A sourcing mandate puts a small, experienced team — luxury watch broker, private network, watchmakers — behind a single reference, until it is in your hands.
Private sourcing of collector-grade watches not publicly listed — including pièces uniques commissioned directly with the watchmaker. Two decades of the founders' relationships with private collectors, independent dealers, watchmakers, and concierge channels across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. Every sourced piece passes our twelve-point authentication before any transaction proceeds. No fee for the sourcing brief; brokerage fee on completion at preferential rates for portfolio management clients.
Discontinued production. Allocation-only references. Watches held privately and not yet to market. Vintage in original condition. Independent watchmaking with multi-year waitlists. The collectors who use this service include several of the principals documented in our annual Index of who collects what at this level.
We do not source what is freely available; we source what is not.
For collectors who want a watch that does not exist anywhere else, we work the relationship between collector and workshop directly. A pièce unique is not an off-the-rack reference — it is a single piece, configured to the collector's specification (case material, dial work, complication, engraving, presentation), made once, never repeated. The order book for serious independent watchmakers is closed for standard production but, for the right brief and the right collector profile, occasionally open for a one-off commission.
We have placed pièces uniques with collectors through F.P. Journe, MB&F, Akrivia, Voutilainen, Greubel Forsey, De Bethune, and a small number of other independents. Each commission is a multi-month relationship between the workshop, the collector, and our team — discussion of the technical brief, dial-work approval rounds, occasional case-design iterations, and a delivery process where authenticity, finishing, and provenance are signed off before the piece leaves the workshop. Auction houses, where a one-off piece is the right channel (Only Watch contributions, Phillips dedicated single-piece auctions), are also part of the network.
The diagnostic phase begins the same way every other engagement does: a brief from the collector specifying the reference family, the complication or aesthetic intent, the budget envelope, and the delivery horizon. From there we work the workshop relationship and report back on what is genuinely possible. Some briefs we politely decline because the workshop is not the right fit; some we route to an alternative house better suited to the work. Pricing for a pièce unique commission is, by definition, on application. The brief itself is no fee.
Total elapsed time, brief to acquisition, depends on the reference. For a current-production allocation-only piece in our network, days to weeks. For a vintage reference with a closed order book and a small number of known examples, months — occasionally longer. Every brief is given a written timeline before the search begins.
Reference, condition, set, budget ceiling, timeline.
We canvass our network — collectors, dealers, agents — discreetly.
Provenance and condition are confirmed before we present.
You decide. We negotiate, authenticate, and deliver.
By the time a desirable reference reaches a public site, it is either gone, mis-priced, or both. The pieces that matter are placed before they are listed.
We trace ownership history, service records, and originality of parts before a watch is offered. The watch you receive is the watch you were promised.
Sellers behave differently when the negotiation is one-to-one. We hold that line on your behalf.
Anonymized vignettes from the past four quarters. Counterparty identities are protected by engagement letter; references and timeline outcomes are reproduced as recorded.
A US-based principal with a developing relationship at Geneva boutique sought the Octa Lune as a stepping-stone allocation reference. Twenty-month standard wait. Through Maison Montres' Geneva relationship, the watch settled in six months with full provenance.
Outcome: secondary-market premium of approximately 22 percent retained on settlement; client-of-record status established with the boutique.
A Swiss collector exiting the perpetual-chronograph segment placed the 5970R through our private network rather than auction consignment. Full Extract from Patek Archives included; original Stern dial confirmed by independent specialist review.
Outcome: settled in fourteen days at fair-value indication minus 2 percent — versus an estimated 8–11 percent net erosion through auction.
A European family-office principal with a long-developing interest in independent watchmaking sought introduction to Rexhep Rexhepi's annual allocation. Maison Montres arranged direct atelier introduction with a referenced collector profile. Allocation discussion remains open; the relationship is now established.
Outcome: introduction completed and atelier visit attended; allocation timing remains in the watchmaker's discretion as it should.
A first-time HNW collector sought a discontinued steel Jumbo as the anchor of an emerging collection. We sourced a single-owner 2020 example through a direct collector channel, with two-tier specialist review confirming unpolished case geometry.
Outcome: settled at fair-value indication; client subsequently retained Maison Montres at Tier I.
Counterparty names withheld by engagement letter. Placement vignettes are reproduced from the Maison Montres transaction log; specific dates, premium percentages, and net-economics figures are summarised but unmodified.
Watch is held in our custody pending the buyer's written acceptance after the inspection window. If the watch fails authentication, funds are returned in full. If it passes, we settle and ship insured to your jurisdiction.
Sourcing engagements begin with a brief. We diagnose viability, agree the horizon, and only invoice on settlement.
Open a sourcing brief specifying the reference (or family of references), configuration preferences (case material, dial colour, period), condition expectations (full set, papers, original parts), and budget range. We work the network — private collectors, independent dealers, watchmakers, and concierge channels across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific — and share findings as they emerge with photographs and provenance. Selected pieces pass through our twelve-point authentication protocol before any transaction proceeds. Pricing negotiation is handled on the buyer's behalf, with full transparency on the seller's asking price and our recommended counter.
Timelines vary by reference and specification. Current-production sport references with active secondary-market presence can frequently be sourced within thirty to sixty days. Boutique allocations, vintage pieces, and limited references typically require ninety days or more, depending on what the network surfaces. We share progress weekly and never quote a timeline we cannot defend.
No. Sourcing briefs are opened at no cost and carry no obligation. The all-in price quoted to the buyer includes our fee, with full transparency on the seller's price, our margin, and the landed cost. The buyer pays only when a piece is sourced, authenticated, and accepted.
We actively source for Patek Philippe (including Rare Handcrafts), Rolex (vintage and current production), Audemars Piguet (Royal Oak archive), F.P. Journe (early production and boutique editions), A. Lange & Söhne (significant complications), Vacheron Constantin, Richard Mille, and Akrivia by Rexhep Rexhepi. We also handle Cartier, MB&F, and significant complications from other independent makers. For genuinely impossible briefs (e.g., a specific one-off Rare Handcraft known to be in a private collection), we say so.
Every sourced piece passes through our twelve-point authentication protocol in our Geneva atelier, signed off by a named watchmaker. For vintage references, complicated movements, athlete-edition Richard Mille, and any watch above CHF 50,000, two-tier independent specialist review is mandatory. The full protocol report is part of the buyer's collector dossier, alongside our written lifetime authenticity guarantee.
Yes. Sourced pieces can be delivered to any verified address worldwide, including a third party with the buyer's written authorisation. Discreet delivery without manufacturer or dealer branding on the package is standard.
We say so. Some briefs are not deliverable within the buyer's timeline, budget, or condition expectations — and we tell you that before we waste your time. In those cases, we typically suggest adjacent references that may better fit the brief, or recommend a longer timeline if the original brief is realistic but slow.
No. Authorised dealer waitlist services work the boutique allocation system on your behalf and depend on AD relationships and brand allocation. We work entirely on the secondary market and through private collector networks — pieces that exist, that we can see, that we can authenticate. The two approaches solve different problems and frequently complement each other for serious collectors.
We source rare, hard-to-find references that already exist on the secondary market and through private collector networks: allocation-only F.P. Journe, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak archive (A-series 5402, B-series, 14802, 15202), vintage Patek Philippe, athlete- and sapphire-cased Richard Mille, and the contemporary independents (Akrivia, Rexhep Rexhepi, Simon Brette, MB&F, Voutilainen, De Bethune). For the right brief we can also commission a pièce unique directly with a watchmaker.
What we do not do: we cannot conjure a boutique allocation or jump an authorised-dealer waitlist — that is the manufacture's gift, not ours; and we will not represent a piece we cannot see and authenticate. Every sourced watch passes the twelve-point protocol before any transaction proceeds, and we represent the buyer, never taking title. Where a reference sits outside our specialism — current Rolex sport, or A. Lange & Söhne and Vacheron Constantin to lead — we say so and point you to a better-placed house.