I have quickly reviewed the 129 watches included in the catalog, and selected these four for this preview, not necessarily as the personal favorites, but as four that I expect to be of great interest to our readers:

• there has been much discussion of the Autavia Divers, and this looks like a nice sample of the 11063P, with the decompression bezel
• this Monaco is the favorite of several readers
• the gold Carreras have been "hot" lately, with several of our readers chasing them [who knows, perhaps someone will choose to chase this one!!]
• many see the Silverstones as the one watch to watch in 2010, as TAG-Heuer releases the re-issue, as part of the 150th anniversary celebration

Of course, comments and discussion will be welcomed; the full catalog is under "embargo", so I am limited in terms of what I can release, but I am happy to answer some reasonable questions:

• Are there lots of wonderful watches for us? Yes.
• How many Silverstones? Three, and anyone can guess the colors . . . hint: none of them are black.
• How many Monacos? Too many to count.
• Are there any Carrera 12 Datos, with the "fat lugs"? Yes.
• What about the Carrera 12 Dato NS, the new King of the Carreras. Sorry, but none that I could find.
• Are there some "frankens" [combinations]? Maybe . . . it wouldn't be a Heuer auction without a handful of these.
• What about these so-called "Specials" that we keep hearing about? Yes, but let's see what we can learn about them, before we start screaming. [Of course, there will be plenty of time to scream, if we choose to do so.]
• Abercrombies? Yes.
• Poor men's Heuers? At least one.
• Rich men's Heuers? Yes, yes, yes . . . and yes again!!
• Strongest selection? Carreras, in my view.
• Are they all perfect / NOS / mint? No, but there are plenty of really nice pieces that most of us would be thrilled to own.
• Anything to mount OnTheDash? Well, I suppose that you could drill through the strap or bracelet, and mount some OnTheDash, but none really made for that purpose.
• Anything for the soccer (football) freaks? Yes.
• Anything for the Harley Davidson freaks? Yes.
• Any of those super-cool, red-cased, split-second rally chronographs? Not unless I missed the listing, which seems unlikely.
• OK, then what about the super-cool, black-cased, split-second rally chronographs? Same as above.
• Any boxes and papers? Man, this is a watch auction, not an ephemera auction. [by the way, what is this ephemera that we keep hearing about?]
• Anything with the name "Sears Roebuck" or "Allstate" on the dial? Like I said, this collection was put together in Italy, not Iowa, Indiana or Illinois. When was the last time you saw a Sears Roebuck in Italy?
• How many "Memphis" watches in the auction. Five that I can count!! Oh, my mistake . . . actually zero. I am becoming more and more convinced that I will own the only one ever produced.
• Daytona? Of course.
• Kentucky? Yes.
• Pasadena? Yes.
• Atlanta? Yes, two of them . . . and I am not kidding!!
• Alabama or Augusta? Sorry, no such thing made by Heuer. Maybe see whether Antiquorum might have one of these for you.
• Any Index Mobile or split second chronographs? Sorry, no such thing made by Heuer. Maybe see whether Antiquorum might have one of these for you.
• Anything used at the filming of Le Mans? Well, maybe . . . I mean there were hundreds of people there, wearing hundreds of watches, so maybe someone has cooked up some "provenance". Maybe see whether . . . [you know the rest]
• Anything owned by Steve? Huh. Who is this "Steve"?
• What about the Sifferts? Yes.
• Anything worn in space? Doubtful . . . very doubtful.
• How much caffeine have you had today? And how much sleep this week? Loads of the former and a little of the later.
• Did you take a "power nap" earlier this evening? Yes, how else could I possibly be writing this so-called "Q&A"?
• Will any of the "Ten Great Mysteries" be solved by this auction? Hope springs eternal . . . I am very optimistic!!

Thanks to my new friends at Patrizzi & Co.; all photos are copyright Patrizzi & Co., 2009, used with their kind permission.