: Furthermore, as far as the classic red Heuer
: boxes are concerned, they used to be not
: that sturdy: I own one and I can tell you
: it's quite frail indeed compared to most.
: So IMHO one of the most likely causes for their
: scarcity is that as time passed they got
: more and more ruined till the owner threw
: them away.

That could explain it. I guess they just made greart quality watches and were not too concerned about the boxes! unlike today, the boxes just get bigger and better, like the panerai and that 50th anniversay Omega!! You will soon be able to get burried in your watch box!!