Watching history happen

 

The queue is massive, spiralling around the block. Photo taken 15 minutes ago. And no, they are not waiting for a Rolex shop to open. As predicted a few weeks ago: the bubble has arrived — the big, beautiful bubble called the run on gold merchants. An onlooker unfamiliar with the situation might wonder: what are all these people lining up for? To sell their gold and take advantage of high prices? To buy more, fearing that money will soon be worthless? Yes, a few are queueing for those reasons. But the vast majority are simply desperate to collect actual gold — to convert an “I owe you” piece of paper into real, physical metal. The frenzy and the urgency? Simple: there’s far more paper, more promissory notes, more contracts, than there is actual gold in the entire world. And as the price of gold continues to bubble, there will be more demand, more pressure — until the pressure cooker finally blows its lid, and Lima beans hit the ceiling fan. Back in June 2015, when a batch of twenty Rebelde 18k gold watches was delivered to Rebelde ambassadors, history was made. The first steel model had been released only 13 months earlier — and it was the first time in Australia that a microbrand, still in its infancy, released massive 18k yellow and rose gold watches. And massive they were: 135-gram monsters — not hollowed-out or gold-clad cases, not cheaply cast, but thick, heavy, solid-gold, three-piece machined cases. The retail price was $13,980. Today, those 18k Rebelde watches are worth twice that. And their value is not set by me, or by Chrono24, or an auction house, or a group of cashed-up collectors who worship microbrands. That’s the price any gold merchant — anywhere in the world, from Mumbai to Moscow, Hong Kong to Johannesburg, or Buenos Aires — would pay for my watch. Not because they value my horological genius, my name, or the “Australian brand.” For that, they couldn’t care less. They pay for the gold itself. To my ambassadors who invested wisely in Rebelde: well done — you’ve doubled your money. Plus, you’re wearing a watch of genuine horological significance. You were backers of a project that will never be repeated — or at least not in the next decade — by any Australian microbrand. When someone once asked, “Why would anyone invest in a gold Rebelde?” I answered in a blog post — more than 10 years ago. Today, that answer has been fully validated — and it’s as relevant as ever. What a journey! https://nickhacko.blogspot.com/2015/06/a-post-in-forum.html I promised, and I delivered. Handsomely. Smartly. And much faster than anyone could have anticipated. Myself included.