nice read. one thing i'd add: kanye wore (and even tweeted a wristshot of) a cartier paris crash in 2018 when they were still ~$30k watches. obviously he's out of the spotlight now for good reason, but i think he (and kim k) spear-headed the 'celebrification' of cartier, and the crash in particular.
Thank you! Yes, how could I have forgotten to include Kanye and Kim K! If I recall correctly Kim K also purchased Jackie Kennedy's Cartier. I will update the list.
They may never have been 'unpopular' per se, but there has been a spike in dealers such as Mike Noveau pushing them hard in recent times... supposedly because they stockpiled cheap inventory and nothing else is moving as fast, but that's just speculation.
Thanks KF, my personal opinion is that people give us too much credit for stockpiling/speculation; usually we're pretty mediocre at it because the market is hyper-fickle and timing the market is hard, don’t even get me started on opportunity cost of holding inventory lol. Also vintage and cpcp Cartiers in strong condition were genuinely rare and hard to buy in large quantities even when they were cheaper (rarity does not always equal desirability) so I doubt that any dealer has more than a few in their safe. I remember trying to buy vintage Cartiers at IWJG shows back in 2019/feb 2020 and most on offer had cracked dials or cases in poor condition. In the auctions you are seeing the rarer survivors only. But if a dealer did have the foresight and pipeline to invest in them, that’s a significant risk he took, given these were not very liquid watches just a couple years ago, takes a lot of effort to sell even in this market, and so in my opinion deserves a nice payout for the effort. Lastly watches generally appear more beautiful when the price is high and rising (ie the bamboo).
nice read. one thing i'd add: kanye wore (and even tweeted a wristshot of) a cartier paris crash in 2018 when they were still ~$30k watches. obviously he's out of the spotlight now for good reason, but i think he (and kim k) spear-headed the 'celebrification' of cartier, and the crash in particular.
Thank you! Yes, how could I have forgotten to include Kanye and Kim K! If I recall correctly Kim K also purchased Jackie Kennedy's Cartier. I will update the list.
They may never have been 'unpopular' per se, but there has been a spike in dealers such as Mike Noveau pushing them hard in recent times... supposedly because they stockpiled cheap inventory and nothing else is moving as fast, but that's just speculation.
Thanks KF, my personal opinion is that people give us too much credit for stockpiling/speculation; usually we're pretty mediocre at it because the market is hyper-fickle and timing the market is hard, don’t even get me started on opportunity cost of holding inventory lol. Also vintage and cpcp Cartiers in strong condition were genuinely rare and hard to buy in large quantities even when they were cheaper (rarity does not always equal desirability) so I doubt that any dealer has more than a few in their safe. I remember trying to buy vintage Cartiers at IWJG shows back in 2019/feb 2020 and most on offer had cracked dials or cases in poor condition. In the auctions you are seeing the rarer survivors only. But if a dealer did have the foresight and pipeline to invest in them, that’s a significant risk he took, given these were not very liquid watches just a couple years ago, takes a lot of effort to sell even in this market, and so in my opinion deserves a nice payout for the effort. Lastly watches generally appear more beautiful when the price is high and rising (ie the bamboo).