The man behind the watches: Toby Sutton - founder of Watches of Knightsbridge
As the last auction of the year from Watches of Knightsbridge comes to a close, we caught up with founder of the house - Toby Sutton - to get an insider’s view of the vintage watch market and find out which watch he’d take with him if he was stuck on a desert island.
Hi Toby, could you tell us a bit more about yourself. How did you first get into watches?
From an early age around 8 years old I remember my father, being a watch dealer, used to show me lots of watches and explain the difference between the movements etc. He often gave me old pocket watches & parts to take to the local flea market to sell with my grand parents on the weekend whilst he was working from our antiques arcade in Portobello Road.
And, what was the first watch you owned?
Boys sized Rolex Oyster for my 13th birthday. I wore it on special occasions and kept it under my bed to look at every now and again. Unfortunately I didn’t keep it and my father let me trade it up to a Tudor Big Block for my 16th birthday, which I then traded into a GMT 1675 for my 17th birthday, and so it continued.
Nice present! How was Watches of Knightsbridge born?
Having always wanted to work in the watch industry, especially after my stint working in the city as a trader, I managed to convince my father & uncle in 2011 to start a specialist watch auction. My grandfather who was an antiques dealer once said we needed a miracle for it to work. Luckily with a bit more work than we anticipated, we managed to make it happen!
What do you think makes Watches of Knightsbridge different compared to other auction houses?
Firstly we are one of the only auction houses worldwide specialising in just watches. If compared to other specialist watch departments at auction houses such as Sothebys and Phillips, then I would say that we share the same passion and construct our auctions in similar ways, however we specialise mainly in the middle range market with the core of what we sell being between £2,000-30,000. We have sold watches up towards £200k but we our aim is to focus on the more accessible mainstream vintage market.
You've been running auctions at Watches of Knightsbridge for 8 years now. What has been the most interesting watch you’ve auctioned and why? Any particular stand out stories that come to mind?
I wouldn’t say that the 6239 Paul Newman Daytona was the most interesting watch we have ever sold, but the way it was consigned from the original owner I will always remember. He submitted the selling form through our website with one image of his watch, description Rolex Daytona with no reference to Paul Newman or exotic dial etc etc. We estimated the watch at the time £40,000-60,000 to his surprise, so he made the trip up to consign the watch with us. The watch was a wedding gift from his parents-in-law in the 1970s and came with and original purchase receipt. What I remember most is that the original owner mentioned his two sons did not want the watch passed down to them because it was manual wind! A watch that anyone into vintage would only dream of inheriting in this way. The watch hammered for £63,000 plus buyers premium in 2014.
Wrist check: what’s on your wrist right now?
White gold Rolex Day Date ref. 1803 from early 1970s with black “confetti” dial. Toned down by wearing it on a grey leather strap instead of the President bracelet.
That’s a lovely watch. On a completely different note: you’re cast away on a desert island and can only take one watch with you. What do you have on your wrist and why?
The sensible answer would be the Breitling Emergency, however I wouldn’t trust that working properly so maybe an Apple Watch with a sim on full charge!
What watches have you seen an increasing interest in over the past year?
In the past 5 years the value of most vintage & pre-owned watches have increased, in some cases by up to 100%! This year we have seen the market overall soften. I would say there is still particularly strong interest in the vintage Royal Oak’s, Nautilus and Polerouters all designed by the most famous watch designer Gerald Genta. We have also noticed some collectors are now focusing on vintage Tudor rather than Rolex and whilst Rolex prices have maintained strength, Tudor prices are still on the rise.
Any predictions on what you think might be a great watch to buy in the future and why?
If you buy what you like to wear then it will end up being a great watch in the future because of sentimental value. At the moment I would recommend buying watches from the 1980/90s and early 2000s as these will be the vintage watches of the near future. These watches will appeal to the younger generation now as they get older and wealthier and these watches will have more relevance as it may be from their birth year or a watch the grew up aspiring to buy etc.
For more on Watches of Knightsbridge and details of their forthcoming auctions, take a look at their website here.