Investing in Luxury Watches with Zac Castillo
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This is Wake Up To Wealth, a podcast dedicated to helping you change the way you think about wealth. And now, here's your host, Brandon Brittingham.

Can you consistently buy, say, a Rolex and it's going to hold its value or appreciate from an investment standpoint? You won't make a lot of money with these, but your money won't, you won't lose any either. I'm not the cheapest, but I'm the best. You know, I back my stuff 100%. That's usually the first question. What can I buy that'll go up in value? Hey, what's up, everybody? We are back again. Another episode of Wake Up To Wealth. I got my main man, Zach, here today. And we're going to talk about something that I'm super excited about. It's the market of luxury watches.

Thanks for being here, brother. Yes, sir. I appreciate the invite. So what's kind of crazy is a lot of people don't look at luxury watches as an investment.

And a lot of people aren't educated on that subject, but man, I've done really well and I didn't get into it to buy it as an investment. I just, you know, always wanted a Rolex, but I've bought, you know, Rolexes and made a ton of money on them. And it's actually a great storage of wealth and it's a great place to invest money. Like tell, give, give us for someone who's a novice, they don't know anything. Like, why is that true? Why is that the case?

I mean, first of all, they're so hard to get from Rolex. I mean, if you really want to walk in today and buy one,

They'd want you to spend $10,000 in a whole other direction just to get the watch that you want. They may only be $10,000. So that's where the demand comes in. You leave there, you start looking online, you find a guy like me that can get it for possibly the same price without buying that jewelry or whatever it was. Yeah. And you get it in your hand, and that's where the demand stays so solid on the investment side of it. Yeah. So, you know, just like...

you've seen it and I've seen it like you don't always know, but some watches, I mean, I've seen watching double in price. Right. And like what, and just for, for some of those out there, like what models of, of Rolex specifically, do you kind of see just, uh,

you know, always hold their value or even appreciate at a crazy, crazy rate. First at the top would be Daytona. Yeah. You know, you got the stainless steel Panda goes for 15K at the AD, flips for 30,000 as soon as you walk out the door. The Platinum Daytona goes for about 70,000 and it'll run about 120,000. So those are the ones that really the big collectors are building up to grab.

to either collect or flip, make that money on. Yeah. So, true or false, a lot of ones that I see appreciate holder value or appreciate are a lot of the stainless steel models. Yes. Yes, definitely. I think it's mainly because they're affordable. Yeah. And...

Well, even when it makes less of them. Less of them. And even when the market's down in a slump, people still buy. So they choose to buy something, say, $20,000 or less and not so expensive where they're taking a big gamble because they still want to buy. Yeah. But they know the market's down. So it's kind of like those always roll. Yeah. And then you've got on, you've got a, what do you got on today? This is a 40 millimeter sub. So...

I mean, that usually always goes up in values or stays. It's solid. You won't make a lot of money with these, but your money won't, you won't lose any either. So this is, this is a great first, you know, entry level piece. Yeah. Yeah. It's been about 10, 12,000, but you won't lose hardly a dime on it. So it's just, you could wear it for a couple of years. You take good care of it. Uh,

And then you go to sell, you're probably going to get the same amount of money that you paid for. Same amount, maybe a little more, but you're definitely not going to lose. Right. Yeah. So we got another one here. It's a stainless steel. Which one is this? That's actually white gold. That's the day that presidential. Yeah. So that one was discontinued in 2018, I think. Uh-huh. So there's a separate market for those that are discontinued. It takes a real collector, though, to buy one that's white gold. Yeah.

Because you really, you can't tell that it's white gold. Like you said, it looks stainless. It looks stainless. Well, after a grab that I've realized it was. Yeah. So stainless, you're looking at about 15 grand. That watch, that one goes for about 40 to 45. So somebody that's going to spend $45,000, they want it to really shine like it's actually, you know, they can tell it's a precious metal. Yeah. So in your opinion, I mean, there's other watch brands out there, you know, AP, Patek is one.

You know, for somebody that's listening, what brand seems to hold their value the most and essentially appreciate? I put all my money in Rolex. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's most solid. People wake up daily wanting Rolex. By the time you get into Patek and stuff like that, Patek's a guy who's been in it for a long time. He's really going to do his homework.

the Rolex and get in and out of quick if you needed to. Yeah. Especially if you're a first-time buyer. You don't want to buy something you don't know you're going to love, you know, invest a whole lot of money in. So, yeah, I'd always say start with Rolex. Yeah. And so, you know,

kind of one of the things I think that we all know is Rolex kind of keeps a tight supply chain. To your point, you just can't... People think you can walk to a Rolex store and buy when you can't. Yeah. Right? So that creates kind of the gray market, which is where you play in a lot. Right. Right? Right. But the other side is...

you know, not just from the investment side, you got to buy from people that are reputable that like, no, they're still us. Exactly. So there's so many corners that can be cut on a bezel, a link, paperwork, a fake box or anything. So that's, that's where that comes in. I always tell people I'm not the cheapest, but I'm the best, you know, I back my stuff a hundred percent. Um, that's a, that's a big issue in the jewelry watch game is the, uh, cutting corners on this and that.

And you just mentioned another thing for, you know, if you're, you know, if you're out there and you're new and you don't know anything about this, it's super important that you get the box papers, all that. Talk about that for a second. Yeah. Boxing papers is important if you're getting charged for it. I mean, it's not a huge deal. They all cost, you know, the box is worth three or four hundred itself. The papers, not all watches without papers are fake.

Some of them, you know, some owners will, like we said, they play the AD game where they buy and flip. They'll keep the card so that their name ain't floating around. Right. And so if you're a first time buyer, I would always recommend go ahead and get the full set box papers to get the full effect. But if you're buying without boxing papers, you would definitely get a cheaper price that way. Yeah. So buy accordingly. So in your opinion,

Can you consistently buy, say, a Rolex and it's going to hold its value or appreciate? I mean, from an investment standpoint. Certain ones, yes. Yeah. That's what I do. I kind of say, you call me tomorrow and you're new to the game, want to know what to buy, what to spend.

I'll break it down for you. If you have, you know, a $10,000 price range, I'll show you what's safe, what's not. Yeah. Or, and you say, hey, but I really like this. And I'll just tell you, hey, you know, you might lose a couple Gs wearing this one. Right. Or, you know, you might, it might bounce a little bit and there's something that just won't bounce. Like these subs, they don't really bounce. Yeah, never go down. But it's there when I need it, you know? Yeah. Yeah. So what do you think in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, what's the safest watch to buy? Yeah.

so good question you're either a Submariner guy or a Datejust guy yeah so there's there's like the Wimbledon that goes for about $14,000 yep full stainless steel real nice watch I like that one that's about top tier Datejust yeah and then the Submariner like this stainless steel black dial yeah and then if you were say you step up a little bit and you go to the $20,000 to $30,000 range what do you think?

Daytona. Black dial stainless steel. Even though it's about 10 grand over sticker, I think it's going to stay there if not go up for a while. Daytona's always, they're known to stay solid. I mean, is it even possible to get a Daytona from an AD? Yeah.

No. I mean, not walking in. Right. I've heard people do it just, and it's more of a principle thing, I think, with stuff like that. You might have an AD over here that a guy's been begging for for years that's, like, begging in the wrong manner, and you have another guy that's never been in the Rolex store, and this AD's like, you know what? I'd rather just sell to this guy, and this guy's been hounding me. He ain't buying no jewelry. So I've heard of people walking and buying them, lending. I had a client last week in San Antonio, California,

He's bought one day just for like 10 grand. Second one was a Panda. Yeah. Yeah. You just never know, man. Yeah. You never know what their supply looks like either. It's hard to, it's hard to gauge. The other thing too, is you never know. I mean, I always tell people like buy the watch that you want. Um, and that would usually hold its value, but also you never know. So I had the bat, you know, I bought the Batman when it first came out. Yes. I had it for eight years. And when I sold it,

I sold it for, you know, probably at the height. I sold it for $23,000 and I paid $8,900 for it. Yeah. Right. I mean, that's just insane. And I had it for seven years. What, for seven years? Yeah. So, I mean, that's some, to your point, sometimes when things get discontinued or it becomes a hot watch or whatever, I mean, the value just goes, just goes insane. Yeah. You never know, man. People, that's usually the first question. What can I buy that'll go up in value? Yeah.

I can't really answer that. And then like right now, in two days, we have the new models dropping. Certain models will be discontinued. So it could be one of these sitting right here in front of you and it's going to go through the roof. You never know. Yeah. Some people like the bluesy, for instance, that one's been out so long and there's kind of some rumors going around it being discontinued. So it's kind of keeping it solid.

The Pepsi right now is supposed to be discontinued. That one's going up daily. Yeah. And it could not go that way. You never know. Yeah, 100%. Yes, sir. Yeah, absolutely. It's a fun game to play, though. What's your grill watch? What's the one you really want? Man, I like the... I've had four or five watches in play at a time. This is Old Faithful, of course, so I hold this one tight. Yeah. But...

I'd walk in, if I could walk in the ADN by the black stainless steel Daytona, that would be the one I'd take. I mean, I like flashy stuff, but I'm pretty simple. You know, I wear a small chain, stainless watch, so it wouldn't be too much. What is that you've had in your possession before? What's the one that is appreciated the most that you've actually had? Whether you owned it to sell it or you owned it yourself?

Probably the John Mayer. Yeah. And it bounced quick and it came back down. So that one was like right now where we're at.

Everybody knew it was going to be discontinued. So as soon as it did, it went from $70,000 to about $100,000. Yeah. And it lasted for about a month. Then it went right back down. So that's about $30,000 pot right there. Right. That is appreciated. Yeah, that appreciated that. But you have some that I haven't had in possession that I've sold that some people made, you know, boo-coos and money on. Yeah, I had a white gold Pepsi.

And it had the, I don't know what you call it, but it had kind of like the marble face. Meteorite. Meteorite. And in COVID, I paid $48,000 for it. I sold it for $110,000. Yeah. At the height. Yeah. So, yeah, I forgot about that. So that's probably the biggest watch. Yeah. That one went up and down $50,000. Yeah. Yeah. And I also had a, I had the...

The Daytona, that was all rose gold that had the sunburst rose gold face that they discontinued. Right. And that one went up a lot. Yeah. The Meteorite, man, those are real special. All the Daytonas are discontinued that had Meteorite. Yeah. And they're said to do it to the rest of the watches. And, man, some of those Meteorite Daytonas go for $85,000, $90,000 when they're all like $40,000 at the store, you know? Yeah. But that Meteorite is something special. Yeah.

So someone who's listening to this, they've never owned a Rolex before. My assumption is if you're going to tell somebody to buy, if you're looking at the investment side, you're going to tell them to buy a Rolex, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. And they've never owned one before, and they're just starting out. Which one do you think, you know, what's the one you can't go wrong with? Submariner. Yep. You can find, you know, an entry-level, something that's even more solid than this model, like a 2005, 2008 model for about $8,500.

And, man, it's hard to even go anything less than that if you ever try to sell it. Yeah. Yeah. Now, someone, let's just say, has a bigger budget and they want to buy, you know, we call it the investment piece, right? Right. What's the investment piece to go after? So there's tons. You go to AP, Patek, right now. If you were to pick a Rolex one, what would you think? Rolex, I like the olive color.

Dow, road to gold, day-to-day. Yeah. I think you had the chocolate. That's the presidential, right? Yeah, presidential. That one's pretty solid. It's about 10, 15 over MSRP. Uh-huh. But that's in the $50,000, $55,000 range. I think that's about the next step. The problem is when you're getting like $20,000 watches, people, they don't shine enough for, you know, like the Daytonas and all that. They don't shine enough to...

to do them justice to spend that much. So it's either low 20,000 or under or real high, high end watches. The middle was a kind of struggle. So you can find good deals in that area. Got it. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome, man. So, um, you know, what if someone wanted to, not just the love of watches of and watches, but do you think there's a play that could be had where you could actually consistently invest in them as like an investment?

As in multiple watches or one watch? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, definitely. You could come up with a lot. There's so many watches out there moving, man, and there's... It's said to be like 85%, 90% of the watches are in dealers' hands. Yeah. So it's like there's...

The guy, how these watches get here, there's higher ups that we never even hear of see. And they supply these lower guys in the middle than the lower guys like me. Yeah. And that's what keeps the whole thing running. So if you could, you know, kind of do something in the middle somewhere, there's definitely there. Yeah. So the name of the game is if you can get, if you can get a,

A rare one from an AD, which is an authorized dealer. That's the play. Yes. If you somehow get lucky and get one that is going to be discontinued. Yeah. Right. But sometimes we don't always know that. You can hear rumors of it. Right. That's the other play. And then I just think what I've seen over time is the stainless steel ones just never go down. And a lot of times they go up. Then if you get super lucky and you get a stainless steel, they discontinue. You're probably a real good. Very lucky.

Yes, and a lot of people came into the watch game during COVID. Yeah, because you couldn't get one. No, and it was climbing daily. So everybody automatically thought like, man, I need to get in. And they did. A lot of people got in. Yeah. But now that's the conversation now. Like, hey, what's going to be going up? And that's not the case unless something major like that comes about again. I'll tell you another thing to look at this from a different standpoint. A nice Rolex, a nice AP, or even a Patek.

You know, also for me, it's been an investment from a standpoint is it's always been a conversation starter. Yes. And a lot of times someone who recognizes like this one, the one that you got me,

you know, you got to know what this is. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And for instance, a paddock as an example, or an AP, if you have one of those on, someone knows it. They usually have somebody of influence and have wealth. Exactly. And you're being judged by, you know, people 24 seven.

So they might see this watch and they give me a certain level, you know, especially if it's a padded guy or something. He sees that watch. He gives you a certain level, you know, and that's the same thing. If he sees you with that Patek, he's like, whoa, you know, he gives you that much. Because, you know, you said it. I remember when I brought that watch here last time, we sat right over there and he was like, man, you saw that Patek I had and you were like, that's a billionaire's watch. Yeah, I heard that. You looked at me dead serious. I still remember that. Well, yeah, it is, man. It's up there. Those guys with those watches, you never even know it.

some of them. You know what I mean? When they come to do stuff like this, they'll have this on or this on and they just, they're in the safe. They're out there. Yeah, it's amazing. I,

I love watches. And what's been cool is, you know, this one I know will always hold its value. I didn't buy this one for the investment side. I bought it because I always wanted it. Right. But it was paid for by a bunch of watches that I bought that were investments that I appreciated. Right. I think that's the brilliance in it. Right. And you know, like, with you buying your bus down full of diamonds, you know that that's not the best investment. It'll cost you a little bit to wear that. Yeah. The investments in some of these smaller ones and

you covered your bases with that to buy that other shiny stuff you know absolutely so that's the deal you you got to know what you know what the end in play is what are you trying to get to because you can start with a thousand dollar watch and work up to the fifty thousand dollar watches whatever you want to do so someone's listening to this and they want to get into the watch game or they want to buy their first rolex or whatever how do they get in touch with you

Look me up on Instagram, Facebook. What's your answer? Watch Addicto under slash LLC. Facebook, Zach Castillo. And I have a website also, watchaddicto.llc.com. You can check me out there. So I ask everybody this when we end the show. We call this show Waking Up to Wealth.

So it can be whatever version it is for you. But what is waking up to wealth mean to you? Freedom. I mean, doing this is fun to me. I've sold tire for 23 years, man. It feels like six days a week. Yeah. And I still put in a lot of hours doing this, but it's fun. They like it. So freedom. You know, I got three kids, beautiful wife at home. So freedom, time, time is very valuable now.

But that's pretty much it, man. Just doing this daily, having fun. It's like I never worked. Absolutely. Well, brother, I appreciate you for coming here, educating us on the Y. I appreciate you spending time with us today. No problem, bro. I appreciate you having me. Thank you.

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