Goldman Sachs Puts Watches on the Family Office Ledger

Goldman Sachs dated its first jewelry and watch collecting guide Sep 28, 2026, and spent most of it on paperwork. Monica Heslington, who leads the family office art and collectibles strategy practice, said younger private clients kept asking about watches after the pandemic boom cooled.

The note still points to a 2025 rebound led by Rolex and Patek Philippe. Then it tells those same clients that a famous name will not, on its own, make a piece an asset.

Goldman Puts Watches on the Family Office Desk

The document is titled Beyond the Sparkle. It sits in the bank’s wealth-planning library, not in a trading memo, and it is written for private wealth clients rather than for the open market. Heslington has been at Goldman for 14 years. She is a vice president in the family office, and she told clients the firm had spent most of its collectibles energy on art until the next generation started bringing jewelry and watches into the room.

She described the category as emotional. People buy a watch as a gift, as a daily wearer, or because it fits a life they already have, and they do not always put on what she called their more analytical hats. The guide’s first instruction is blunt for a bank: decide whether the piece is for everyday wear, for a collection, or for an heir, because that choice sets how much diligence you owe yourself.

Buy pieces that you actually want to wear and that work with your lifestyle. Otherwise you’re missing out on one of the joys of ownership.

Monica Heslington, Head of Goldman Sachs Family Office Art & Collectibles Strategy

That line is the tell. Goldman is not pitching watches as a ticker. It is trying to stop a client from writing a large check on taste alone, then discovering at sale, insurance, or probate that the object was never built to hold value. The family office even says, in the fine print, that it does not advocate buying art and collectibles for investment.

The Rebound Runs Through Two Brands the Bank Will Not Name

Heslington said she tries not to throw out brand names, because they send people down a path of false security. The guide then cites the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index for 2025, and that index is carried by the two houses she is trying not to turn into a shopping list.

Knight Frank said the WatchCharts Overall Market climbed 5.1% over the last year. The Rolex Market Index rose 4.6%. The Patek Philippe Market Index rose 12.1%, with the Aquanaut 5167A as the star that remained hard to source. Knight Frank added that the dominance of those two brands masked weakness elsewhere. That is the same warning, in market language, as Heslington’s refusal to treat a logo as a floor.

2025 PASSION-ASSET RETURNS

The composite index closed 2025 down 0.4%, after 2023 and 2024 declines across most luxury collectibles, and it is still up 38.6% over ten years. Combined fine-art sales at major houses climbed 11% in 2025. Watches participated in that calmer tape. They did not lead it.

Goldman, citing Subdial, also said second-hand watches have grown 11% since July 2025. That is a different clock from the full-year WatchCharts print, and it is the slice of the market where fakes, swapped parts, and missing papers do the most damage. The guide’s own language on the secondary market is the hardest in the file: understand the terms of sale, and have an independent specialist confirm authenticity, condition, and price.

Jewelry Is Walking In Through a Different Door

The same note treats jewelry as a sister problem, not a side dish. Goldman said more women are buying diamonds for themselves and as gifts, and it pointed to De Beers figures that put non-bridal diamonds at 75% of demand value. Heritage maisons may draw collectors, the bank wrote, but a costly piece from a famous house can still fail the investment-grade test.

Heslington put it without the brochure shine. Clients are sometimes surprised, she said, when a very expensive piece from a prestigious brand is not considered an investment-grade collectible asset.

Five Tests, and None of Them Is a Logo

The guide’s collecting section is short on model numbers and long on questions. Brand name alone is not enough, it says, and each purchase has to be judged piece by piece. Heslington used a grading image collectors already understand. A B-minus watch can be the right object if you love it and you are not asking it to hold value. The same watch is a problem if you are treating it as capital, unless the market simply has no A-grade example left.

WHAT GOLDMAN SAYS CAN SUPPORT LONG-TERM VALUE

• Rarity: Is the piece one of a kind, or part of a very limited series?
• Historical significance: Does it come with a real story or documented provenance?
• Craftsmanship: Is the design or the execution exceptional?
• Condition: Is it well preserved, and does it still have its original key components?
• Authenticity: Is there reliable paperwork, and has an independent specialist handled the piece?

The last line in that list is the one that moves money. If the price is significant for you, the guide says, an independent specialist should vet the trade and diligence each factor. Collectors who already live in this market will hear that as original parts, service history, and papers, not as a new theory of Rolex. The useful work in the note is that checklist. Taste still does not sit on a balance sheet.

For watches, Goldman adds a service warning that wrecks more value than a scratch. Do not let a shop replace key external parts without consent. A polished case, a swapped bezel, or a later bracelet can take a “collectible” object back to being a nice tool.

Grandpa’s Watch Cannot Be Split Like Munis

The longest stretch of the guide is not about buying. It is about what happens when the object is already in the family. Heslington said she works with new collectors and with people who do not have huge collections at all, only a grandfather’s watch and three grandchildren who might want it.

You cannot divide a watch in the same way that you could a stock portfolio. No one’s bickering over who gets the California or the New York muni bonds.

Monica Heslington, Head of Goldman Sachs Family Office Art & Collectibles Strategy

Keep original invoices and certificates, the bank says, because that file is the tax basis, the resale story, and the authentication trail. Keep an inventory current so appraisals for insurance and estate tax are not a scavenger hunt. A standard homeowner policy may not cover the full value, especially if the piece is worn abroad, and a rider or a specialist policy is often required. Appraisals are not a vanity print. The guide calls them a first step toward a legacy plan, because you cannot run tax and liquidity math on a guess.

The family office already sells the rest of that stack. Its art and collectibles practice offers introductions to appraisers, insurers, shippers, and storage, plus loans secured against fine art and collectibles, including vintage cars and wine. A watch that enters that machinery is no longer only a gift. It is an object with a file, a rider, and a succession memo.

Why a $31 Million Record Still Trails Fine Art

Heslington has a simple reason watches took this long to be treated as assets. The numbers were not loud enough. Art has been selling, she said, for $50 million, $100 million, $450 million. There has yet to be a watch sold for $100 million. She does not even know if any watch collection is worth $100 million. There might be one, she said. It is unlikely.

The auction ceiling still sits far below that line. Patek Philippe’s unique steel Grandmaster Chime, reference 6300A-010, made for the Only Watch charity sale, brought CHF 31 million, about $31 million, at Christie’s in Geneva on Nov 9, 2019. It has 20 complications and a reversible case, and it remains the high-water mark. Patek’s Henry Graves Supercomplication, a pocket watch, sold for about $24 million at Sotheby’s in 2014. In November 2025, Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold at Sotheby’s for $236.4 million against a $150 million estimate, a modern-art record that still sits in a different league.

WHERE THE CEILINGS STILL SIT

Watches are easier to live with than paintings, she argued. Almost everyone has one. They do not eat wall space. You do not need iconography to look at a dial and like it, and walking into a watch shop is less intimidating than walking into a gallery. That broader market is also why condition, parts, and papers matter more than they do for a canvas that never leaves a crate. A watch is worn, serviced, and dropped. The asset is the original object, not the idea of the brand.

Next-Gen Clients Already Sat Through the Christie’s Class

The guide did not come out of a vacuum. In July 2026, Goldman ran its third NextGS Investment Intensive in New York, a two-week session for about 50 people ages 18 to 23, many of them children of private-wealth families. Those accounts average more than $90 million, with fortunes from $10 million to more than $1 billion. Christie’s specialists led a class on watches, jewelry, and handbags. Brittany Boals Moeller, region head of Goldman’s San Francisco private wealth group, said the program exists so those young adults become more confident, including the ones who are not finance majors.

HOW THE WATCH FILE LANDED ON THE DESK

1. November 9, 2019: The steel Grandmaster Chime sells for CHF 31 million at Only Watch, a record that still stands.
2. 2020 to early 2022: Knight Frank says luxury collectibles post their strongest run since 2013, then higher rates unwind the surge.
3. 2023 and 2024: Most passion-asset classes decline. Watches stay on Goldman clients’ minds after the hype fades.
4. July 2025: Goldman later cites an 11% rise in second-hand watches from this month forward.
5. 2025: WatchCharts overall prices finish +5.1%, with Rolex and Patek doing the work; the broader Knight Frank index finishes -0.4%.
6. July 2026: NextGS heirs take a Christie’s session on watches, jewelry, and handbags in New York.
7. September 28, 2026: Goldman dates Beyond the Sparkle and tells clients to inventory, insure, and appraise the pieces they already love.

The sequence is the irony. By the time the bank printed collecting homework, the easy flip had already been punished, the rebound was narrow, and the next generation had already sat in a room with auction specialists. Goldman is late to the asset-class slogan and early to the boring part: files, riders, and a specialist on the trade when the number hurts.

Heslington still cannot point to a $100 million watch. The bank published the guide anyway, and it told clients to call someone who can tell a tool from an heirloom before they pay for either.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Goldman Sachs Recommend Buying Watches as Investments?

No. The family office states that it does not advocate acquiring art and collectibles for investment purposes. Beyond the Sparkle is labelled educational, and Goldman says the material will not constitute investment advice or form a primary basis for anyone’s investment decisions. The five tests are framed as questions to ask before a large personal purchase, not as a buy list.

Do Standard Home Insurance Policies Cover Luxury Watches?

Often only in part. Goldman says a standard homeowner policy may not cover full value, depending on how the loss happens, and that a scheduled rider or a specialist jewelry-and-watch policy is often required, especially when pieces are worn while travelling internationally. The bank tells clients to review limits with a qualified insurance specialist rather than assume a house policy follows the wrist.

What Is the Most Expensive Watch Ever Sold at Auction?

The record remains Patek Philippe’s unique stainless-steel Grandmaster Chime, reference 6300A-010, made for the Only Watch charity auction. It sold for CHF 31 million, about $31 million, at Christie’s in Geneva on Nov 9, 2019, after a long bidding fight, and it packs 20 complications in a reversible case. No later result, including later Patek steel complications, has topped that charity-sale total.

What Should You Check Before Buying a Pre-Owned Watch?

Goldman’s own FAQ puts authenticity, condition, documentation, and fit for your objective first. For watches it flags the original box and papers, service history, the reference number, and whether key parts are original. The secondary market can surface discontinued pieces, the bank says, and it is also where an independent specialist has to confirm the object in hand, not the listing photos.

How Are Luxury Watches Taxed When You Buy or Inherit Them?

The guide warns buyers to watch sales and use tax, VAT, and import tax at purchase. If a high-value watch sits in a foreign jurisdiction, Goldman says to work with a tax specialist on whether estate tax could apply based on the ownership structure. Tax treatment depends on the person and the facts, and the bank tells clients to get their own tax advice on sales, gifts, collectibles, estates, and cross-border ownership.

The file Goldman wants is dull on purpose: papers, a current appraisal, a rider that follows the watch off the nightstand, and a name on the estate memo so three grandchildren are not arguing over one dial. That is the product. The boom already had its fun.

Disclaimer: This article is news reporting and analysis of a Goldman Sachs family-office note and of published collectibles-market figures. It is informational only and is not investment, tax, insurance, legal, or collecting advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy, sell, insure, or bequeath any watch, jewel, or other passion asset. Readers who are considering a purchase, a loan against collectibles, an insurance rider, or an estate transfer should consult a qualified independent watch specialist, tax adviser, estate lawyer, and insurance broker who can review the specific object and the reader’s facts. Prices, index readings, auction records, and policy terms are those stated by the cited firms and documents as of the dates in this article and can change with the next sale, the next service, or the next appraisal.