watch collector puts market gains to shame - white gold necklace and earring set

When Alfredo paramico is at 178-year-
The staff moved quickly at the old new classic Four Seasons Hotel de beiggs in Geneva.
Banker Alfredo paramico handsome contoured face, crisp white shirt, customized Biagio Mazzuoccolo jacket and slim fit jeans from Naples, looking
Pampers paramico Hotel is located in the heart of the city where Patek Philippe and Rolex Group are located, as he is one of the world's leading watch collectors.
Today, from Michael Schumacher to Arnold Schwarzenegger, everyone is collecting mechanical watches worth tens of thousands of dollars, and paramico is his own alliance.
The 43-year-old Italian banker from Milan began buying Swiss watches more than 20 years ago, when buyers at auction in Geneva continued.
He is committed to an in-depth study of rare antique watches and brings together 10 exceptional Patek Philippe timepieces.
His portfolio makes palamico one of the world's top 10 collectors, with a total of about 50,000 enthusiasts, said parde Parmegiani, a distributor in Lugano, Switzerland, who has sold
"He doesn't want to have everything," said Arnaud Tellier, a collector and watchmaker consultant who has run the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva for 11 years.
"He only chose the cream in the cream.
"White PateksOr is the leader of Patek Philippe, founded in 1851, whose hand-made parts and complex mechanical movements make it different from many Swiss competitors.
Several pieces of paramico's antiques date back to the age of 1940 and 50, and all his watches are in Platinum, Platinum or steel ---
Not more common Gold-
Gave them a name called White Pateks.
Six of them are like this.
It is called a complex factor that makes the watch different, such as automatically adjusting to the calendar at the beginning of the new moon.
Palamico said his collection was worth about 20 million euros, about 8 million euros more than he had paid for the watch since 2000.
"If I see the same patina on the dial, the same hand, index and bracelet age, that's what I like," said palamico . ", A cautious man, when he talked about his collection, smiled on his face.
"You can get the satisfaction you can never get from a modern watch from an antique watch.
"Palamico, the watch fund, is now starting a new attempt to show investors that watches can get a good return.
2010 Luxembourg-
The elite consultancy, which manages the wine and jewelry investment fund, has asked palamico to launch the world's only regulated opening --
End of table Fund.
He has been working as head of global markets for one day at the Italian branch of the Bank of Bilbao, SpainBBVA)
His team in Milan bought and sold shares, debts and foreign shares there.
Exchange assets.
But paramico agreed to the offer almost immediately.
So, after returning home from the bank every night, he usually returns to the study on the spacious 19 th --
Milan's stylish century apartment in Brera district manages his watch fund.
The study highlights his obsession.
Its shelves are filled with more than 500 auction catalogues and about 1,000 other watch Publications.
His yellowed archives contain tiny details of the production of classic works.
In search of his next precious watch, palamiko said, he often browses the catalogue before one o'clock A. M. and talks with collectors and dealers.
"I had more free time in the past, but it was my passion," said paramiko, who was married but had no children.
"I can talk about the watch for a week.
Mr palamico said investors seeking to profit from hard assets were turning to his fund, partly because the retro watch market had nothing to do with the trend of securities.
He was 19 at the end of August.
5 million euro fund with 512 luxury clocks-
It's mainly Patek and Rolex.
He said the fund could eventually reach 0. 25 billion euros.
It reached 18.
From the beginning of 2011 to August 2012, 2% of revenue exceeded 11.
The S & P 8% index rose 500.
To avoid conflict, Luxembourg's securities regulator has blocked any of his watches from entering the fund.
On a May Day morning in Geneva, paramico showed about 10 Swiss men and women the watches he bought for the fund.
Most of these works are retro, kept in an underground vault behind a series of security doors in Freeport, a tax
Free storage area.
When investors look at these watches, paramico, who also speaks French and English, tells them that this rare high
Due to limited supply and increased demand, especially from Asia, quality products will continue to appreciate.
A special type of price for Rolex Cosmograph Daytona is known in part because the late actor Paul Newman owns one, and last year Christie's auction climbed to $105,000 from about $33,000 in 2002.
Palamico's fund has several Paul Newman models.
When parramico first started participating in an auction in Geneva held by Christie's, Sotheby's and anti-quorum 1990 people, there was little demand for watches.
There are plenty of empty seats and some buyers can buy most of the catalogue between them.
Now collectors compete for seats in the stands. room-
Only auctions, telephone bids from all over the world.
At a crowded auction at Christie's at the Boggs hotel in May, parramico designed a rare vintage Rolex watch for his fund. The yellow-
The gold piece has a slightly rounded shell on the back, black
Painted dial and starsshaped indices.
One drawback: it lacks mechanical complexity such as timer or stopwatch function.
Bids in at least eight different currencies were entered by phone and digitally displayed on the wall covered with blue fabric behind the auctioneer.
Paramico sitting behind the chandelier
In order to get to know his competitors better, he waited patiently before he started looking for Rolex, which is now priced at 260,000 Swiss francs ($270,000).
"New bidder, blue shirt, 265!
"The auctioneer announced, pointing to palamico.
He fell into a bidding war with an opponent.
The Italian banker raised his bid by 5,000 francs several times before shaking his head and withdrew, refusing to exceed 300,000 francs, a double-high estimate for Christie's.
The charm of childhood, palamiko said he calibrated the value based on quality, age, uniqueness and complexity, and was careful not to overpay, especially when buying the fund.
"When we reach 300,000 --
"Only Rolex, even very rare, is very special and we need to stop," he said . ".
Paramico, the son of an engineer, recalls his first fascination with watches in Naples, Italy, as a child.
A family photo shows him 6 years old. year-
Old Mother coveted the roof.
Small and heavy objects attract him, until today, because of the security that the watch gives him, he often puts the watch in his pocket.
When he was a teenager, he began to buy cheap clocks, partly because of the money he earned for delivery to a pastry shop.
He graduated from Bocconi University in Milan with a master's degree in metrology and engaged in government bond trading at Bankers Trust (BNKR)
In London in 1994.
With a higher salary, he began cutting $200,000 on top of high income. end pieces.
In pursuit of higher quality, he honed his banking experience on Pateks and bought a pink one in 1999-
A gold case, calendar, Chronograph watch and function showing the moon phase.
He paid the equivalent of 225,000 euros and sold it a few years later for 450,000 euros as he decided to improve his collection to white Pateks.
"White is considered more fashionable and nothing is more unique than white Pateks," said the dealer Parmegiani . ".
Several watches from palamico's personal collection have already cost more than 1 million euros.
He estimates that he will spend about 2009 of his career on watches, and that his 599 GTB Ferrari and Mario scheffano and other Italian post-modern painters still have enough left.
"When you work in the financial sector and start running a book, you basically need to take a look at it, and that's where I 've been successful with my watch," said palamico . ".
"Every important watch I bought, when I bought it, many people said I paid more.
Now, the price I paid looks ridiculously cheap.
I look at the scenery and usually my point is to pursue high quality and rarity.
His strategy helps to reduce the risk of investing in an opaque market in which clocks are often exchanged privately, with value primarily based on the tastes of collectors rather than hard data.
Palamico says new-brand watches tend to lose up to 40% of retail value at auction.
London analyst Emily heysley said: "It's not to stop people from investing in jewelry assets, such as watches, to get financial returns, but there are a lot of pitfalls to pay attention --based Barclays. (BARC)
"It is difficult to understand correctly what these markets are doing;
It is very rare that you have a reliable market index.
Paramico, who collects price data from auctions and other collectors, bought the biggest watch of his life in 2007. Most-Sought-
After watching four years ago, he began pursuing the first of four known steel beats, with a reference number of 1518, with a permanent calendar and a chronograph.
Paramico knows the owner-
The world of elite watch collectors is small--
Contacted him.
But the company's boss is Italian in the textile industry, and he doesn't want to sell Patek.
Paramiko insisted and often had dinner with him at weekend auctions in Geneva and Italy.
In 2007, the owner told palamico that he was selling his antique watch to focus on contemporary models.
Palamiko can buy Patek steel for 2.
2 million euros, almost five times as much as the owners paid in early 1990.
The banker agreed on the spot.
"This is the most popular --
After watching, "said palamico, sitting next to the table where he reached the agreement.
"When I shook hands with him, I felt I could walk on the lake.