zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

Appeared in 8 October 2007 WSJ, referencing the 10/8/2007 front page article

Vintage Watch Auctions Are Rigidly Ethical

Your article "How Top Watchmakers Intervene in Auctions" (page one, Oct. 8) suggests that the highly successful auctions of vintage and rare watches conducted in recent years by Antiquorum, the Geneva-based company I founded, have somehow been unethical. It is true that Antiquorum has been a pioneer in thematic auctions, in which private parties have sold rare timepieces of a particular manufacturer, such as Patek Philippe and Omega, for hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, and in some cases the particular manufacturer itself was the winning bidder. But there is nothing secretive or ethically questionable about these auctions.

Patek Philippe, Omega and the other luxury watchmakers have never made a secret of the fact that they buy watches for their collections and museums, and they frequently announce their important purchases. While the success of a particular watch, and the price it brings at auction, may have a positive impact on brand recognition when it comes to marketing and selling new watches, your suggestion that thematic auctions are a stunt to bolster retail prices is preposterous. Among other things, most watches sold at thematic auctions haven't been made for at least 50 years. Usually there are only a few remaining in existence, and these watches are by no means equivalent to modern watches.

There has never been any collusion between Antiquorum and any watchmaker. In fact, thematic auctions are transparent. Swiss law demands the presence of a government official who presides over the entire sale. The official's records for the watches featured in your article would show that Patek Philippe and Omega had to successfully bid against multiple unrelated bidders. Moreover, Antiquorum's thematic auctions are rigorously followed by the trade press, collectors and others in the auction and watch worlds. Sotheby's and Christie's have followed Antiquorum's lead, initiating their own "thematic sales" because they realize they have many benefits to collectors.

Most troubling is your implication that Antiquorum's auctions must somehow be unethical because of my legal disputes with the company and Artist House, Antiquorum's Japanese investor. Habsburg, a 43% shareholder of Antiquorum, and I have initiated legal proceedings in Switzerland challenging the legality of my purported removal as CEO. The article gratuitously repeats scurrilous allegations against me of "missing watches" at Antiquorum, which have no merit. You failed to report that since Artist House became involved with Antiquorum, there were account reviews by an internationally recognized accounting firm every three months, and no financial impropriety was found. In any event, Antiquorum's management issues have nothing to do with the indisputable bona fides of the company's thematic auctions.

Osvaldo Patrizzi

Monaco

I find this response interesting, both in content and timing. But I will let others opine first.

Sam