Luxury watchmakers garner global attention for neuromuscular diseases

Breguet and Hublot are among the watchmakers pledging one-off timepieces to help raise awareness for muscular dystrophy at Only Watch 2015.

Now in its sixth year, the Only Watch biennial charity auction, under the patronage of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and organized by the Monaco Association Against Muscular Dystrophy (AMM), brings together more than 40 watchmakers to raise funds for combating and researching neuromuscular diseases. Given the auction’s affiliation with prestigious watchmakers, the one-off timepieces will likely be attractive to collectors and enthusiasts around the world, thus giving global attention to the cause.

"Monaco is widely-known as a residence for wealthy people, exactly the market for high-end watches," said Al Ries, founder and chairman of Ries & Ries, a Roswell, GA-based marketing strategy consultancy.

"Also the yacht show attracts wealthy people, reinforcing the idea that the Only Watch auction focuses on one-off high-end watches," he said.

"Many people who might participate in the auction may not be aware that the event is designed to create awareness and generate funds for Muscular Dystrophy. But if the auction generates a significant amount of funds for the organization, then it obviously is a good thing to do."

Mr. Ries is not affiliated with Only Watch 2015, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.

Only Watch’s co-organizer, British auction house Phillips did not respond by press deadline.

Lending a wrist
As the Only Watch 2015 auction draws closer, participating watch brands have begun to promote the timepieces developed for the charity.

Only Watch 2015 begins at the end of the summer with a preview event at the Monaco Yacht Show Sept. 23-26. For the following month, the lot of unique watches will travel from Hong Kong and Beijing and to New York and London before the ending auction held in Geneva on Nov. 5-7.

Only Watch 2015 promotional banner

"The Monaco Yacht Show supports AMM since the creation of the association in 2001, Luc Pettavino - former managing director of the show - created the association," said Johan Pizzardini, communications & media manager for the Monaco Yacht Show. "The MYS benefits from a worldwide exposure and as you can imagine, this helps for driving awareness for the AMM to a large audience...

"MYS jointly organizes yearly auctions with AMM since 2001 to raise funds for research on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. In 2005, Mr Pettavino founded Only Watch; a concept based on the donation of a one-off timepiece especially made for charity by the greatest watchmakers," he said. "The main goal was to collect money quickly and high amounts for financing research. Indeed this disease is a race against time as this genetic illness affects young males (1 birth out of 3,500 boys). Huge success.

"The MYS used to organize the Only Watch auction during the MYS in order to capitalize on the presence of wealthy people and yacht owners that could afford buying watches for several hundreds of thousand euro. In five editions of the biennial event: 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, Only Watch raised over $16.5 million, 100 percent for scientific research."

Auction house Phillips will host the Hong Kong, New York, London and Geneva legs of the Only Watch 2015 tour as it works to promote its newly developed Watch Department. Its involvement in Only Watch 2015 will show its expertise in the field and is likely to attract new consumers interested in timepiece auctions and sales.

Phillips' Watch Department kicked off in May 2015 with two inaugural sales in Geneva. The first, held on May 9 and dedicated to Rolex's Day-Date timepiece, generated $31 million while the second day on May 10, which saw rare watch examples, had sales of $25 million.

Along with Phillips and the AMM, renowned watch expert Aurel Bacs is also a co-organizer and will serve as the auctioneer in Geneva. In a statement Mr. Bacs said, “I have a followed Only Watch attentively since its first edition. This exceptional horological event unites unique pieces from the world’s most prestigious brands, while also being a humanitarian initiative.”

Participants include Blancpain, Hublot, Breguet, Ulysse Nardin, Louis Vuitton, Bell & Ross, Vacheron Constantin, Piaget, Richard Mille and Patek Philippe, among others. To give individuals interested in raising funds for Only Watch a sneak peek at the watches included at auction, brands relied on social media.

To generate interest, brand such as Hublot looked toward their own social accounts while Only Watch reposted and retweeted branded communications.

Swiss watchmaker Hublot’s watch, for instance, is in partnership with Brazilian artist Romero Britto who designed a timepiece for the charity. The brightly colored watch will be on auction with the canvas painted by Mr. Britto that inspired the piece, thus upping the value and likely the interest in Hublot’s contribution.

Others took a more traditional horology approach to their one-off pieces such as Blancpain’s Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar with black enamel dial, Piaget’s Altiplano 900P, Richard Mille’s prototype RM 27-02 Tourbillon and Breguet’s Type XXI chronograph.

Time for giving
The watch and jewelry industry is behind a number of charity initiatives that generate funds for causes based on the auction of unique pieces, wearable and abstract.

For instance, in November 2013, Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre lent its support to the (RED) Foundation by including two custom timepieces that were part of a larger capsule collection auctioned off at Sotheby’s New York.

Part of a larger capsule collection containing 44 items, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s contributions were customized by Sir Jonathan Ives, senior vice president of design at Apple, and industrial designer Marc Newson. Curated collections for charity initiatives are likely to entice affluent bidders due to the limited availability of the items and the degree of authenticity imparted by the theme (see story).

Similarly, precision-cut crystal maker Swarovski auctioned a selection of art objects designed by the nominees for the Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in May.

Proceeds from the online auction were donated to Free Arts NYC, a charity that offers art education and mentoring to children of all ages in New York, benefitting those in need and fostering appreciation for the arts. Swarovski showed its commitment to supporting future talent, whether it comes in the form of emerging fashion designers seeking recognition or underserved youth in the city (see story).

Phillips is likely to see a surge of interest in its newly forged Watch Department due to its charitable involvement and dedication to an expertise in horology.

"Many buyers of high-end artwork rationalize their purchases by thinking they can always get their money back by calling Sotheby's or Christie's," Mr. Ries said.

"So in the long run, a watch department at Phillips will tend to increase sales of expensive watches. Buyers can think to themselves, it's not a purchase, it's an investment," he said. "That's an excuse that can increase watch sales.

"The truth is, most buyers of these products don't buy them to keep time. They buy them for the same reason people buy artwork. They like to look at the watches and admire them. To buyers, these watches are collector's items."

Final Take
Jen King, lead reporter on Luxury Daily, New York