I’m the guy who bought the earlier GMT for Eur1780 ($2150 appx). Yeah I knew it was way over what a “typical” Autavia went for. Here’s my story, justification, tale of idiocy, whatever...

I’ve collected Heuers for years, but never bought an Autavia, probably because everything I saw had poor condition bezels. A few months ago I decided, OK, I like the Autavia, I think I’ll get one. Looked thru the OTD Guide to Chronos and thought “yeah that one with the white face is really nice”, I’ll find one of those. A few seconds of research made me realise that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

My next choice was a GMT. I really only liked the one with the bezel with 1-2-3 hours rather than 2-4-6, which looks a bit “ordinary” to me. I wanted one in excellent condition, I’m not that fussy about perfect original untouched state, as long as replacement pieces are “correct”. That is the only Autavia I wanted (besides the Sieffert blah blah). So I watched ebay for a month or so. Spoke to a few dealers I know. I saw many many Autavias, none of which matched my specs. Then this one came up and the rest is (auction) history.

So if five (or even one) GMT in excellent condition with 1-2-3 bezel is sold on ebay (or at dealer site) in the next few months for $1200 (or even 1800), then yep, I am and idiot and I overpaid. But it’s that risk I take.

It is also true that a very high auction result can prompt many more sellers chasing the same value, then the price could crash after the 2-3 guys have bought what they wanted. But there are at least 1 or 2 other guys out there who bid high prices on the two GMT auctions and didn’t win....

BTW the way if Charles wants to sell his Autavia with the original strap and box at $900 or even $1200 I might be interested. And a few other guys out there.