Watch advisory for collectors who want counsel, not a pitch

What the advisory covers

• Collection review and inventory — every piece catalogued, authenticated, and valued against current closed transactions; gaps in papers and service records identified with their price impact
• Pre-purchase verification — buying from a dealer, an auction, or another collector? The watch is examined physically — originality, serial consistency, polishing, condition — and you get a written view of the asking price before you commit. We have no stake in whether the deal closes
• Insurance schedule review — schedules drift while reference prices move; we re-anchor cover to documented condition and current values
• Acquisition counsel — which reference, in what condition tier, at what price logic, and in what order — before any hunt begins
• Exit strategy — reference by reference: what would sell privately, what belongs at auction, what to service or document first, and what to simply keep
• Estate and succession files — the collection documented so heirs inherit knowledge, not just a safe

The brands the practice covers

The established houses: Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, A. Lange & Söhne, Richard Mille, and collection-grade Cartier — where reference scarcity and condition tiers drive value.

The independents: F.P. Journe, MB&F, De Bethune, Greubel Forsey, Akrivia and Rexhep Rexhepi, Kari Voutilainen, Laurent Ferrier, Czapek, Grönefeld, Petermann Bédat, Simon Brette — small-bench watchmaking where production runs are tiny, documentation is everything, and the verification stakes are highest.

The grail tier: Philippe Dufour and Roger W. Smith — pieces that surface once a cycle. If you hold one, the advisory question is rarely whether it has value; it is whether the documentation, insurance, and succession plan match it.

Advisory or sourcing? Both exist — separately

This page is counsel: flat-fee, question-driven, with "keep it and re-insure it" always available as the answer. When you already know the reference you want, the sourcing mandate hunts it through collector networks; when you're ready to sell, the private sale desk takes over. The separation is deliberate — the same principle that governs the whole advisory practice.

Why does independence matter most in watches?

The watch market is the most dealer-saturated of our six categories: most “advice” a collector receives comes from someone holding inventory or earning a spread. Our advisory holds no stock and is paid the same flat fee whether you buy, sell, or do nothing — so “walk away, that dial isn't right” has no inventory disagreeing behind it.

For market context the advisory draws on, see the Journal's auction records analysis.