Alternative investment - luxury watches

Besides the usual stock investment, we also have alternative investments in art, wine and luxury watches. Prices for Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet (AP) watches appreciated by an average of 20% a year since mid-2018, outpacing the S&P 500 Index, as values for pre-owned luxury timepieces surged, a report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and secondary market dealer WatchBox showed.

Prices from a basket of pre-owned watch models from top Swiss brands outperformed the S&P 500 stock index from Aug 2018 to Jan 2023. The S&P 500 averaged annual returns of 8% during the period while the basket grew at more than twice the pace. That's despite prices of some pre-owned models, including Rolex Daytonas, Patek Nautilus and AP Royal Oaks, declining by as much as a third since the market peaked in 1Q2022.

Prices for a basket of so-called independent brand watches including FP Journe, H Moser & Cie and De Bethune - a small Swiss producer which is majority owned by WatchBox - returned 15% over the same period.

But over a longer period, stocks outperformed watches as an investment asset. The S&P 500 had a compound annual growth rate of 12% between 2012 and 2022, while Rolex, Patek and AP watches averaged 7%.