Like others have stated, a watch is seldom a prudent financial investment. You’re almost certainly better off investing your hard earned money into the stock market.
However, I’ve given a lot of thought to the limited edition 2020 Olympics Speedmaster’s potential as a collector’s piece in recent weeks and wanted to share my take for fun. I used to perform market valuation of luxury goods for a private equity firm, and though I have hardly done any due diligence on this particular model, hopefully you’ll find my musings entertaining.😀
If you decide to base part of your decision off of the watch’s potential as an investment opportunity, in my opinion, it’s certainly wiser to pursue the more-sought after iterations of this limited edition: 1.) the panda dial, and 2.) the blue dial. Based off of the panda and blue dial Speedys of the past, these watches do tend to be more collectible based solely upon their color schemes (I.e. without regard for the event they’re commemorating). The significance here is that, in addition to the possible collector’s value a 2020 Olympics edition may bring, the merit of having an uncommon and desirable color scheme brings its own (dare I say greater) potential for value retention. For sure, I’d put the panda ahead of the blue dial here.
All that said, as partial as I am to OMEGA, they churn out hundreds of editions of the limited variety, and just because something’s rare doesn’t mean it’s financially valuable. Certainly, this is a peculiar edition: it’s not merely commemorating an event that never occurred (the 2020 Olympics), it’s why it never occurred (COVID-19) that could make it notable in years to come. In fact, it’s one of the only distinctive “COVID watches” I can think of. While many brands are unveiling new watches during COVID, not many (to my knowledge) are commemorating major events that were canceled or rescheduled due to COVID.
I don’t imagine this is a time that will be remembered fondly, so the sentimental factor will likely be lost on future collectors. I think its commemoration of the 2020 Olympics will amount to a peculiarity at best; I can seldom recall special edition Speedmasters that have fared well explicitly due to the event the limited edition is commemorating, as opposed to the merit of a pleasing unique color scheme or design (eg the blue Gemini IV edition, or the functional aluminum case accessory that accompanies the striking white dial of the Alaska Project edition).
Perhaps in a few decades it will be a peculiarity to someone who doesn’t have such sour sentiments towards the time, and score a few extra percentage points in market value.
Finally, the case back gripe is a fair criticism leveled towards this model. Between the 2020/COVID association and alleged ergonomic issues, I’m not particularly optimistic about it’s potential as a financial investment compared to putting your money in an S&P 500 mutual fund.
tl;dr: Buy it if you like it (I do). Don’t buy it as an investment piece. If you stubbornly decide to buy a 2020 Olympics Speedy while heavily factoring potential financial upside, buy the panda (or maybe the blue) iteration; I’d pass on the others all together.
