Forget Rolex — 1970s Heuer, Omega, Tudor and Breitling watches are the next big investment plays

How long the current bull run in prices for watches at auction can last is anybody’s guess.

But one person with more experience than most in spotting future trends is Davide Parmegiani, a super-collector and vintage watch dealer based in Milan, Italy, who now devotes much of his time on his latest venture, the Monaco Legends auction house in Monte Carlo.

In an in-depth profile of Mr Parmegiani in the May edition of WATCHPRO, he describes his early years in the business, starting his first watch store, Passatempo, in Milan in 1990, followed by the opening of a second boutique, ORO, a decade later.

Now he divides his time between Lugano in Switzerland, where he has a watch store under his own name, and Monaco.

Over his career of more than three decades Mr Parmegiani has mixed business with pleasure by accumulating a private collection that he estimates at more than 1,000 watches – among which are no fewer than 111 Rolex Cosmographs.

Although he is still trading in Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Cartier, Mr Parmegiani has his eye on vintage watches that will deliver better returns in the future than watches that have powered rising prices over the past five years.

“The market for Rolex, Patek , Audemars and now Cartier is very strong – but I really like many other makes that, to me, remain undervalued,” he tells WATCHPRO in an article by Simon de Burton.

Best watches to invest in today

His top tip for watches to invest in today?

“Heuers from the 1970s are, I think, still inexpensive; as are Omegas other than the usual Speedmaster – the Speedmaster MKII, for example, the Seamaster 300 and the PloProf,” Mr Parmegiani suggests.

“Then there are some very nice 1970s Tudor chronographs that can still be bought for very little, the same with some Breitlings of the same era. If you look at the quality, the design and the rarity, they have to be destined to rise in value.”