Suros Capital has provided a £105,000 loan to a property developer after agreeing secured lending against part of his luxury watch collection, which included pieces from Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe and Rolex.

The funding acted as a top up to an existing bridging loan, after the borrower was unable to secure the full amount required for his project in Spain.

Although the developer had relocated to Spain a year earlier, he had struggled to access additional finance locally.

His UK based financial adviser introduced him to Suros Capital after establishing that he owned a significant collection of high-value watches.

Following an assessment of the watches’ value and provenance, Suros’ valuers authorised a loan for the sum needed.

The facility was completed within 48 hours of the collection being received for appraisal, underlining the speed Suros aims to offer where conventional routes cannot meet time-critical requirements.

Ray Palmer, director at Suros Capital, said: “Like many of our clients, this developer came to us because of the lack of suitable sources and because he could not wait any longer to find alternative sources.

“Because of his watch collection, our client had the kind of security Suros Capital is able to lend against.

“Apart from making sure they know about a client’s brick and mortar assets, advisers should check about their clients’ hidden assets such as gold, jewellery, fine art, or luxury and classic cars. In this case, the client was able to make use of his collection of watches.”

ALTERNATIVE ASSET-BACKED LENDING

The case highlights a growing willingness among borrowers and advisers to use non-property assets to unlock liquidity when mainstream finance is either unavailable or too slow.

Suros Capital specialises in short-term lending secured against luxury items, a niche that continues to attract interest from clients who need rapid access to capital to keep development timelines on track.