Watches have always been a status symbol in one way or another, and many people end up with a small collection of them at some point. Like jewellery, the right ones can be an excellent investment if you choose to sell them: in fact, many people consider them a way to build a “nest egg” without relying on stocks or other items that can fluctuate in value. Because of this, protecting watches can be a vital part of making sure that that they retain their value when it comes time to sell them: a watch case is usually more than enough.
What is a watch case?
A watch case, or watch box, is essentially a variant of a standard jewellery box that’s specifically build to hold watches. Most of them will have evenly-spaced segments that can each fit one of your luxury watches, as well as a see-through top surface to let you examine them without having to open the watch box itself. Others may act more like a regular jewellery drawer, with multiple layers that can be pulled out separately.
Depending on the amount of luxury watches you own, you can buy anything from a two-watch folding case to four-tiered hard shell watch cases that hold at least twenty-four. No matter how big it is, a watch case usually have two main purposes: to protect your luxury watches while also displaying some of them effectively. The former is always the top priority, so some designs will forgo any kind of display window entirely, only exposing the watches when you open the watch box properly.
Why does it matter?
Like all products worth investing into, protection plays a large part in retaining value. Luxury watches are worth a lot of money, especially if they’re made by a now-deceased professional watchmaker or company who no longer produce that kind of watch. However, any kind of damage can quickly lead to a depreciation in value, and serious damage might even result in the watch becoming next to worthless if you can’t repair it.
Even if it can get repaired, that doesn’t mean that the watch will retain its original value, either. Most of the time, luxury watches are valued because of their looks as well as their internal parts, so changing these components might be seen as equivalent to damaging them anyway. You wouldn’t paint over a valuable painting in the same way that you wouldn’t swap components around in a valuable watch: it’s a modification that can strip away plenty of value in the eyes of watch enthusiasts and collectors.
Choosing a watch box
Choosing the right watch case mostly comes down to the amount of watches you own and whether or not you want them on display, but there can also be certain other details that play a large role in how they work. Wooden boxes are often chosen due to the extra style they offer, but they’re also vulnerable to water and fire: leather gets rid of this problem, but can also mead to the box stiffening up if left alone.
Metal is heavy, but very durable, making it great for long-term storage. Most people who are storing a large number of watches at once will choose carbon-fibre or something similar, since they’re the most likely to protect your watches from sudden damage.
The visual appeal of your watch box can be just as important as the luxury watches themselves, since hard shell watch cases are often stylish in their own way. A collection of related watches – such as ones made by the same manufacturer or offering a similar design – can even be sold in bulk with the watch case included, which can massively increase their value and earn you more than just selling the watches without a case.
Should I buy a hard shell watch case?
If you’re collecting watches, it’s always a good idea to get some kind of watch box. If you just want to display them, it makes them much less vulnerable to damage, and people who are collecting them as a future investment can end up making much more money from the sale if they choose carefully. There’s no real downside to owning one, either, and the price of an ornate watch case can easily be recouped with the sales of the watches inside.
