Entire nations forced under lockdown, airlines teetering on the brink of collapse, fistfights erupting over rolls of toilet paper … Coronavirus has rocked the planet and God knows what life will be like when ‘normality’ resumes. It’s unlikely to be normal as we knew it, that’s for sure. In such desperate times, it may seem crass to speculate on what COV-19 will do to the watch market. But as a website that views life through a watch-centric lens, we’re unapologetically going right there. If nothing else, a little glimmer of a silver lining may be just what you need right now. Here’s one thing we all know: any punter looking to buy a steel sports watch by Rolex, Patek Philippe or Audemars Piguet that is not regularly spending heavy with a retailer faces a grim waiting list (for example, this guy had to wait two years for his 5711. And he was a lucky one). But will the pandemic make it easier for you to buy a similarly in-demand timepiece by removing one of the hungriest buying markets? Right now, many luxury watch boutiques are eerily quiet. That’s because the investment bank Jefferies estimates that Chinese buyers accounted for 40…
The post Will Coronavirus, and a recession, shorten that waiting list you’re still on? An economics professor and a former Swatch Group MD weigh in… appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.