Q&A: Ask Me Anything

See you in the comments.

Movado “Explorer”

Good morning. It’s been almost two months since our last Q&A, so it’s time for another one. January’s Q&A had a lot of engagement. See you in the comments:

Like last time, I’ll take a handful of the best questions and bring them to a future newsletter for more complete responses. And, if you’re not a subscriber, is there a better time than right now? Everyone’s doing it!

Hundreds of (happy!) paid subscribers.

💡 Here are just a few things we can chat about:

• Collecting, recs, “the market,” auctions, and taking care of your vintage watches

• The tools I use for Unpolished

• Vintage restoration and originality

• Patek 3970, or other references worthy of a deep dive

• Any exciting releases so far in 2025?

• Watch media, of course (+ I’m open to feedback on the first 2 months of Unpolished)

Rebuilding in 2024: What I’ve Learned About Watches and Media

🇨🇭 I’ll also be at Watches & Wonders next month, so I’d be curious to hear what kind of coverage you might be looking for that others don’t offer.

📊 There’s also all kinds of industry news to chat about:

• What do we think of Breitling x Gallet?

• LVMH. Puck is reporting that Frédéric Arnault will leave as CEO of LVMH Watches to lead Loro Piana. The 30-year-old became head of LVMH Watches in 2024 after four years as CEO of TAG Heuer. Perhaps this would mean that younger brother Jean Arnault, who’s currently head of watches at Louis Vuitton, would take his spot?

• Blancpain/Breguet. Meanwhile, Swatch Group is consolidating production of Breguet and Blancpain cases and bracelets into one location. The goal is to combine this production of its Prestige brands—Breguet, Blancpain, and Jaquet Droz. Swatch Group says no jobs are impacted. Last year, there were rumors that LVMH wanted to acquire Breguet, but was rebuffed.

• That Morgan Stanley Report. I haven’t covered that Morgan Stanley x Luxe Consult report because I never really know what to make of it, but maybe you all have thoughts? Last year, I asked Clymer about it on Hodinkee Radio and he specifically questioned the Rolex numbers, acknowledging how secretive the company is. Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek expressed similar, saying that “the deviations are on average 60 percent in average prices, 40 percent in unit quantities and 30 percent in sales.” Still, Morgan Stanley & Mr. Muller are well respected, and I’d bet the numbers are pretty good—and anyway, it’s mostly for Morgan Stanley clients, not us. In a downturn when there could be some M&A activity, perhaps the report is especially useful?

In between answering your questions, I’ll be finishing this weekend’s free Reverso newsletter and packing some Founding Member valet trays (yes, they’re coming!).

See you in the comments,

Tony