A

I think i agree with much you say and you seem to come from an angle without the emotion attached, which is important. No doubt in my mind that Rolex is a mature product that to a degree is suffering from higher volume/supply and a mature demand. This equstion whether you talk about cars, watches, coins, stamps is the crucial element.

Heuer does have some things in its favour. I think there is more appeal to the younger generations than Rolex. We know there is a lmuch lower volume in the market and they are less visable than Rolex/Omega. However with the work of many including Jeff, Arno, Jasper, Nic and many more the brand has grown. Now this is important iand in the car world i would align this to the fall of Mercedes brand and values in the UK and the rise of Audi. As far as i'm concenred (and this is my job) it is mostly about the brand and the clever Pr from Audi aligned to massive budget. I suspect that Audi have taken this as far as they can and if they rest on their laurels they will see some RV performance drop off in the next few years.

So the more PR and work that can be done on the Heuer brand the better as there is probably some more movement that can take place. However for the brand slowly and surely is better and after the rapid rise in percentage terms over the last few years it is not surprising that we have come to a halt. Even Monaco 1133bs are sticking at £5.5-6k. There may still be upper echelon sellers who can command higher for these items but it';s only really because they have rightly got a good name behond them and a higher level of purchaser trust and supply a 1 yr warranty.

I do think some (but not all) individual models will increase in price but it remains important to buy the "right" model in the best condition and to not pay "topp2 money for it. I suspect 2010 will see some increases in values but not at the recent levels and i suspect 2009 end of year will be a time of consolidation at best...

Cheers

Rich

: Is it just me, or are we seeing some really crazy high asking
: prices on Heuers, listed on EBay and other sales websites. I am
: not saying that the Heuers are actually selling at these fat
: prices, but it seems that many sellers have taken things up a
: notch or two (or three). Could this be resulting from: weaker
: US dollar making prices stated in other currencies appear to be
: higher? a new sense of optimism sweeping the market? people
: listing with high EBay prices, and then selling privately, at
: more reasonable levels? the next leg in a 10-year bull market
: for vintage Heuers? what Alan Greenspan, the Chairman of our
: Federal Reserve Bank, once called "irrational
: exuberance"? people anticipating the next revision of the
: "Price Guide"? all of the above none of the above
: something else? Are others seeing this phenomenon lately?

: Jeff