Status: 20.12.2023, 15:28 PM
By: Andreas Höß
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Joram Scher in the office above his shop in downtown Munich, which he runs together with Thomas Bachmann. On hand: The Rolex Daytona Paul Newman JPS for more than one million euros. David Bowie fan Scher has photos of the moon landing on the wall, in which the Omega Speedmaster was present. © Marcus Schlaf
Watches tell the time - and so much more, according to Munich-based watch expert Joram Scher. In this interview, he talks about his job and also explains why Markus Söder's watch is a perfect fit for the owner.
Munich – Thomas Gottschalk is his regular customer, Bayern players choose their watches from him and he also supplies many actors and celebrities he is not allowed to talk about: Joram Scher is one of the best-known watch dealers in Germany, perhaps even Europe. When he receives an interview in his shop "Bachmann & Scher" in Munich, he has a very special watch with him. Price: 1.2 to 1.3 million euros. "But there are great watches for almost every budget," says Scher.
Mr. Scher, you sell watches that cost up to one million euros. Are they just for the safe?
You shouldn't shovel snow with such a watch, but you should carry it. Such a piece of jewellery should not only be in a safe.
What makes the watch you have lying here so expensive?
First of all: This is not my watch. I'm only showing it to you because it's a very special piece, a Rolex Daytona Paul Newman JPS in 14k gold. The mechanics are superb. However, material and technology are not the reason for the price.
What then?
The story behind it. Hollywood star and racing driver Paul Newman wore such a Rolex Daytona, which is why it is named after him. The dial is in black and gold, like the John Player Special cigarette brand that sponsored the legendary Lotus team in Formula 1. The watch cost a few thousand dollars new about 50 years ago. Because it is extremely rare and in demand in this version, it is worth well over a million euros today. Two months ago, football star Tom Brady walked across the field wearing a Paul Newman JPS. It's like great cars: when a star has such a luxury item, it becomes even more desirable.
Real?
In the film "The Graduate", Dustin Hoffmann climbed into a red Alfa Spider. This made the brand legendary and gave every Alfa driver a piece of Hoffmann image, just as you immediately think of James Bond when you think of Aston Martin. It's the same with watches: Seiko is the classic Bond watch worn by Roger Moore. By the way, this was also my first real watch.
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Is that the reason why people buy expensive watches?
If you just want to know the time, you can also look at a mobile phone. If you have a watch, you want to convey an image and express something about yourself. For example: I have an Omega Moonswatch and I'm a design freak. I wear my father's old Breitling and I'm a retro fan. Or just: Look, I can afford a Rolex.
Footballers or musicians show up not only with their Ferraris, but also with their expensive watches. That's a billion-dollar market.
Joram Scher
Alice Weidel wears Rolex. Is this adequate for an angry citizen of the AfD?
I'm not close to Weidel politically, but I don't like the term. I could criticize Weidel a lot, but not her watch. A Rolex is robust, it can survive tough political battles. A fine Cartier would be far too ladylike for Weidel.
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder has a Panerai. A good choice?
This is a rather conventional watch, a steel luminor on a leather strap, but very large! Söder is also quite a giant. The watch is conservative, reasonably down-to-earth and not too expensive. That's why it's a good fit. As a politician, you shouldn't put on too much weight.
Rappers like to show off two or three watches on their arm in videos. That's a bit too much, isn't it?
You just want to show that you can do it. Pharrell Williams, for example, wears a diamond-studded Patek Phillip for around 500,000 euros.
The watch as a status symbol?
Yes, and one that you can show off anytime and anywhere. You can't take a car to a restaurant or club, but you can take a watch. But I wouldn't reduce it to that.
But?
A watch is a luxury and everyday object, jewellery and design piece, and also a piece of cultural history. At the same time, a Rolex or an Omega is an investment. A good watch maintains its value – or even increases it. This also awakens a certain greed in the owner. Young people like to invest in sneakers.
Has the watch hype already reached young people?
Already through social networks such as TikTok or Instagram. Footballers and musicians show up there not only with their Ferraris, but also with their watches. That's a billion-dollar market. Today, there are many young people who know exactly what a Rolex GMT Pepsi or a Patek Phillip Nautilus is. If you ask a 20-year-old from a big city if he wants a car or a watch, he will choose the watch.
Do you think?
Yes. There are many parallels between the two. Even if the comparison is flawed: Rolex is like Porsche, luxury for everyday life, Patek Phillip like a Ferrari – technically the best on the market, but even more expensive and rarer.
And Richard Mille?
That would be Lamborghini. Extremely extroverted, super expensive and visually a G-Shock for billionaires' kids. I think it's cool, but it's a matter of taste. If you want to be really arrogantly snobbed off, go to one of them's stores. You will be treated like a supplicant if you want to buy a watch for 200,000 euros. Unless you're a racing driver.
And then what would be a Mercedes or BMW?
Maybe Omega. When NASA was looking for watches for the moon landing, it tested 2,000 models. Rolex really wanted to win the bid, but in the end the astronauts flew to the moon with the Omega Speedmaster. You have to wind them up by hand, which is durable and unproblematic.
So it's better not to buy an automatic or quartz watch?
Depends on what you want to do with it. A quartz watch is good when playing golf or tennis. Swinging would damage an automatic system in the long run. On the other hand, an automatic mode is better in case of temperature fluctuations. The first Everest expedition had the Rolex Oyster with them. Reinhold Messner also prefers to wear Rolex.
Rolex was once considered a pimp's watch. Is that still the case?
That was the case in the 1980s. As a pimp, you had to have a moustache and shoulder pads, drive a Corvette and wear a Rolex Day-Date. The brand has spent many millions on advertising to get rid of this image. Today, pimps tend to have a thick Hublot.
If you want to give someone a watch for Christmas, what would you recommend?
How much do you want to spend? 2,000 euros? 4.000? Don't say anything, your wife is worth it to you. In return, they get timeless entry-level models from Rolex, Cartier, Omega or Breitling, which you can wear for a lifetime. A used one is also an option. But it's important to remember that there are no surprises!
No?
No! Take your wife to the store with you. She should choose the make, the model and the color herself. A watch is too expensive and too good to gather dust in a drawer because you don't like it.