RPM interview with Stephane Medam
As a recurring feature here on RPM I like to start with a questionary by asking each trusted dealer the same list of interesting questions we like to know about him. Find today below the first interview with Stephane Medam.
# Which watch made your heart skip a beat during your worldwide search for vintage models?
- Stephane: This Rolex Daytona Ref 6263 with light brown tropical sub dials
# Which vintage watch would you never sell?
- Stephane: My Panerai 6152
# Which watch do you regret not having bought?
- Stephane: a lot LOL 😂 –> Check all sold vintage Rolex on Stephane’s website over here.
# Tell us your greatest vintage watch anecdote of your collecting history
- Stephane: In the late 80 I wanted to buy a ” Rolex Daytona ” zénith where just available and after talking advices from a dealer decided to buy the old one . I’ve found one in ok shape but bought it anyway as i was leaving for vacation in south of France the day after. I was swimming with it and found the band to be too old so went to a Rolex dealer to change it.They told me that i had a very nice “Paul Newman ” . What a great surprise 😱
# What was your most lucrative deal?
- Stephane: It was a while ago. Probably a Ref 6239 Daytona “Swiss only Underline” that i’ve bought from a dealer and sold it 5 minutes later to an other dealer at twice what i had just paid for it.
# How far did you go to get your hands on a particular vintage watch?
- Stephane: I travel only for pleasure, and often find watches during my trips.
# Describe the perfect day for you as watch collector.
- Stephane: Mostly every time i look at a vintage rare watch, even on Instagram.
# Most collectors look for quality, age, uniqueness and complications. How do you calibrate the value of a vintage watch to avoid overpayment?
- Stephane: Quality, life into the dial , emotions
# Which features are your core collection criteria, year, model, style, complication, material or …?
- Stephane: Beauty only
# Should a collector always strive for a 100% original vintage watch or are periodically correct but not- authentic-to-watch parts allowed?
- Stephane: I like original only, even if not so perfect. don’t forget we are talking often about 50 years old timepiece.
# Which brand met/exceeded your expectations in terms of creating a true vintage watch identity? Which brand could have done better in terms of creating a true vintage watch identity?
- Stephane: Rolex is the perfect brand to me. A lot of brands could have done better if they would have stay independent, and not been bought by big groups that make them loose they’re souls.
# Which brand is the dark horse at the moment, having potential to gain collector’s interest in the near future?
- Stephane: I don’t know really ? i would not take one brand but probably one model per brand.
# Which contemporary watch models have the potential to become the classics of tomorrow?
- Stephane: Patek Philippe 5960 P
# Do you expect a shift in collecting vintage watches towards less rare models, given the high prices the extraordinary examples fetch at auctions?
- Stephane: Not really.
# Do you think collecting vintage watches has become a bubble of ever increasing prices that will burst one day?
- Stephane: I don’t think so but let’s not speculate too much.
# The word passion is used frequently in the vintage watch community to mark a common driver to collect. Isn’t this word misused too often nowadays and collecting has become a cold hard cash business?
- Stephane: Not to me.
# What is your view on the development of the increasing number fake vintage watches that are almost impossible to detect with only the eye?
- Stephane: I think that it’s not that easy to make good fake.
# How would you compare vintage car collecting with vintage watch collecting? What are the differences and similarities?
- Stephane: Cars can be restored over and over, watches can’t!
# The art world resembles a meritocracy where talent eventually is achieves the highest status. Do you see any similarities compared to the vintage watch world?
- Stephane: I don’t think that watches are art, they were tools for professional, i don’t see it the same ways.
# Two events are organised at the same time: a classic car fair displaying some of the rarest vintage cars out there and a vintage watch fair showing some of the most complicated watches ever made. Which event will you attend and why?
- Stephane: I love both, but might enjoy more car show.
# If you could travel back in time, who would you choose to have lunch with: Hans Wilsdorf or Antoni Patek & Adrien Philippe?
- Stephane: Hans Wilsdorf
# What is your golden tip for novice collectors?
- Stephane: surfing on Instagram
Check out Stephane’s trusted vintage Rolex for sale here on RPM
