David celebrates 35 years in the watch industry with Complications Guide

This year marks David Duggan’s 35th anniversary in the watch industry and to celebrate his team has produced a special edition, illustrated guide to some of our favourite watchmaking complications.

This year marks David Duggan’s 35th anniversary in the watch industry and to celebrate his team has produced a special edition guide to some of our favourite watchmaking complications.

Designed to help new and established collectors alike, this guide shares more than three decades of knowledge and industry understanding, alongside tips, watch care advice and a few of the incredible collecting stories that have punctuated a remarkable career.

David started his career as an avid collector and dealer in antique pocket watches – working alongside his brother John, a coin dealer. However, David soon realised his passion for extraordinary, complicated wristwatches would require him to swap his Lancastrian home for the bustling watch markets of Bermondsey and Portobello Road.

In that time, David and the team have witnessed the dizzying commercial success of Rolex throughout the 1970s and 1980s as well as a resurgence in popularity of highly-complicated mechanical watches, pioneered by watch houses such as Patek Philippe, Breguet and A. Lange & Söhne. These giants of the horological world have made traditional craftsmanship and mechanical excellence their watchword, despite the quartz revolution, mass commercialisation and modernisation, in the shape of the smart watch.

And things show no sign of slowing. Today, David’s eponymous Burlington Arcade showroom houses an approved Rolex service centre complete with state-of-the-art equipment that can return even the most-loved watch to its immaculate, original factory state.

There have been some exciting developments in the showroom itself, too. In 2016, David Duggan Watches became an authorised Tudor agent, selling a range of Tudor Heritage collections, which celebrate the brand’s rich history of diving watches, stylish Black Bays and Homeplate Chronos. David is also the only independent watch broker in the UK to sell rare, vintage models, such as the Monte Carlo chronographs of the ‘70s, alongside the very latest offerings from Baselworld.

In 2018, David Duggan Watches was privileged to become the second UK representative for Danish watchmaker Urban Jürgensen and the first traditional retailer with a full collection of its timepieces on show. This development is all the more exciting, given that Urban Jürgensen has produced fewer than 1,000 timepieces since 1980, many as limited editions.

Wristwatches, like luxury cars, can hold – and grow – their value well beyond their original purchase price, if you know what to look for and it has always been David’s firm belief that an informed client is a happy client. That’s why whenever David and the team meet a new client looking to sell a watch they always recommend they shop around, take the timepiece to a few dealers, or even an auction house if it’s an extra special timepiece, to get a second opinion.

Whether you are buying your first or your 50th watch, research is key and we hope our new guide will go some way to helping you learn more about the fascinating world of complicated timepieces.

For example, did you know that that each gong in a Patek Philippe minute repeater is tuned slightly differently, giving each timepiece its own ‘fingerprint’?

Download a PDF version of the guide for free

David Duggan Watches’ expert team offers more than 150 years’ combined experience in the field of horology and is a member of the British Horological Institute and an associate member of Sotheby’s – both awarded in recognition of outstanding levels of knowledge and service.

If you are looking to buy or sell a luxury timepiece, or just in need of some advice, you will always be greeted with a warm welcome in our showroom. We look forward to seeing you.