Are high-end watches a good investment? What you need to know before you buy

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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – Making a buck in the stock market is getting harder these days. Stocks are priced richly. Bonds don’t pay much. So maybe you should look for new places to stash your money. A different asset class, perhaps?Star of the ABC show Shark Tank , Kevin O’Leary, who bills himself as “Mr. Wonderful,” can be a tough investor. So when he suggests putting money in a hard asset, it is worth checking out.O’Leary believes high-end watch brands, like Rolex, can be a great investment. He’s not alone. Headlines about luxury watches have been shifting from focusing on fashion to highlighting investment potential. “Rolex Daytonas outperform stock market,” reads one headline. “5 Rolex watches to invest in during the second half of 2021,” reads another.So can you really make money buying a nice watch?Avi Dayan keeps a close eye on watch prices. He owns San Francisco-based A and E Watches . His company sells watches, concentrating on pre-owned Rolexes.There is a booming market for them. Back in 2017, a watch once owned by Paul Newman sold at auction for $17.8 million. All Rolexes of the same style and vintage are called Paul Newmans.“My last Paul Newman,” Dayan tells 7 On Your Side’s Michael Finney, “I bought about 20 years ago. The watch cost me $15,000. The same watch today is about $450,000 to $550,000.“Now that is exceptional, but not out of the ordinary. One customer, Eric, says he bought a pre-owned Rolex diver’s watch, wore it for two years, then sold it again.“The one I had went up significantly,” Eric says, “I was able to sell it at a substantial profit. It worked out well for me.“So how do you get into this? Dayan says buy pre-owned. If you have the money, buy a Daytona model. If you can’t afford that, look for one of the diver’s watches.“You buy a stainless steel submariner today, I bet you that in 10 years it’s going to be way, way more expensive than what you spend today,” Dayan says, “Buy a watch in good condition and buy it with a warranty.“Before investing in anything, you need to know what you are doing. So if investing in watches seems like a good idea, learn now and invest later.

Six Genuine Growth shares

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Tough 12 months for growth investors

But a strong six months

The wind is in the sails of genuine growth shares

Six shares that may have what it takes

As we enter the final furlong of 2021 with fingers crossed to wind things up with a Santa rally, it looks like growth stocks that are once again capturing many investors’ imaginations.

Undaunted by Covid or the spectre of rising inflation, UK growth stocks have substantially outperformed over the last six months. The MSCI UK Growth index has returned 10 per cent over that time compared with just under 6 per cent from the main MSCI UK index and a mere 3.4 per cent from the ‘value’ version of the index. So this year’s Genuine Growth screen is being run at a time when the wind seems to be in the sails of the strategy.

AstraZeneca: Good Samaritan left playing catch-up

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The most significant aspect of the AstraZeneca announcement last Friday was what was not said. News reports rightly concentrated on the company’s intention to “transition to modest profitability” from its current at-cost Covid vaccine policy, together with buoyant third-quarter results that nevertheless fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Yet underlying the immediate 6.8 per cent fall in the share price may have been a more serious concern. The financial undershoot and the vaccine pricing are of a piece with the less than adroit handling of the vaccine rollout last year, including poor messaging surrounding its efficacy.

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