ThePuristS Interview Osvaldo Patrizzi

“Hello, I’m Osvaldo Patrizzi” he said as he walked towards me his hand outstretched and bearing a wonderful smile. Tall, thin, impeccably dressed talking with a hint of Italian accent, Osvaldo Patrizzi, founder of Antiquorum, was all that I imagined him to be and much more: extremely frank and open.

Did Osvaldo Patrizzi create the collectors’ watch market or was he at the right place at the right time? No one can tell, but for the past 30 years he has built what can be considered the undisputed world leader of watch auctions both in the quality and rarity of the watches presented for sale as well as the incredible turover and world records.

This interview took place in December 2004, when Mr. Patrizzi shared his view on the future of Antiquorum, the collectors’ market and the upcoming Vacheron Constantin Quarter Millenium auction.

The Interview

The PuristS (TP) : I read somewhere that you were thinking of retiring after Antiquorum’s 30th anniversary celebrations of 2004.

Osvaldo Patrizzi (OP): When I started in 1974, I told myself that I would work ‘til 60, and today I’m 59. Antiquorum is my baby and I will not leave without notice. I have surrounded myself with extremely competent people and the future is looking bright. Antiquorum is a very good school, we have trained many experts and certain great watchmakers such as Frank Muller, Michel Parmigiani, Antoine Presiuzo and Roger Dubuis started with us. I will slowly lift my foot from the accelerator and leave more freedom to my collaborators.

TP: Are you not afraid that your departure shall have a negative effect on Antiquorum’s future?

OP: No, I’ve been thinking of my succession for the past 10 years and I have been preparing it by transmitting my expertise and knowledge. I will leave a healthy house, internationally renowned in the hands of persons capable of continuing the adventure. I shall always be there to help and advise, but I also need some rest. I don’t want to die with a watch in my hands!

TP:We can say that it’s Antiquorum who created the collectors' watch market. Today, 30 years later, can we affirm that the wrist watch is a true collectors' item like any other art piece?

OP: Yes and the sales results speak in our favour. Look at the sales of the different brands. We work in perfect synergy. We bring alive the history of the brands and they produce pieces that we will be selling in the next few years. This market shall expand because there is great economical potential. Each time that there is a publicity for Patek Philippe, Rolex or Vacheron Constantin it's free publicity for us, and each time we announce the sale of a piece at a very high price it’s a huge publicity for the relevant brand. It’s the small brands with no mid or long term visions who consider us as competition. If the brands would manage to regulate the second hand market as it has been done within the automobile industry, the market could be even more important. Antiquorum tries to stay in the collectors' market because that’s where the technical and cultural interest is.

TP: How do you explain the huge interest for vintage watches within a ever growing public?

OP: For me it’s a question of quality of life. The brands’ communications help but it’s mostly the importance that men give to their own image. A watch is a status symbol which immediately shows the level you are at, your tastes and financial capacity. You can have an amazing car but you will need to park it outside, whereas a watch goes with you wherever you go.

TP:During the different auction sales, the same models are often proposed. Won’t this have an effect of lassitude and dilution of the rarity factor?

OP:If you look at our catalogues, you will see that per year we have maybe 20-30 identical models for sale, but before us the demand is very high. For the exceptional pieces I can have up to 30 orders but only one winner and 29 others who wait for the next occasion. And it’s the same this at each sale. The market is too big to talk about lassitude.

TP:Are your clients mostly dealers or private collectors?

OP:We have always targeted the private collector which is something that differentiates us from our competition. We have always worked hard to offer beautiful catalogues with attractive photos and explicative notices. Dealers don’t need all this, they know what they want to buy. Our goal from the beginning was to attain the final client while educating him.

TP:You said somewhere that only 2% of today’s production of wrist watches could be considered as collectible. What are your criteria to determine what’s collectible and what’s not?

OP:2% is already huge when you consider the tens of thousands of high end watches being produces each year. To be “collectible” a watch must be either innovative or to respect the horological rules, meaning beautiful proportions, the research of detail and a quality movement. It is unnecessary to make a tourbillon which is less accurate than a watch with a regular escapement. Why build something that does not respect what it was made for in the beginning? Today you have very expensive tourbillons who are less accurate than regular watches, and in my opinion these are not collectible watches unlike watches of great precision which are much more labour intensive and require talented watchmakers to regulate them.

TP:What are the brands which in your opinion are collectible?

OP:There are many interesting brands and there are many uninteresting watches. It also depends on what the collector wishes to spend. There is of course Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Rolex but in the mid range there is Omega which manufactures an excellent product at affordable prices.

TP:Who got the idea of a thematic sale for Vacheron Constantin’s 250th anniversary?

OP: We created thematic sales which turned out to be an immense promotional instrument. It was our idea and we proposed it to Vacheron Constantin. In the beginning I was quite anxious because Vacheron Constantin had very small production numbers and to create a market you need a certain number of pieces. We then realised that the prices were not very high and we decided to go even further and search for pieces which were milestones of their epoch and we chose 250 pieces for the 250th anniversary. Today, I have 420 watches and I don’t know which ones to choose because they are all magnifient! You will discover with this sale an aspect of the Vacheron Constantin watch that even the brand wasn’t conscious of.

I am very proud of this sale which shall create in the market a second pole of interest with Patek Philippe. It is not because I no longer appreciate Patek Philippe, on the contrary, I do not want everything centred on the brand because it would mean the death of Patek Philippe in the collectors' market. At a certain point there would only be a very small number of people wealthy enough to be able to afford a Patek Philippe and that is not possible. We had to find another brand that would have legitimacy in terms of history and competence to rival with Patek Philippe. Vacheron Constantin was a brand which deserved getting more of the spotlight

The discovery of the brand with complicated pieces and an extreme quality was for me like the discovery of Ali Baba’s cave! Between the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods Vacheron Constantin made pieces with which no other brand can compete. They had the luck to collaborate with a Parisian case maker, Verger Freres who brought a French touch to Swiss technology, and you can’t find this anywhere else. The French touch has stayed with Vacheron Constantin, who with regards to its marvellous products sincerely deserves to be placed all the way on top.

Let me tell you the story of a client who described himself as a “Patek addict”, I told him that he should take a look at a steel Vacheron chronograph that I had estimated about $15,000. He fell in love with it, the chronograph finally sold for over $100,000… he wears it everyday since then! For me it is a great pride to have directed a collector like him to Vacheron Constantin

TP: Why has Vacheron Constantin had such little presence in the collectors' market?

OP: The problem was that there had been little information on the brand and few pieces at auctions. We hardly received any information from the brand and therefore the education of our clients was consequently more difficult. Since we started researching the brand people saw that Antiquorum was getting interested in Vacheron Constantin and it awoke their curiosity of the collectors. All felt that something special would happen for the 250th anniversary of the brand.

TP:Are you not worried that this interest may only be a fickle one and that it may fade after the anniversary celebrations?

OP:No, because the brand’s 250th anniversary and the thematic sale have created a buzz in the collectors’ circles and watch lovers alike. Furthermore, as I said there are many superb pieces created by Vacheron Constantin and collectors will have a growing interest for the brand. Believe me, it’s just the beginning.

TP:Why did you organise the travelling expertise days throughout different cities?

OP: Simply because I did not have enough pieces, and to create a market you need to have items to offer! Let’s not forget that Vacheron Constantin’s production in the past 250 years is equivalent to the annual production of the haute horlogerie brands today. During these expertise days, I visited a German collector who had absolutely magnificent pieces. He was showing them for the very first time and each time I took a watch to examine it he would start trembling and when I needed to open the case back and verify the movement he would ask me to hold my breath to do so! Collectors of Vacheron Constantin watches know that they possess exceptional watches.

TP: In 1994 you had already organised a Vacheron Constantin thematic sale and we can’t really say prices have increased since then.

OP: Yes that’s true but lets not forget that at the time King Fouad’s (of Egypt) watch sold for over 1,000,000 Swiss francs making it the second most expensive pocket watch behind Patek Philippe’s calibre 89. This time we shall follow Vacheron Constantin closer because we consider the brand to have a great potential.

TP: What are the most extraordinary pieces that will be auctioned?

OP: You will see, there are so many marvellous pieces. There will be a special version of the superb anniversary pieces that the have made especially for Antiquorum but also King Farouk’s watch and what is for me the most beautiful round pusher chronograph I have ever seen!

TP:Thank you.