Mark, fantastic writing, we could do some beer drinking next time to see the watches more clearly and the americans have to come over !!
Cheers
Arno

: Just back from a trip to Munich. Watches were not the primary
: reason for the trip (that was the city itself – I used to live
: just south of it and like to make a pilgrimage back every couple
: of years or so). It’s a lovely, welcoming city, I’d
: recommend a visit to anyone who has the chance, but it would
: surely be churlish to pass up the opportunity to look at a few
: Heuers, wouldn’t it?! The trip also happened to coincide with
: the Uhrenbörse (watch fair)... I have to confess that bit
: wasn’t at all coincidence really!

: There are a number of vintage watch dealers around Munich, but also
: just about every gold exchange seems to have a Heuer or two.
: Much more so than I have ever found to be the case in London or
: Berlin, for example. Bunds are plentiful (I guess
: unsurprisingly) but I also spotted Autavias and Monacos along
: with pre-Carreras and a fair few of the 1940s chronos. An
: intimate knowledge of the city helps and means you can find some
: of these places “accidentally” – “let’s go down here,
: there’s a really nice cafe – ooo, look a watch shop!!”.
: There are only so many times you can get away with
: “accidentally” discovering watch shops of course :) It helps
: too that Munich has quite a well-defined centre, unlike London
: and Berlin – it means that you’re probably in the right
: place whereas London certainly needs you to know where to look
: before you start and could entail a lengthy trip to the suburbs.

: There are a couple of places where the watch and antique dealers
: seem to concentrate – one such is Prannerstrasse, just a
: couple of corners away from the beautiful Theatinerkirche and
: not much further from Munich’s main square either – well
: worth the small detour for any Heuer fan. Uhren Meertz is always
: worth the effort – a whole shelf full of Heuers on display in
: the window. Autavias, Monacos, a Carrera, a minty Regatta and a
: pair of Silverstones and more that I don’t remember. No
: connection with them, so not promoting them other than that they
: do seem to have a fondness for Heuers and have some nice ones on
: display. A couple of further dealers on the same road turned up
: an early Carrera and a 2447.

: But the main event was always going to be the watch fair on Sunday.
: It’s tucked away a bit, but a simple underground ride away
: from the main station. It’s hosted in a Sheraton hotel – it
: was quite a nice surprise on arriving there to see several
: classic BMWs on display in the foyer, another interest of mine
: (classic BMWs, that is, not foyers!!!). Three 328s, two of which
: were in racing bodywork (though the car was also a successful
: racer in the “standard” bodywork out of the box) and a 507
: (a beautiful car, though more at home on a tree-lined avenue
: than a racetrack). Along with an M1 Procar (maybe ex-Lauda :) ),
: probably 2 of the 3 most desirable BMWs of all time. I’d
: already been able to see the 2009 F1 car too, so a good weekend
: on the BMW front. I can’t imagine a 507 driver wearing much
: other than a Jaeger-le-Coultre, but it’s no stretch of the
: imagination to visualise a pre-war Heuer on a hard-charging 328
: racer’s wrist.

: Anyway, back to the main course of Heuers. The watch fair can no
: longer be contained in a single large conference room, it spills
: over into a second. Busy isn’t the word for it, there are
: still obviously people out there as yet unaffected by the
: economic climate – so be prepared to use those elbows in your
: efforts to see everything on offer! It’s best to get round
: fairly quickly at first to try and take in everything on offer
: and make a mental note of where you want to go back to for a
: second look.

: At some point Rolex fatigue will set in (where you would be happy
: never to see a Rolex ever again, even if it is a particularly
: mint Cosmograph) so a few stalls you can kind of dismiss at a
: glance but there is still lots of interest. I’ve never seen as
: many Heuers in a day, and that was without Jasper being there to
: add to the total! It helps if you’re looking just at
: chronographs as those will leap out at you more from the
: displays – Heuers especially so, or maybe that’s what my
: eyes have become tuned into seeing. Plenty of other interesting
: brands though – nice Sinns and Tutimas, and this is clearly
: the place to come if you want to pick up a nice Zenith El
: Primero.

: There were reassuringly few fakes and Frankens too. I was maybe
: 3/4s of the way around the hall before I found someone who
: seemed to specialise in Carrtavias (including one horrible waste
: of a beautiful blue dial). The same dealer had a perfectly
: straight 1153 N too, go figure... There was a nice selection of
: dash-mounts on one stand, including what looked like a very
: early Autavia.

: Price was obviously a hot topic of discussion at the fair. One
: dealer was complaining that some buyers were expecting bargain
: prices because of the current climate – doesn’t seem to have
: really softened the prices yet, though it will be interesting to
: see if the same is true in another six months if things carry on
: as they are. The same dealer had one of my watches of the show,
: a white register on black dial Carrera 12 Dato – there went my
: chance for one at a bargain price ;) Another was a pretty mint
: black 45 Dato, at a reasonable price.

: A 110.573F and 110.515 CHN were going for marginally less than I
: paid recently but neither were on original bracelets, which mine
: are, so prices seem to be holding more or less steady for the
: time being. A few of the dealers were pricing a bit more
: optimistically and yet there were still some good deals to be
: had – a couple of nice red-tachy dial Carreras were on offer
: for several hundred Euros less than I expected. I might have
: taken the plunge on one if I hadn’t been adding to the
: collection so much already of late!

: Another watch that made my wallet twinge a bit was a 110.571 NC
: (black one). I love these and want one for my oval case
: collection – unfortunately the case had been re-PVDed with a
: pewter finish and it is the stark black and whiteness of this
: watch that attracts me. If it had been the original finish, who
: knows...?

: And a few more random mental notes from the show:

: • I’m always surprised at how big Montreals are, whenever I see
: one

: • I now know where all the Cal 15 Monacos have gone!

: • Where are all the Cal 15 Carreras? Not a single one there

: • The dash-mounts are smaller than I remember them being

: • There were a lot of pre-war and 1940s chronos there

: • There was a grey-dial Verona – very attractive sober-looking
: Heuer. Rare to see a Verona, wonder how many were made?

: • Red is definitely my favourite Silverstone dial :) Makes a
: change to see a shouty dial on a Heuer, I wonder if I’d still
: like red if it was on an 1153 – might have to Photoshop one on
: and see!

: • One stall had a selection of triple-calendars – all very
: attractive watches

: • Quite a few Autavias, but not a single Siffert – has Abel
: really got them all? ;)

: • Why is the Daytona’s fume dial so prone to aging ungracefully
: but the Carrera’s so resistant? First time I ever saw a ratty
: Carrera fume but the Daytona’s was worse

: • Longines has made some nice watches

: • Lots of the economy watches, none of which had been redialled
: to add a series name to the dial

: Probably enough of an already lengthy report! It was a lot of fun
: to be there – I’d recommend it to anyone within easy
: travelling distance, not least because you can enjoy the city
: too!