If you believe some specialized online retailers, financing luxury watches is a sure-fire way to win. Recently I came across a “blog post” from a well-known Replica Watches retailer that made me not know whether to laugh or cry: First, watches were touted as a supposedly safe investment – the argument was in the same old vein: there are currently no sensible investment opportunities, gold and stocks are volatile, interest rates on bank accounts are low, etc…. a luxury watch from Rolex or the like, which has tripled its market value in recent years (just imagine any multiplier here), is an “attractive option”, a no-brainer, isn’t it?

Financing luxury watches – Aspect 1: Investment recommendations far above list price

The dealer mentioned at the beginning, who advertises the financing of his watches, talks, for example, about the “top recommendations” Rolex Daytona Cosmograph, Rolex GMT Master Pepsi or Patek Philippe Nautilus (brilliant tips, almost insider tips 😉 – not!). At the same time, of course, this dealer also offers said models with crazy markups on the list price.

Don’t get me wrong: there is nothing wrong with that in a free market economy. Many other dealers are in similar price ranges – in the case of Rolex thanks to the homeopathic supply of partner jewelers.

However, in my opinion it becomes cheeky when the dealer talks about an “attractive and safe investment” in the same breath as financing with interest rates beyond 8% (!!!) (more on this in a moment).

Financing luxury watches – Aspect 2: Conditions are often terrible

I would like to address the aforementioned interest aspect directly: The convenience of handling financing directly through the online retailer from whom you also buy is often overlooked: As of the beginning of 2020, the conditions for financing watches at online watch retailers range from 5 to almost 9% – this is significantly less attractive than taking out a “normal” private loan, for example from your own bank. One of my readers, who has many years of experience with a bank, wrote to me that he assumes that a good portion of the interest will most likely go to the broker. In other words: to the watch retailer.

Aspect 3: Fulfill your heart’s desire? On the sense of financing a watch

Financing all kinds of things is an integral part of our everyday lives. The condominium – is paid off with a real estate loan. The car – financed through the car manufacturer’s bank. So why not finance a watch too?

In my opinion, financing a watch can only make sense in a few situations – for example, if you want to “avoid” an upcoming price increase and find a financing option with such low interest rates that the price increase does not “eat up” it. Or if a watch that you have been saving up for for ages suddenly turns up somewhere at an excellent price (but of course you should be very cautious if the price is too good to be true)…