Junghans matthias stotz e1531991642447
Matthias Stotz, chief executive of Junghans.

Rising vintage prices for Junghans stimulates demand for new watches

Junghans is not yet a darling of the vintage watch market, but signs of rising prices for historic pieces are being noted at the very top of the German business.

CEO Matthias Stotz told WatchPro on a recent trip to Junghans headquarters in the Black Forest that rising interest in vintage pieces is a sign of a healthy primary market for its watches.

“Looking at older Junghans watches, I see that 1972 Pilot watches are increasing, and I am happy about that because this gives customers and owners of our watches a good feeling,” he said.

Chrono24 currently has over 1000 new or unworn Junghans watches for sale on its trading platform, far fewer than comparable brands that have too much supply in the market.

“Compared to other watchmakers, we do not have so many watches on these platforms. But I understand the question perfectly that if make a bad decision on supplying our retailers and distributors with too much of the wrong product, then they will appear on these platforms. We need to take care with our new watches that we do not oversupply, because this will affect the prices,” Mr Stotz said.

The company is committed to supporting its wholesalers and retailers around the world, and will not ask them to buy too much stock. “One reason that I do not think we will over-supply is that, unlike the bigger groups, we are not big enough to push our distributors to take larger quantities of watches than they want. We always have good relationships with our distributors, and we do not over-challenge them to buy too much,” he explained.

Junghans opened a museum at its Schramberg headquarters where the former watch workshop Terrace Building, which clings to the hillside above the town, houses clocks and watches dating back to the mid-19th century.

 

Terrace building

 

Asked whether the museum might have an effect on prices for vintage models, Mr Stotz replied: “I think so. The museum will have a lot of positive effects. You can see a lot of Facebook groups that are actively following what we are doing and are interested in it.”

  • The full interview with Mr Stotz will appear in the August edition of WatchPro.

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