Why should some people wait until the end of Watches & Wonders to resell the goodies and other gadgets collected for free during the Show? All you have to do is go to a shop and carefully keep the sugar cubes offered with the coffee to start a small lucrative business. A few days ago, the Instagram account @horologiorum relayed a story showing a small ad on Ebay in which a person was selling two sugar cubes obtained following a visit to the Patek Philippe boutique on Bond Street. This is of course appalling and at this stage, these two treasures, sold for £22.50, have not yet found a buyer. However, the ad was made seriously with photos in several positions including from the back. You never know, maybe there would be doubt about the authenticity of these sugar cubes.
This pathetic event shows once again the atmosphere that reigns in the small watchmaking world. Everything is a pretext for making a profit. Nothing is free and the slightest thing, even the most insignificant, can become the object of a transaction. But be careful, this only works on condition that a “bankable” brand is involved: Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille and in this case, Patek Philippe. I doubt that a brand with less media exposure could generate such a pitiful attempt. This small ad is further proof of the power of “flagship” brands and that anything that can bear their names or logos becomes an object of value. Rolex goodies, for example, are extremely sought after, they are themselves the object of counterfeiting and they constitute a real market. The name of a brand is today the main explanatory element of the level of the rating of a watch. The brand is indeed an amplifier of demand which automatically leads to an increase in the rating compared to those of watches from players with lower reputations. This is not about to change and the classified ad reminds us of this. If objective criteria contribute to determining a rating (complications, materials, quality of execution, production volume, etc.), it is the aura, prestige, and reputation of the brand that are the primary factor.
Finally, the sugar cubes are only a reflection of what is found in the second-hand market. There are watches that can be resold without difficulty because demand will be strong, which encourages prices to rise. And then there are some that we will not even dare to resell because the prices that buyers would be willing to pay are much too low… provided that they generate a minimum of interest. The name Patek Philippe, the Calatrava cross are catalysts so the person feels confident in trying to resell their loot. I sincerely hope that this small ad will lead nowhere and that these two unfortunate sugar cubes will end up in a cup of coffee. If the transaction goes through, then I will take my hat off and salute the initiative of the smart guy who has clearly perceived all the excesses of the current watch market. To whom it will not be he who will be to blame but rather those who buy everything and anything.
