About Us

First Watch Leasing, Inc. was founded by forward-thinking wristwatch collectors and enthusiasts who wanted to create a better way of acquiring fine timepieces. Building on their experience in the wristwatch, finance and risk-management fields, FWL’s management team has partnered with leading service providers to bring you the world’s first leasing option for fine timepieces. With FWL’s EliteLeaseSM program, your authorized retailer can offer you the ability to acquire fine timepieces with terms to suit your budget, from 24 to 60 months. You choose the term, and at the end of the lease, you can return your watch or purchase it using our Affordable Purchase Option. Of course, you can always lease another watch that suits your taste. The EliteLeasesm program lets you enjoy wearing the latest watches while keeping your existing credit lines available for other purchases.

Joseph Lam, President

First Watch Leasing, Inc.’s founder, Joseph Lam, is also the President of Parcel Pro, Inc., the leading independent insurance servicer for the wristwatch and jewelry trade. As a collector of vintage and modern luxury watches, Joseph founded Parcel Pro to provide quality insured shipping for high-value timepieces. Its customized risk management and loss prevention programs, coupled with close attention to customer service, allowed Parcel Pro to grow worldwide with offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Taipei.

Joseph’s experience shipping valuable timepieces and jewelry around the world provides him with an excellent grounding in risk management and loss prevention, and the First Watch Leasing management team has built on this foundation to create a system that addresses key risks, including identity theft, fraud, and the potential for lessee dishonesty. First Watch Leasing utilizes underwriting, technology, law enforcement, and common sense approaches to manage risk.

In 2001, Joseph embarked on another horological adventure when he acquired TimeZone.com, the leading community web site for wristwatch collectors and enthusiasts. During Joseph’s ownership TimeZone expanded by adding discussion forums, staff, sponsors, and an annual tour during which collectors are welcomed by leading Swiss and German manufacturers including Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, A. Lange & Söhne, and more. In 2007, the Geneva-based horological auction house Antiquorum acquired TimeZone, completing the site’s evolution.


Partners


Travelers Insurance

Travelers is one of the largest providers of property and casualty insurance products in the United States. Their success is built upon their ability to provide innovative insurance and risk protection products and services in-synch with their customers’ needs. They offer a broad array of coverages to businesses of all sizes, including workers’ compensation, property, general liability, product liability, commercial auto, and business owners’ package policies.

Travelers’ focus is on helping their customers manage risk before a claim occurs -- and responding with speed, professionalism and compassion when claims do happen. Travelers offers market leadership and financial strangth

  • Travelers is No. 89 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest publicly-traded U.S. corporations.
  • Second-largest writer of commercial U.S. property casualty insurance
  • Second-largest writer of auto and homeowners insurance through independent agents
  • Over 7.1 million personal insurance policies in force
  • Products distributed primarily through over 12,000 independent agents throughout the United States
  • Consistently high financial strength ratings

Antiquorum Auctioneers

Antiquorum is the world’s leading auction house specializing in the field of horology. Having recently celebrated its 30-year anniversary, Antiquorum has carved its own unparalleled niche in the auction world by cultivating a thriving collector’s market for timepieces worldwide. Established in Geneva in 1974 with the addition of its New York affiliate Antiquorum USA in 1994, Antiquorum has continually realized the most impressive world records for sales of watches, wristwatches, clocks, marine chronometers, and regulators at auction. By promoting the passion for timepiece collecting, Antiquorum continuously demonstrates an incomparable ability to obtain the highest prices for wristwatches at auction. Of the 62 watches ever sold publicly by major auction houses above SFr. 1,000,000, Antiquorum claims an impressive 44.

Antiquorum is one of the most innovative auction houses in the world, as seen in its continuing efforts to develop new ways to arouse the interest of collectors. In the early 1980s, Antiquorum pioneered the presentation of wristwatches at auction, and it launched the thematic auction, a sale devoted to a single subject. The first thematic sale to hit the auction block was held in 1989, The Art of Patek Philippe, during the 150th anniversary year of this prestigious watchmaking firm. Antiquorum continues to offer thematic sales annually, providing collectors with the ideal occasion to complete their collections and, by means of Antiquorum’s specialized catalogues, acquire invaluable reference material on a specific subject.

Antiquorum conducts its auctions in Geneva, New York and Hong Kong ten times a year, preceded by previews in various major cities worldwide. Consistent with its avant-garde approach, Antiquorum was the first auction house to allow collectors to follow and/or bid on its worldwide auctions online at www.antiquorum.com. Clients can register online to bid interactively in real time during the auctions as well as place absentee bids online. Along with its auction centers at Antiquorum Geneva, New York, and Hong Kong, Antiquorum also has offices in Paris, Milan, London, Munich, Shanghai and Tokyo, and agents in Russia. With its internationally recognized staff of watch experts providing unsurpassed expertise and unmatched service to clients around the world, combined with its ongoing development of innovative auction methods to attract and maintain the interest of collectors, Antiquorum continues to make history in time.


Parcel Pro, Inc.

Parcel Pro was founded by Joseph Lam in 1997 to meet the unique insured shipping needs of the jewelry and wristwatch industry. From its earliest days, Parcel Pro has provided its customers with peace of mind by offering the best combination of service, risk management and economical pricing. Parcel Pro's mission is to provide the most affordable, reliable and secure means for shipping and insuring your precious goods.

Delivering on these promises, Parcel Pro quickly grew, attracting thousands of customers the world over. From its start near Los Angeles International Airport, Parcel Pro has grown to become a leading provider of insured shipping and risk management services worldwide, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. In 2006, Parcel Pro insured shipments valued at over $2.5 billion.

Over the years, Parcel Pro has continually developed and refined its insurance, risk management and shipping programs. One thing that has remained constant is Parcel Pro's focus on customer service. Today, Parcel Pro is the preferred shipping provider for the largest jewelry insurer in the USA, Jewelers Mutual.

Click here for more information about Parcel Pro Inc


Glass & Goldberg

Glass & Goldberg is a boutique law firm specializing in the representation of financial institutions. Their practice focuses on drafting and enforcing virtually every kind of personal or commercial loan or lease document. Their practice includes state, federal and bankruptcy litigation. Representative clients include:

  • General Electric Capital Corporation
  • Citicapital Commercial Corporation
  • Citicapital Commercial Leasing Corporation
  • Citicorp Vendor Finance, Inc.
  • Citicorp Leasing, Inc.
  • Wells Fargo Financial Leasing, Inc.
  • Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Inc.
  • Chase Manhattan Bank
  • The CIT Group
  • General Motors Acceptance Corporation
  • Boeing Capital Corporation
  • Eastman Kodak Corporation
  • McDonnell Douglas Technical Services
  • ADP Credit Corporation

Lease Dimensions

Founded in 1995, LeaseDimensions provides Third-Party Servicing, IT Outsourcing and Technology Consulting to companies in the personal property, equipment and vehicle finance industries. Their lease and loan servicing clients range from Fortune 500 companies to emerging growth organizations. LeaseDimensions services encompass both commercial and retail customers and include a wide array of assets. Since its inception, LeaseDimensions has provided lease and loan services for over 100,000 lease and loan contracts representing more than $2 billion in asset value. The client roster features industry-leading finance companies such as:

  • GE Capital
  • Volkswagen Credit
  • Coca-Cola
  • Hewlett-Packard
  • Fifth Third Bank
  • Key Bank
  • Ford Credit
  • PHH Vehicle Management Services
  • Republic Financial
  • ORIX Australia