Follow THESE Watch Brands For Your Collection | Kitco

[Music] And Jordan is still alive today. He's not, uh, you know, he's still with us. If you had to ask him one question, you had to ask Jordan today, what would that be?

Well, I see FP quite a bit. We were at Watch Week in Dubai just a few weeks ago. I was with him in California. I'm part of the groupie band of collectors that meets up with him. I'm always interested in what's next because this guy is a genius. He sits around the pool at a watch show, or he was once in Las Vegas, and he dripped up the, uh, you know, the astronaut meek—a million dollar watch he makes one of a kind for each individual collector. They are incredibly coveted.

The way you have to look at collecting Jordan is imagine if you knew the value of Picasso, and you personally knew Picasso while he was alive, and he would paint a Picasso for you. Can you imagine what that would be like? That's exactly what's happening with Jordan right now.

Yeah, everybody I know that's a collector calls me and says, "Kevin, we know you know FP, is there any way you can get me an FPJorn?" That journey is about forming a relationship with the brand. It always is, you know, it's like a Roger Smith. It's like AP, which now you have to have your own account with them to buy. They're managing their brand masterfully, and it's your benefit because your pieces appreciate in value the minute you walk out of the store with them.

You're a dial guy, and I know you know you—that's something that you look at when choosing something for your collection. I want to bring up two or three brands that are a little bit out there when it comes to dials: Richard Mill and Jacobs and Co. How do you feel about these?

You know, I know them both. I saw Jacob at Watch Week—he had a spectacular booth. He was showing some of his most eclectic pieces. They are really beautifully made, and these are high art. That's what they are. I don't own either of them; actually, I do own one Jacob—a beautiful piece. I have that because it's a gorgeous red dial that works so well on Shark Tank. The high-end pieces are really jewelry combined with, you know, a sound understanding of horological development.

So, the creation of the timepiece itself, it's a little different than the direction I go in collecting. I love them, there's no question. Mill is a whole different kettle of fish. I mean, the actual size of the dial and the piece itself and the weight of it is an acquired taste. I do not own any Richard Mills right now. I've been looking at them for two to three years; that's not unusual for me. I've been talking to the brand.

It is very, very successful. It is extremely coveted within the crypto crowd. Bitcoin 2022 will be in February; here, Mill will undoubtedly have a boutique right at the Bitcoin show because so many people. But that style of watch—Mill is a pioneer in that style.

Let me show you a company that is doing something similar. Yes, this is a vanity, an Australian entrepreneurial group. This is a giant chunk of sapphire with a skeleton tourbillon inside it. This is a beautiful piece. This actually is a one of a kind. It's Mr. Wonderful. It has a black and red band. Obviously, again, you know, this is the kind of style where you're getting a very, very large dial; you're making a statement.

It's extremely creative, but to be made out of sapphire, these watches sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, this entrepreneurial group has figured out a way to bring them to the market in more of the 12, 15, 20,000 range and less. So I really appreciate this kind of artistry being made affordable, and I have several of these pieces from Avanti. But you're right; these are more on the modern art—they call them the Andy Warhols—and they deserve a place in your collection.

But these, when you start to extend into the micro brands, I was going to mention. We were talking about dials. Speaking about micro brands, every once in a while within the collector community, I'll get a phone call. You know, I used to think I had the world's largest watch collection until I went to the United Arab Emirates. I'm a nothing burger compared to what those guys are doing, and I've met some of them. In fact, I think I've met the largest watch collector in the world; we become very close friends, and he's one of the royal family.

He called me up and said, "Have you ever heard of a Ming?" I said, "I've never heard of him." He said, "This brand is getting smoking hot out of Singapore." Ming is a photographer, artist. He designs dials, and he makes his movements in Switzerland. This is a Ming. This beautiful floating dial is unique, with this incredible skeleton, you know, crystal in the back to see the movement.

But what matters about this meeting is Ming makes very few watches, but he decided to make one of a kind Ming for himself, Ming's me. I learned about the brand through my UI connection. I emailed the company, and the production manager came back and said, "My goodness, Kevin, we love Shark Tank in Singapore. Are you going to be wearing the Ming you buy on Shark Tank?" I said, "I don't know; I have to go through wardrobe, and it's going to need a red band anyways."

Okay, and he said to me, "Look, Ming is willing to give you the Ming made for me. You'll get Ming's me. You're going to have to pay more for it. You'll have the only Ming ever made in the world for me. It'll be a one of a kind."

Here it is. What's special about that one? Why is it one of a kind? He made a one-of-a-kind case for himself of a very, very extreme medal here, and so it was designed for him to wear on his wrist as Ming's me.

Yeah, when a maker gives you an honor like that, this is an incredible piece in my collection. And so I talk about this story, and again, here we are—a dial is creating a story. That's what great watch collecting is about. Each watch has a story; that's the whole point.

If somebody were to buy a collection for themselves with the mentality of having an investment portfolio of watches, what are some of the top brands you would recommend? Rolex—very collectible, okay? Really good investment. Particularly, incredibly good investment; you can't go wrong with Patek.

Absolutely, I mean, I'm wearing the 5911 right now as my chosen piece for the second for lunch today. This came into the market a couple of years ago. I got one of the first hundred made. It was not widely appreciated, but either was the original AP. We talked about the design, the Royal Oak, when it came out.

If you're offered the first of the first of a new model, you have to take it because, over time, it will always be one of the first 100s, and of course, it's appreciated in value. I was going to mention, you know, Patek; they just stopped making the 5711. This coveted piece— it almost doubled in value on that announcement, on that press announcement.

5711, you can no longer get one; it's probably the most coveted Patek right now. It's steel, but it's a classic, so the value has gone up dramatically. And you mentioned earlier probably the most unappreciated brand in the world: Grand Seiko. The quality of these watches—this is a Grand Seiko lacquer special edition of 100.

You cannot—the crunch, when you just actually wind it, the crunch is legendary. The quality of these is equal to a Patek Philippe. If you're going to start, this is a great brand to start in—Grand Patek, because you're getting such value. Absolutely spectacular.

I was going to mention another brand—so many brands—Longines is making amazing watches. Absolutely gorgeous. Here's another called the Superman Seiko; a beautiful starter watch, beautiful blue dial, incredible polishing.

I mean, look, don't get me going, as they say. I could go all day. You want to go Longines? You want to go Grand Seiko? No question about it, those are baselines. You want to—there's some Omega pieces you can dabble in. You can go to the vintage market and look for other pieces. I mean, I'm just purveying, you know, some of the watches I brought out of the safe here.

We've looked at almost all of them. The key to this, though, is do not buy a watch that you cannot afford. Buy a watch that you fall in love with, right? And wait for that opportunity. Start to appreciate the pursuit of horology, the pursuit of dials, the pursuit of storytelling.

But right now, I did a shoot with Teddy recently at a Longines boutique here in Miami, and I saw dials. That company, which is not as well known in North America, is huge in Asia—makes incredible watches at extremely affordable prices. I mean, same with Grand Seiko. Remember, there's Seiko and there's Grand Seiko.

With Seiko, you can get entry-level pieces in there, and they're absolutely spectacular. The Superman I just showed you—start in places like that: Omega, the Swatch Group. I mean, you can't go wrong.

And Bulova—you know, there's vintage pieces. American watch company. I own them all. I mean, I don't chase price; I chase dial. I want—that's what I am. That's what I like about you as a collector, because you don't—you’re not a watch snob. You don't just go for the higher-end stuff; you buy things that appeal to you on a personal level, and you have the entire spectrum of watches.

I want to end the conversation on Japanese watches because you mentioned Grand Seiko. I'm wearing, by myself, I love it. This is a spring drive GMT. And when I first got the watch, I set it to my phone, and two weeks later, it was still running perfectly to the second to my phone.

Do you know another watch that has that level of accuracy that is also a mechanical watch?

Kevin: Very few, very, very few. The history of Grand Seiko—very few people know this, but they were one of the very first makers of watches. It grew out of the clock industry, and Japan started making fine watch pieces before the Swiss.

And in the '70s, when they had these contests to test accuracy in Switzerland, the Japanese won year after year after year, and it manifests itself in the Grand Seiko heritage. Those spring drives are incredible pieces. The technology inside of that watch is the best on earth in some ways in terms of what they've developed there, and they keep getting better. The accuracy is insane.

But the other thing about them is they covet the design of the dial. They have beautiful contrast on those dials, and the polishing of the steel and the other precious metals is off the charts. So, you know, I can't say enough about them. I have many, many Grand Seikos now, and I consider them to be some of the finest pieces I own.

But, you know, they are—the Swiss kind of have the biggest branding, but in terms of quality, you can't go wrong with the Grand Seiko and some of the other brands we've talked about. I mean, watch collecting is, um—it's a disease. It's a virus. Yeah, it's very expensive.

My wife is really pissed at me because I keep coming home with watches, and she says, "What, are you crazy? I'm going to get you help! This is insane! You're wearing three to four watches a day, and you still can't get into your collection in a year! It's insane!"

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