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Related question: Do celebrity "fans" (unofficial) help sell watches to collectors?
May 26, 2014,11:00 AM
I'm not surprised at the answers so far. Undoubtedly, celebrities bring awareness to brands, otherwise brands would not spend money doing this. No doubt, the worst of these forced marriages weaken the offending brands' credibility in Purists' eyes. Very few celebrity endorsements are genuine, and it's easier to just assume most celebrities are mercenaries for hire when it comes to this sort of thing. While a non-collector might know the endorsement is not genuine, they had no awareness of the brand in the first place, so the net effect can't help but be positive. For collectors, it generally reminds us that the asking price is never achieved on merit alone - but celebrities, galas, races and polo matches 'feel' more pronounced compared to the advertisements seen in collector magazines and on collector websites.
Now, on the other hand, certain brands are known to have "unofficial" ambassadors - famous people who just happen to like collecting watches. The best known example is Arnold Schwarzeneger, a noted bellwether when it comes to oversize watches. While a noted Audemars Piguet ambassador, his endorsement of other brands like Zenith's giant Pilot watches probably did drive up demand amongst collectors. Of course, there are other, lower-key examples. Can these low key endorsements - perhaps spotting our favorite author wearing a brand we were on the fence with - cut through our cynicism and subtly influence our perception in a positive way? I believe so, because we cannot help but admire certain well-known individuals and we will take note of their taste...if we believe it to be genuine.