Inside the world of luxury watch collectors and the hunt for rare timepieces

Siddharth Casyab’s interest in watches began about 20 years ago, when his mother gifted him a Cartier Tank. But the Kolkata-based businessman didn’t realise how much he loved timepieces until 2019, when he bought his first “serious” watch, a Corum Admiral.

Not merely an enthusiast, Casyab, 40, is also an avid buyer. He has since acquired a two-tone Rolex Submariner, a Tudor Black Bay and the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond 007 Edition. Except for the Corum, each purchase involved weeks, and sometimes months, of waiting, along with repeated follow-ups with dealers before he could get his hands on the watches.

Over 6,000km away in Uganda, Roni Madhvani, 62, a businessman of Indian origin, is known for his collection of vintage timepieces, ranging from Zenith and Cartier to Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. At one point, he only collected the Patek Philippe Ellipse and watches with asymmetric dials.

By September 2023, Madhvani, who divides his time between Uganda, India and the UK, had begun seeking out more specific pieces: double-signed dials (bearing both the brand and retailer’s name), vintage watches with personal engravings, and pre-1990 models whose cases were made by independent case makers for major brands. Such details, he told The New York Times in an interview in 2023, reveal a watch’s provenance and the network of makers behind it.

To a layperson, Casyab and Madhvani might appear to be watch collectors. But anyone familiar with horology will quickly point out that an enthusiastic buyer is not the same as a true collector.

All data suggests that while the global luxury watch market has flattened, demand for rare and exceptional timepieces remains robust. Christie’s watch auctions brought in $144 million in 2024 and $157 million in 2025. In 2023, an exceptional year for the auction house, watch sales totalled $234 million, driven by several private collections and two special auctions: The Art of F.P. Journe and the Dufour Foundation Charity Auction.

“The market for rare and collectible watches, whether vintage or modern, is strong and is fundamentally down to demand and supply. Collectors still want that elusive trophy watch, and you can see the palpable excitement whenever something truly rare appears in an auction catalogue,” says Dubai-based Nitin Nair, associate director, specialist and co-head of sales at Christie’s Middle East.

His favourite example is a Patek Philippe Ref. 2526 (circa 1954) in yellow gold with a black enamel dial featuring luminous hour markers and the signature of Caracas-based retailer Serpico y Laino, which was offered at a Christie’s New York auction last December. Only three examples of a first-series Ref. 2526 are known. The watch on offer was estimated at $250,000-450,000. It eventually sold for $660,400, far above the estimate.

The robust demand for such rare watches is tied partly to human nature, but also to shifting tastes among the ultra-rich and a transformation underway in the luxury market. Once limited to a small elite, many luxury products—from bags and shoes to cars and watches—are now accessible to far more people around the world. There is little snob value left in stepping out of a Land Rover Defender in a Loro Piana suit, sporting a Rolex Daytona and carrying a Birkin.

“What people want is exclusivity,” says Alexandre Ghotbi, deputy chairperson and head of watches for Europe and the Middle East at the auction house Phillips, speaking over the phone from Geneva. “There are many people with deep pockets looking for a trophy watch—something rare or of exceptional quality. It’s also about individuality. This doesn’t apply only to watches. People want a car nobody else has, a painting nobody else has, a wine nobody else has. That human instinct explains why exceptional pieces command such high prices.”

THE GREAT RUSH

In India and across the world, the great watch rush began during the covid-19 pandemic. Lockdowns left many people with time—and money—on their hands. Some benefited from cryptocurrency gains, while others rode an extraordinary bull run in the stock markets.

People weren’t merely noticing what Indian cricketers and Bollywood stars were wearing on their wrists; they were actively trying to acquire similar models. Authorised dealers, many of whom were chasing buyers with discounts just five years earlier, suddenly found themselves flooded with orders for watches costing several lakh rupees.

“A mix of high disposable incomes, supply chain disruptions and a renewed consumer focus on tangible, long-lasting assets drove broad-based price increases in the secondary watch market,” recalls Nair. This surge in interest coincided with the rising popularity of steel watches with integrated bracelets—such as the Patek Philippe Nautilus, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, the Vacheron Constantin 222 and steel sports watches from Rolex, notes Ghotbi.

“Prices were very high—sometimes surprisingly so—because the watches were not particularly rare,” he says. “They simply had long waiting periods. People did not want to wait, so they were ready to pay a premium. That had a trickle-down effect on the primary market, meaning that many watches were selling above retail.”

The post-covid highs (2020-23) have since passed, and conditions have largely reverted to what they were before the pandemic. Several ordinary luxury watches are now selling below retail in the secondary market globally, even though customers in India may still find themselves on waitlists at authorised dealers.

While India is a growing and important market for global watch brands, demand for rare watches is only gradually emerging. “India is actually almost not represented at all in auctions, except for a few wealthy Indians based in Dubai or the UK,” says Ghotbi.

Nair believes interest is nevertheless rising. “Most of it is currently around modern and independent watchmakers, though there are many collectors of vintage watches too. The secondary market needs more time to mature, but it remains a market with huge potential,” he says.

COLLECTOR VERSUS BUYER

Anyone with money, connections and patience can buy a watch from brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet or Richard Mille. But that alone does not grant entry into the rarefied world of collectors. In fact, one does not need vast wealth—or even dozens of watches—to qualify as a collector. For Ghotbi, the defining factor is mindset.

“If you have the right mindset and knowledge, even owning three watches can make you a collector,” he says. Dedicated collectors of Seiko watches, for instance, may focus on relatively affordable timepieces but are highly knowledgeable and selective about what they buy.

According to Nair, a collector approaches the hobby with an appreciation of history and an understanding of rarity and provenance. “This depth of understanding is built over time through research, studying auctions and catalogues, and engaging with peers and industry experts. Collectors relish the thrill of the hunt, and it can take years to track down the right piece.”

Collections often evolve as tastes change. “Some collectors may start hunting mid-century chronographs or focus on vintage wristwatches with asymmetric cases. Others might concentrate on vintage Patek Philippe watches from a specific historical period,” Nair adds.

In the seven years since buying his Corum, Casyab has begun reading far more about watches. For now, he still considers himself an enthusiast.“Every collector starts out as an enthusiast,” he says. “I’m learning more about watches, horological history and watchmaking. Maybe someday I’ll become a collector.”

Shrenik Avlani is a writer and editor and the co-author of The Shivfit Way, a book on functional fitness.