if this is maybe this person is a diehard Rolex and James Cameron fan or what. (Considering how hard it is already to get these watches just wondering if people would wait for such?)

Reason why I ask is that I've been looking at the art world and they go nuts on provenance, the history of the timepiece etc, wonder if the same applied to the watch world?

[s14roller]

Answer is no. That James Cameron reference also sounds very odd to me. I’d be very surprised if it were true.

[asiparks]

how many professional Rolex floating around out there compared to how many original works by Picasso, or Monet or Banksey for that matter ?

Provenance in the art world is to reduce the risk of a fake being introduced somewhere in along the chain of ownership. A painting owned by John Lennon might be worth a bit more because it passed through his hands, but the "value" of art is a function of it's scarcity and or uniqueness and the fame of it's creator. Dali isn't exactly churning them out these days,

There are very few parallels in the watch world for mass produced mid tier timepieces.

I'm sure JC has super fans who would see the value in having an NZ warranty card, but you'd have to find some one who loved him even more to buy it from them....

[Muxi]

One can put any name in the warranty card

A gray dealer once gave me an option for my name in the warranty card for $500 more or a bnib with a random name. I might choose the first option if only for the fresh from the AD receipt rather than one that has been sitting for some months, but honestly it does not make any difference.

[joli160]

No and the name on the card means nothing. I bought all my watches without any name on the card and can write whatever I like.

For a watch to have added some value you need pictures of the celebrity wearing it, letters, invoices and whatever. The slightest doubt and it is zero.

The JC is not a good example since he wore a black version of the DSSD during the dive

[Tools]

If provenance can be proven, then I would say yes, it is possible that some who collect things would pay a premium for a known example. For example, Paul Newman's actual watch, or D. Eisenhauer's actual DJ, Steve McQueen's personal 5512 .

This would not carry over to look-alikes. I would not see any point in a NZ warranty card for a DSSD just because the watch is named after a New Zealander, there is no real connection.

[214270Explorer]

Watch Provenance is good for the future/potential next owner.

You will know the history (use and service) and you know the watch is also not stolen or counterfeit.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by happy_jon

Apart from the obvious where an owner is famous such as Paul Newman, do people when they buy at auction/second hand market subscribe any value to the person who wore previously owned the piece? Or where they got the piece from?

For instance, if a someone managed to acquire all his/her Rolexes new from an AD (not grey market). Say this collection had all the desirable professional steel series Daytona, Subs, GMTs, Sea Dwellers etc. Would buyers be willing to pay a premium if the watches were all sold in a group (because they were sold new to one owner) or would people not care and think the watches are worth more individually.

Also, I heard that for instance some people desire to get the James Cameron DSSD with a New Zealand AD warranty card because he lives there and loves NZ. Not sure if this is maybe this person is a diehard Rolex and James Cameron fan or what. (Considering how hard it is already to get these watches just wondering if people would wait for such?)

Reason why I ask is that I've been looking at the art world and they go nuts on provenance, the history of the timepiece etc, wonder if the same applied to the watch world?

No to all.

[Mystro]

Nope, the only name I care bout is mine owning the watch.

[Kestrel]

It would only matter if it were Jon Voight’s watch.