The rare watch market operates on a principle that surprises most outsiders: the best pieces almost never appear at public auction. Industry estimates suggest that roughly 80% of high-value watch transactions — those above $50,000 — happen through private channels.
This isn't an accident. It's a feature of a market built on relationships, discretion, and information asymmetry.
The private dealer network
At the heart of off-market trading sits a network of established dealers who have spent decades cultivating relationships with collectors, estates, and other dealers. These relationships are the inventory. A dealer in Geneva may know that a particular collector in Hong Kong is willing to part with a specific reference — but only for the right buyer, at the right price, through the right introduction.
Why sellers prefer privacy
For high-net-worth sellers, privacy isn't a luxury — it's a requirement. Public auction means public records. A collector liquidating part of their collection doesn't want competitors, tax authorities, or the press to know the details. Private transactions offer discretion that auction houses, by design, cannot.
The access problem for buyers
The flip side of this private market is that buyers without existing relationships are effectively locked out. You can't bid on what you can't see. And you can't see what's being traded through WhatsApp groups, private forums, and dealer-to-dealer referrals.
This is precisely the problem Curatas was built to solve. By monitoring 500+ sources across dealer inventories, auction back-channels, and collector networks, we give qualified buyers access to inventory that would otherwise be invisible.
What this means for collectors
If you're building or expanding a serious collection, relying solely on public auction houses means you're fishing in a pool that contains only 20% of the available inventory. The remaining 80% — often the most interesting, best-provenance pieces — requires either decades of relationship-building or a service that has already done that work for you.