The Fourth Wheel, Issue 56

Anatomy of a scandal: Omega, Phillips, Perezcope and the press

Hello and welcome back to The Fourth Wheel, for what may well be the most carefully written and potentially controversial issue yet published. Given that last week we were deep in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, that’s saying something - and you also know things are big when a brand new, completely unexpected Rolex Daytona isn’t the number one topic of conversation. I have heard a huge amount in the last week about the situation at Omega. It’s crazy. It’s shocking. A lot of it is also still hearsay and rumour - I’ve gone as far as I feel comfortable going. Let me know what you think…

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It has been exciting to watch a real story break in the watch world over the last few weeks. The Omega Scandal - as I shall refer to it, not least because that way it sounds like an airport thriller - has been seized upon loudly by social media commentators, and relished quietly by others, because it has illuminated a typically shady corner of this industry. Some are hoping it will be a ‘house of cards’ moment for a cosy network of dealers, consultants and auction houses that has hitherto enjoyed remarkably uncritical press. I’d like to offer an analysis of the various different reactions across the industry, and some thoughts on where this all could lead.

The offending watch - an Omega Speedmaster CK2915-2 sold at Phillips in November 2021

Omega

What at first sight looks like a careful press statement - read it in full at the end of this Hodinkee piece - raises more questions than it answers. To start with: why volunteer any of this information? You would think the default position of any Swiss watch brand would be total silence.

Omega, in its statement, identifies one former employee: the former head of its museum and heritage department, who (I am told) left the company in August 2022. Everyone knows who he is; let’s give him the codename ‘PP’ ¹. The statement goes on to confirm that a total of three employees, together with “intermediaries”, conspired to inflate the price and “collect and distribute the profits generated from the sale.”

This rather gives the impression that PP was the ringleader of this little scheme and the most senior figure involved at Omega. According to my sources, that’s not the case.