Splint Invest Reviews: Invest in Rolex & Co. Starting at €50

For those who want to diversify their assets and reduce their dependence on price fluctuations in the financial markets, alternative investments offer an exciting complement to a traditional stock portfolio.

The up-and-coming Swiss platform Splint Invest is taking a pioneering approach: it ’s democratizing access to high-quality collectibles by making them available to a broad range of investors. Investments in art, luxury watches, or rare wines—which were once reserved almost exclusively for the very wealthy—can now be made easily and digitally via an app.

Based on our experience with Splint Invest, we’ll show you how Splint Invest’s business model works, where we see the pros and cons, and how you can invest in your first Splint—a collectible of your choice—without any risk to yourself—now also available in Swiss francs.

Promo Code SFB60 and a Preliminary Note on Our Experience with Splint Invest

Splint Invest impressed us, which is why we entered into a partnership with this Swiss startup, which was founded in 2021 and is now well established.

This article is based primarily on our own research and experience. For specific topics where in-depth background knowledge was helpful, we received direct, firsthand support from Splint Invest.

🎁 Use the promo code SFB60 to receive a starting balance of 60.– in your reference currency (CHF, EUR, or GBP) and try out Splint Invest with a real investment at no financial risk to you. Plus, you’ll be supporting our blog.

Just download the app to your smartphone, sign up, enter the promo code, and you’re all set!

– Partner Offer –

Disclaimer: Investing involves the risk of loss.

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Alternative Investments

For those of you who are still relatively new to alternative investments, we’ve summarized the most important information about these non-mainstream asset classes in this chapter.

What are alternative investments?

As the name suggests, these are alternatives to traditional asset classes such as stocks or bonds. Alternative investments are often characterized by the following features:

• Weak correlation with traditional asset classes or even countercyclical market performance
• Low liquidity or long-term tie-up of capital
• Increased Potential for Profit and Loss

Examples of alternative investments that are well-established in the market include:

• Hedge funds: actively managed funds that aim to generate returns independent of market performance
• Private Equity: Investments in unlisted companies with growth potential
• Commodities: e.g., wheat, oil, or precious metals
• Real Estate: Investing in “Concrete Gold”
  (see also our article “Real Estate ETFs: The Easiest Way to Invest in Concrete Gold”)

Less well-known, but also considered alternative investments, are so-called collectibles or luxury items. That is the focus of this article.

Why should one invest in alternative investments at all?

As part of a comprehensive asset diversification strategy, alternative investments can effectively complement traditional asset classes such as stocks or bonds.

In this way, adding alternative investments to your portfolio can make it more resilient to stock market turbulence and interest rate fluctuations. This reduces dependence on traditional investments and the associated market trends, while also opening up new potential opportunities for returns.

About Splint Invest

A Brief History of Its Origins

Splint Invest is a Swiss startup based in Zug that was founded in 2021 by, among others, two private investors and certified public accountants, Aurelio Perucca and Mario von Bergen. They were motivated by the realization that many individual investors, driven by negative interest rates, stock market turbulence, and rising inflation, were desperately seeking alternative investment opportunities.

After a trial period among friends and acquaintances, the app went live in February 2022. By 2026, the platform already had around 20,000 investors—and the number was rising rapidly.

Splint Invest is what is known as a financial intermediary. As a member of the self-regulatory organization VQF, Splint Invest is audited annually to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering regulations.

How does Splint Invest work?

Platform & Investment Strategy

Splint Invest is based on an app that you download to your smartphone. Through this platform, you can trade digital shares in alternative investments. These investments consist of collectibles or luxury items, also known in technical jargon as “collectibles” or “luxury items.”

Specifically, you can, for example, invest in contemporary artworks, high-end luxury watches, fine wines, select whiskey barrels, or exclusive handbags, thereby acquiring co-ownership of these items.

Splint Invest makes collectibles accessible to a broad range of investors. Until now, this asset class has been reserved primarily for very wealthy individuals, as reflected in the company’s slogan: “Do it like the top 1%. Invest in alternative assets.”

Collaboration between Experts, the Platform, and Investors

Splint Invest operates the platform, selects external partners, and validates their expertise based on data-driven criteria. If Splint Invest determines that the external partner is trustworthy and the collectible being offered is fairly valued, it is purchased and listed on the platform as an investment opportunity.

What amounts are we talking about?

Starting at just 50€ —or the equivalent in CHF or GBP —you can purchase shares, known as “Splints.” With the promo code SFB60 , you ’ll even get your first Splint for free, which is essentially a risk-free investment.

Splint Invest now offers three reference currencies: EUR (as before), and now also CHF and GBP. A single Splint is still worth €50, but is converted into the selected reference currency in each case. You can find out exactly how this works in this article from Splint Invest.

Existing customers can change their reference currency once and irrevocably —for example, from euros to Swiss francs. Based on my own experience, the currency change can be initiated with just a few clicks and takes effect within 24 hours.

What fees does Splint Invest charge?

Let’s start with the good news: Splint Invest doesn’t charge any custody fees or other hidden costs. There’s also no withdrawal fee when you transfer the proceeds from the sale of Splints back to your bank account.

With Splint Invest, the only costs incurred are transaction-related, specifically when purchasing Splints. This means that the purchase price of Splints already includes the so-called platform fees of 4–10% and asset-specific external management costs for storage and insurance. The latter are calculated as a one-time fee over the entire investment horizon and vary depending on the investment property.

To help you make a decision, we recommend that you get a clear picture of the fees involved before purchasing any investment. You can do this easily and customize it based on your planned investment amount using the app.

What are splints?

A splint is a digital unit that defines co-ownership of a physical asset . A watch worth €20,000 is therefore divided into 400 splints, each worth €50. If you buy four of them, you own one percent of the watch.

How are splints taxed?

Under Swiss law, Splints are considered tangible assets. The value of the Splints reported at the end of the year is included in the total assets on the tax return. An investment with Splint Invest is therefore subject to wealth tax.

How is the expected return calculated?

In collaboration with external experts, an investment horizon and three scenarios regarding expected value performance are defined for each property: a defensive, a balanced, and an aggressive scenario. These forecasts are based primarily on historical data, specifically past returns and sales prices of comparable properties.

Based on our experience with Splint Invest, returns often exceed 10% per year, though they vary quite significantly from property to property. As of May 26, 2026, the expected annual return for the 13 active offers in the balanced scenario ranges from an attractive 12.8% for Ornellaia, Bolgheri (a top-tier red wine from Tuscany) to a high of 29.4% for a painting by Javier Calleja.

In the next chapter, you’ll learn what actual returns have been achieved through sales so far .

When will the property be sold, and what actual returns have been achieved so far?

Splint Invest initiates the sales process according to fixed rules—that is, at the start of the defined investment horizon—and it is generally carried out based on the balanced or aggressive scenario.

However, based on our experience with Splint Invest, it is often the case that an offer matching the aggressive scenario arises even before the end of the specified investment period. In this case, Splint Invest arranges for the early sale of the collectible. In rare cases, market prospects for a specific item may also deteriorate. In such cases, Splint Invest may recommend an early sale—even at a loss—which all investors then vote on.

The typical investment period varies depending on the property and is generally between about one and ten years.

Splint Invest’s completed sales to date indicate attractive returns and a comparatively short holding period, as the following overview shows.

Key figure	Value
Total Exit Volume	CHF 4.71 million
Total Number of Exits	76
Average Net Return	22%
Average holding period	17 months
Best Exit	74,8%
Fastest Exit	2 months

If no suitable purchase offer is received within the defined sales window (typically 2–3 years), the sales process will continue. In this case, offers that align with the defensive scenario will also be accepted.

As an alternative to these sales organized by Splint Invest, you can also sell your shares in the investment property on your own. That’s because Splint Invest offers a secondary market—known as the “trading platform”—where Splints can be traded weekly within the community. We’ll go into more detail below and show you who can particularly benefit from the trading platform.

Where are the goods stored?

Storage is a factor that should not be underestimated when it comes to the appreciation of an asset’s value. Splint Invest sets correspondingly high quality standards for its partners in this regard. Currently, for example, watches and handbags are stored in the vault of the Berner Kantonalbank in Bern, while whiskey barrels and wine bottles are kept in government-supervised duty-free warehouses (e.g., in London).

What types of tangible assets can you invest in?

The range of alternative investment opportunities is constantly expanding, and with it, the overarching categories. Currently, the following categories are available to you (sorted by launch date, with the oldest category first):

• Whiskey
• Watches
• Art
• Wine
• Handbags
• Rum
• Diamonds
• Lego
• Various items (e.g., precious metals, trading cards, sneakers)
• Digitized Rights
• Luxury Cars
• Private Equity

As with stocks, the same principle applies to this asset class: To achieve the best possible risk-return ratio, it pays to diversify as broadly as possible across multiple property categories.

How does the registration process work?

The registration process is simple and takes less than a minute: just enter your name, email address, and a password. A welcome email will be sent immediately, which you’ll need to confirm. Done!

After registering, you can redeem the promo code SFB60, which will credit your account with 60 CHF, EUR, or GBP —depending on your chosen reference currency. You can only transfer this bonus amount back to your bank account after it has been invested.

You’re only required to verify your identity once you’ve purchased a total of 10 Splints or more—that is, once your total investment reaches €500. You’ll verify your identity using a valid ID and a selfie in the form of a short video clip. This entirely digital process took us about two minutes.

In general, anyone 18 years of age or older who resides in Europe or has access to the app can register.

How do I transfer money?

You can transfer money via bank account (one-time or recurring transfers are possible). Thanks to the Single Euro Payments Area ( SEPA), of which Switzerland is a part, transfers from your bank to the platform and back are free of charge. Alternatively, you can also transfer money using a credit card; however, debit cards are not accepted.

Depending on the selected reference currency, transfers can currently be made in CHF, EUR, or GBP.

How good is the app?

To get right to the point: We’ve rarely come across an app that’s so informative and yet so easy to navigate. Kudos to Splint Invest!

You can download the app for free from the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. We tested the latter.

The app is available in German, English, French, and, most recently, Italian. The main content is organized into the following five sections in the menu bar:

“Equipment” section

This is where the action begins—or rather, where the journey of discovery starts! You can use the filter function to make an initial selection—by status (“My Investments,” “New,” “Active” for items still available for purchase, or “Sold Out”) as well as by category (e.g., art). You can further refine your selection by investment horizon, stability (i.e., how much an item’s value fluctuates), and track record (the item’s historical performance).

So far, we haven’t come across any slow-moving items at Splint Invest: Sooner or later, every item finds a buyer—depending on its popularity, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. By the way, there isn’t an Auto-Invest feature yet, but one is in the works.

“Exits” section

This section is new and replaces the former “News” section. It provides a complete overview of all sales completed to date —not just your own exits, but those across the entire Splint Invest universe.

As we have already shown earlier in this chapter on completed sales, exits can be tracked both on a consolidated basis and in detail for each collectible—including duration, volume, and return achieved.

For us, this represents a real gain in transparency: Anyone who wants to evaluate this still relatively unknown asset class before investing will find a well-founded, data-driven basis here—and can see in black and white what actual returns have been achieved across the entire platform to date.

“Dashboard” section

This section focuses on your own investments. It displays the cumulative market and nominal values, as well as changes in value. To assess the diversification of your portfolio, you’ll also see how many categories and investments you’re invested in.

“Trading Hub” section

Here, you trade Splints directly with other investors. This secondary market opens every Thursday: from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., you, as the seller, list your Splints; after that, the market is open to buyers for four days, through Sunday.

You set the asking price yourself, though within the ranges specified by Splint Invest to prevent abuse. These price ranges are set conservatively on the high end but allow for significant discounts on the low end—for example, for a Splint with a market price of €52, the range is approximately €29–€55. There are no fees for transactions conducted through the trading platform. We’ll take a closer look below at how the trading platform can be used in practice and who stands to benefit the most from it.

“Profile” section

In addition to personal information, there are also interesting things to discover in this section. For example, there are numerous explanatory videos available in the FAQs. If you still have unanswered questions, you can also use the chat feature in this section to ask your specific question. We’ve done this several times and have received a satisfactory answer within the promised 24 hours each time.

One small downside: Unfortunately, the response comes via email, and there’s no way to view the requests again in the app, let alone a ticket system where you could track your communication with support.

Our Take on the App

The app pleasantly surprised us with its functionality, user-friendliness, and wealth of information. Whether it’s purchases, transactions on the trading platform, instructional videos, or questions for support: All interactions can be conveniently managed through the app—with no paperwork at all.

The First Purchase

Stefan decides to look for an investment with the highest possible return potential and the shortest possible investment horizon—and he finds just what he’s looking for. He invests his first splint in a painting by the artist David Hockney.

The value of this painting, created in 2010, is estimated at an impressive €156,000, which amounts to a total of 3,123 splints. At the time of purchase, 42% of the splints remained.

And lo and behold: No sooner had the investment been made than the artwork had already increased in value by 0.6%! The increase in value is based on the monthly revaluation of all investments offered. On July 10, 2025, after 33 months, the painting was sold by Splint Invest, resulting in a realized net return of 14.3% per annum.

Trading Venue: Who Benefits Most from the Secondary Market

Stefan first used the marketplace on August 10, 2023: He bought a Rolex Sky-Dweller strap for €48.50, about €1.50 below the market value at the time. Since then, he has been using it regularly—mostly for splints offered below market value, for which there is a handy filter (“Below Market Value”).

From the seller’s perspective, it’s worth being honest about pricing. In a test I conducted on May 21, 2026, I listed a total of 20 splints for sale—all priced at least 2% below market value so they would appear in the “Below Market Value” filter and increase the chances of a sale. Despite this deliberate sacrifice of return, only two Splints were sold. So you shouldn’t count on a quick, sure sale, even if you deliberately list them at a lower price.

Here are two helpful tips based on our experience with the Splint Invest trading platform:

• When selling: Don’t list your items until the last hour before 6:00 p.m. That way, you’ll be able to see the other listings and their prices and position your item strategically.
• When shopping: Be there right from the start—that’s when the best deals are still available.

Our Conclusion on the Trading Platform

Unless absolutely necessary, don’t use the trading platform to sell: the hit to your return is often too great. We frequently see discounts of 10% or more—presumably because the seller urgently needs liquidity. On the other hand, those who wait it out are generally better off with the orderly sale organized by Splint Invest. It’s good to know, however, that the trading platform is available to you as a liquidity tool should you need it.

From a buyer’s perspective, it’s extremely attractive: you can often find real bargains here.

What are the risks?

The greatest risk associated with this alternative investment is a financial loss. Such a loss occurs when the proceeds from the sale are less than the amount originally invested. Since there is currently no long-term track record spanning multiple market cycles, it is difficult at this time to make definitive statements about potential periods of loss. On a positive note, however, numerous sales have already been successfully completed, and many collectibles have found buyers at attractive prices.

It is also important to note that any potential insolvency of Splint Invest does not pose a concentrated risk for investors. The underlying luxury items are not included in the bankruptcy estate but remain the property of the investors. Furthermore, all collectibles offered are insured against theft and damage.

The Smart Club for Dedicated Investors

The Smart Club is an exclusive community of particularly active and committed investors. It offers the following four benefits:

• Premium Access: As a Smart Club member, you can reserve new Splints before they become available to the public.
• Cashback Bonus: Every year, you’ll receive a 1% bonus cashback on your invested amounts (net), credited directly to your bonus balance in the app. The bonus is credited each January.
• Smart Newsletter: You’ll receive regular updates featuring insights, expert tips, and insider information.
• Invitations to exclusive events: Through exclusive events, you can network with other investors and gain insights from industry experts.

To become and remain a member of the Smart Club, you must meet the following two requirements:

• Annual net investment of at least 2,500 CHF. The net investment amount is the total amount invested across all categories, minus sales and exits during the same period.
• Investments in at least three categories per year—for example, art, watches, and wine.

If you meet these requirements, you will be automatically accepted. The previous invitation process, which required existing members to invite new members, was discontinued in 2026.

What are the pros and cons of Splint Invest?

Conclusion on Our Experience with Splint Invest

Alternative investments, such as high-quality collectibles, can help diversify a portfolio and make it more stable when added as a supplement. We were impressed by this asset class and its user-friendly implementation, which is why we are strategically supplementing our portfolio—which consists primarily of equity ETFs—with “Splints,” or shares in these collectibles. We are doing this gradually over a longer period of time, without exceeding 10% of the total portfolio value.

For a platform for alternative investments that is still in its early stages, the issue of trust is key. The same applies to Splint Invest: Despite numerous completed sales, it still lacks a long-term track record spanning multiple market cycles. However, we view it as a positive sign that many collectibles have quickly found buyers and generated double-digit returns. The fact that an early sale on the secondary market isn’t always easy is of little consequence to us—we invest in Splint for the long term anyway.

In our view, Splints are particularly well-suited for individuals who wish to strategically add alternative investments to their portfolio and who value at least one of the following aspects:

• better diversification and potentially less dependence on the stock and interest rate markets
• Higher potential returns, accompanied by corresponding risks
• more excitement compared to traditional investments such as stocks or bonds

Questions? Just post them in the comments below. We’ll get back to you right away.

– Partner Offer –

Disclaimer: Investing involves the risk of loss.

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Updates

August 8, 2026: New rules for the Smart Club admission process explained.

June 22, 2026: Summer special offer published.

May 29, 2026: Updated sales statistics and fee model, and added new insights about the trading platform.

May 6, 2026: May special offer published.

April 1, 2026: April special offer published.

March 1, 2026: March special offer published.

January 15, 2026: Article comprehensively updated.

October 3, 2025: Explanation of new accounts with CHF or GBP as the reference currency.

June 23, 2025: Splint Invest Explains Smart Club.

April 15, 2025: Exit table updated.

November 1, 2024: Added a new table showing all sales to date and the returns achieved.

April 9, 2024: Mention of previous sales, completion of the investment categories, multilingual support for the app, and an increase in the bonus to 60.

September 4, 2023: Added my own experiences with the trading platform.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: Investing involves risks. You must decide for yourself whether or not you are willing to accept these risks.

Subject to errors: We have written this article about our experience with Splint Invest to the best of our knowledge and belief. Our goal is to provide you, as a retail investor, with information on financial topics that is as objective and informative as possible. However, if we have made any errors, omitted important details, and/or if the information is no longer up to date, we would appreciate it if you could bring these issues to our attention.