It is well known that Hansjörg Roshard, watchmaker and manager of the vintage department at Huber, had and still has a soft spot for beautiful watches. It is also no secret that the market for collector's watches has grown steadily over the last 15 years and that attention to them has increased around the globe due to digitalisation.
In addition, the demand for vintage watches was obviously there, as more and more acquaintances from the Huber environment showed an interest in such watches. And last but not least, reports in the Financial Times, among others, fuelled interest in such treasures at Huber Fine Watches & Jewellery.
These were all good reasons for Norman Huber to push ahead with this line of business in his traditional family company. After all, Huber is a factor in the world of special watches: the company has four locations in Vaduz, Lech am Arlberg, the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz and Bregenz.
Norman Huber's uncle Roland, a watchmaker, ran the shop on Rathausplatz, where the "Huber World of Watches" is located today. His father Adrian, a goldsmith, was at home in Städtle 34, today's "Weisse Würfel".
The "White Cube"
The year 2015 marked a milestone in the story of Huber Fine Watches & Jewellery, when the "White Cube" was completed. After taking almost eight years to design and construct, this unique building has been adorning Vaduz city centre since May 2015. Huber set up its business premises here, with the new environment giving Norman Huber the idea of entering the vintage market. And so it was that Huber Vintage was born, with Hansjörg Roshard at its helm.
When does a watch become vintage?
On establishing this new line of business, certain criteria had to be defined, such as when exactly does a watch become vintage? The answer is that the timepieces must be at least 25 years old and in good condition, otherwise they are revised and refurbished in the workshop.
Then in 2017 the first Vintage Lounge was set up next to the workshop on the first floor of the "World of Watches" and opened its doors to visitors. The first exhibition in the Huber Vintage Lounge also featured watches belonging to private collectors. The people who were involved look back fondly on a very special event that was memorable not only for the beautiful timepieces but also for some very special cars and the whole remarkable ambience. After some time, there were further alterations in the building. The new Lounge and the workshop were moved up to the third floor, where the Lounge opened after the pandemic on 21 November 2021.
Tokenisation of the Royal Oak 14802ST
Another milestone in Huber's vintage history was reached on 18 May 2022, when the VP Bank tokenised a watch in Liechtenstein for the first time. Now the "Royal Oak 14802ST", a vintage model from Norman Huber's collection, is represented on a blockchain. The showcasing for this tokenisation process took place in the Vintage Lounge of Huber's Vaduz watchmaking business.
Tokenisation is the process of representing real-world rights on a digital blockchain. In the case of the watch, the tokens represent the right of ownership, which means that the owner of the token is also the legal owner of the underlying watch. The effect is that, for the first time, the right of ownership over real assets can be edited, transferred or shared.
Vintage, to be continued.
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