It is generally accepted that investing in a public company is easier and far more appealing than investing in a private one. True, a publicly traded business can be easily bought and sold on the stock market and so it has a better liquidity. It’s also possible for an investor to see how a public company is doing financially, since such firms are required to publicly disclose their financial statements. But we at Ineichen would like to challenge this long-held belief and prove that investing into an established privately-owned company like ours has a huge potential, and with our innovative bidding platform, private investing is now easier than ever for any interested individual investor.

Established five decades ago in 1973, Ineichen is the oldest Swiss auction house specializing in watches. Thanks to its dedicated founder Peter A. Ineichen, the auction house achieved four world records in sales only two years after it was founded. Also, as an established Zurich auctioneer, in 1975 Peter A. Ineichen was commissioned to create a catalogue of the historically important collection that belonged to the Hellmut Kienzle watch museum. 

In 2017, the company changed its management and strategy. Today Ineichen is a team of young ambitious professionals led by a 33-year old CEO Artemy Lechbinsky who has a vast knowledge in all things watches, from antique pocket watches to contemporary independent watchmakers.

After Artemy Lechbinsky acquired Ineichen in 2017, he has managed to adapt to new challenges and provided the rapid profit growth, increasing annual sales by two times between 2017 to 2020, and by three times in 2021. Sustainable growth potential that Ineichen has, gives investors the best opportunity to earn higher and stable returns.

Over the last years Ineichen have displayed a remarkable stability in its revenue growth and sales growth, which implies durable demand for Ineichen’s services in the future. Maintaining stability in principal fundamentals means that we can control market risks better than the rest.

Over the last two years Ineichen introduced multiple pioneering 21st century auction practices, including development of our in-house online bidding platform, in-house bidding app, launching auctions for watch-related NFT tokens and cancellation of buyer’s premium.

Ineichen’s key positives include a healthy business model, innovative IT solutions, high cash generation and management’s growth-oriented focus with the expansion of the flagship business.

Today we hold 4-6 auctions annually featuring a variety of vintage and modern luxury watches, all manufactured by the world’s most established watchmakers. Each auction reaches thousands of bidders through our in-house bidding platform and various auction channels.

In 2022 we wanted to find a way make investing in our private business more accessible to regular people who are passionate about watches. This May we let our clients decide what our company is worth – and you made the decision. Based on the sale result Ineichen Auctioners is worth 42 million CHF, just 8 million less than our estimate! 

Just like with a traditional share purchase, the owner of Ineichen’s stocks has the right to receive dividends as well as to participate in the annual shareholders’ meetings and the right to resell the shares when they increase in value.

Some may believe that investing in a public company seems more appealing than investing in a private one, but there are a number of benefits to putting your money into an established privately-owned company like Ineichen.

Obviously, it’s a great way to diversify your portfolio. And more importantly, it’s about more than expecting a huge payout at the end – investing in Ineichen allows you to be a determining factor in the watch auction business of tomorrow.

Our shareholders basically become co-owners of the Ineichen, which means that they will have an important role in the decision-making process at the firm and will be receiving their dividends directly from Ineichen. And since Ineichen has a lot of potential for growth, the return on investment can be a lot more significant compared with buying shares in publicly traded firms which are at a more advanced stage in their business life cycle and therefore have less room for growth.

The publicly traded companies are constantly pressured on meeting the financial performance targets by any means necessary and thus less focused on long-term success, because if they miss the expectations of the Wall Street analysts, their stock price would fall dramatically. For Ineichen owners, who are out of Wall Street's reach, it is above all important to make sure that the company stays profitable, since they have put their own money into this business and they genuinely care for the company’s growth.

Encouraged by the successful May sale, Ineichen will hold another closed online auction where we are going to offer 33% of shares in Ineichen Auctioneers to potential investors for direct purchase on our website. It’s easier than you can imagine – don’t miss this rare opportunity and join our sale starting on July 20!