One year from the first day of this project, I can say that the experiment of exploring new territories in which to test my knowledge and professional skills developed in Italy is finally is finally showing interesting results.
The creation of a new network of dealers with whom to share interests and connections turns out to be, though I am still far from optimizing its full potential, an easier task than expected because of the market’s globalization that –including ours– is making the world a single big market place: thanks to social media, the other side of the planet is literally behind the corner, just another “block” of the same big city where everybody already knows you. This means that rather than starting all over again, an idea that attracted me in some ways, I found myself doing what I had been doing all along, only a little further away, following different rules.
The major changing factor of operating in such business environment is due to the profound difference of the economy: saying that here everything is easier, more efficient, and more rewarding for the entrepreneur is more than just a common place. More interesting, however, is meeting the American and the Asian collectors, who seem inclined to explore these shores when shopping.
American market, having more resources and easier access to credit, has traditionally and constantly absorbed most of Europe’s high-end production, from fashion to the automobile industry, from technology to design. Nevertheless, for years European collectors have been searching the Americas for the extraordinary objects that were brought to the New World from the end of the 1800’s, eventually being sold as obsolete and for almost no money: opportunity is unlimited.
For several decades now, incredibly important watches have been traveling their way back to where they were originally sold, and all this while the US buyers would still represent the world’s primary market for brand-new luxury and high-end goods. Well, I would say things have rather changed now. Always interested in the latest trends of European fashion, North American consumers –the Central and South Americas are growing markets for vintage goods, but are still focused mainly on contemporary production –did not miss to understand that some objects from the past are today’s icons of the upmost modern taste, opening them doors to a market that had previously been theirs.
The big manufacturers have helped too, proposing new collections characterized by a retro look, inspired by their own heritage. One after the other, the big names of watchmaking blew the dust off their old books, making their archives available to aficionados and collectors.
It might have taken a long time before they realized the potential of this, but here they are now. Thanks to this approach, supported by modern communication means, the message reached the ears of the US buyer, who is now buying vintage and playing, especially when it comes to important pieces, a lead role in the world’s market following, with a bit of caution, the Asian collector.
But this is something we will talk about next time.
