Trade Show Report: IWJG 2022

Watch shows are a great indicator of overall pricing for both modern and vintage watches. But are they dying out?

It’s interesting to see physical watch trade shows in 2022, a few years after the global pandemic. A lot has changed in terms of the watch market and how dealers and private buyers conduct business. These trade shows are quite primitive, almost backwards in a time of WhatsApp dealer groups, Instagram, and the watch business being completely online. 

IWJG in the US has been going on since before I was born. It’s an old man's trade. It’s mostly older dealers that don’t buy, sell, and trade online so it's one of their main outlets for buying and selling. Is it necessary to attend these shows? No. Do I love attending them? Absolutely. 

Although I can source watches from all over the world like many other dealers in the room with our interconnected network of buyers and sellers, there is still charm when buying and selling at physical shows. I go for the duffle bags of cash, the old guys yelling at each other, million dollar watches being laid out like fruit. You know, the ambience of it all. It’s totally unnecessary for me to go, but it's nice to catch up with dealer friends, gauge the wholesale market, and the best part: not knowing what you’re going to find.

Watch shows are a great indicator of overall pricing for both modern and vintage watches. Of course, with more and more buyers and sellers in the industry, margins are getting slimmer by the day and it couldn't be more clear at these shows.

Modern watches will always be tougher to source at better pricing as the market is bigger and there a lot of people flipping and trading them. It’s always been hard to source modern Rolex and AP for example at great prices especially when everyone knows the market.

The good thing about trade shows is the proximity. You will have access to a TON of watches in one room so there's a great opportunity to trade in old watches for now, negotiate with dealers that are stuck with old stock. There were two outlooks at the show: wait and hold old inventory until the market bounces back up again — and the second attitude was SELL SELL SELL. 

The proactive dealers just wanted to move product, despite taking losses because cash flow is needed for any business. Yes, it's a shame, but the show must go on. Many dealers don’t mind taking a loss if they can replenish their inventory for cheaper, current market pricing. Other dealers (including myself admittedly) hold onto their watches in hopes of prices going up again. 

There are a few flaws with that logic as it doesn’t make the most financial sense, especially when you can replace the same inventory for cheaper. I tried to find dealers that were looking to sell at TODAY’s market price, not a few months ago. Many sellers were stuck in the past so I had to filter buying in that aspect. 

Of course, with vintage you never know what you’re going to find. I was able to source a good amount of vintage goodies such as Rolex, Tudor, and Cartier, but it always requires heavy haggling and looking through every crevice of the show. It’s an interesting dynamic as there’s a mix of views on the watch market from all dealers large and small. 

I didn't expect to buy as much as I did as there aren't many consumers buying watches in general, at least in my opinion. With the state of the US economy, a lot of people are weary of their spending habits, let alone spending thousands on a fancy toy. Like many dealers, I’m still confident in the long term health of the vintage watch market, but it's harder to say with modern as it fluctuates more.

In terms of attendance, this month's show was one of the quietest shows I have ever seen. Some sellers only exhibited the first day. There were dealers there for just a few hours. Less than half the booths were filled up with sellers and there weren’t many buyers as well. The ratio between buyers and sellers was almost the same! 

This comes to show that these trade shows are both unnecessary and outdated. It also implies the overall health of the watch industry. Not as many watches are being bought, sold, and traded. Who knows when the watch market will stabilize in terms of pricing and demand, but for now all we can do is watch and see!