A luxury watch collector shares the simple strategy he used to upgrade from a $200 watch to a $10,000 Rolex

Before Greg Petronzi became an expert in repairing vintage Rolexes, he was a luxury watch enthusiast and collector.

Petronzi, the watchmaker who owns the company True Patina, told Business Insider he used a simple saving method to build up the funds to buy his first luxury watches while he was still in graduate school.

"I didn't have a lot of money, but I had enough that I was able to roll things into watches," Petronzi said, adding that he was working part-time and saving while studying to become a psychologist. He said in graduate school, he eventually was able to afford a $10,000 watch that he "probably had no business having."

If someone is looking to start a luxury watch collection on a budget, Petronzi said there are some very cool watches in the $200 range to start with, like those from the brand Seiko. He said companies like Hamilton and CWC also sell vintage military field watches that are interesting and under $500.

He also recommended doing a lot of research to figure out what types of watches you actually like. He said learning about the history of watches can make different watch qualities, like the materials used or movement mechanisms, a lot more interesting, regardless of how luxurious the watch is. The best way to learn about watches, he said, is through forums, meetups, and online resources like 5513mattedial.com or larger publications such as Hodinkee.

Petronzi said that once you start with a $200 watch, you can wear it and enjoy it while also looking ahead to the next purchase and putting money aside into a watch wealth fund. Once you have another $300 saved up, you can sell the original watch, and now you'll have $500 to go toward a new watch.

If you purchase well, you might even make money off the watch you sell, he said.

"You do that enough times and before you know it, you have a several-thousand-dollar watch, but you didn't actually spend several thousand dollars because you just rolled it into that watch from your previous sale," he said.

The 'Snowball Approach'

Petronzi said the watch he had in grad school was a Rolex Submariner 5513 and that it wasn't loud or flashy; it was just a piece he loved and found interesting. He also said he would not have been able to afford it had he not been doing that "snowball approach" of buying, selling, and adding to the pot for years before purchasing it.

"I was able to build a degree of wealth in watches," he said.

Thinking of his watches as a separate asset class has also helped him justify spending a lot on them, Petronzi said, and he's even made money flipping them.

Luxury watches are often touted as an investment by collectors. A study published earlier this year found watches could even be a less volatile investment than real estate or stocks. But not everyone agrees — the CEO of Rolex said last year that he does not approve of comparing watches to stocks.

Still, Petronzi said that thinking of your watch collection as a fluid, evolving fund can make getting into luxury watches more attainable, even if you shouldn't technically be able to afford something like a Rolex.

Paul Altieri, founder and CEO of watch reseller Bob's Watches, recently told Business Insider about six starter watches that are good for someone starting out in collecting. They included the $6,500 Oyster Perpetual 41-millimeter diameter from Rolex and the $7,050 Santos de Cartier Medium from Cartier.

Petronzi said he has maybe four or five watches that he doesn't think he'd ever sell. He has another five or so that he might rotate or trade out for something else. He said his personal collection of watches is still constantly evolving.

"Once you have a certain amount of money in the watches, it's like having a separate fund of your own wealth," he said. "And the collection can be alive as you are as well."

Do you have a story to share about luxury watches? Contact this reporter at [email protected].