Dear all, I've noticed it myself and I was reminded of what a friend of mine, whose wife used to work for Tag Heuer, once told me.
In fact it's only been in the last 20 years or so that the 'smiling' convention of 10.10 got hold (and '8' for happiness in the date window, for that matter).
Before they used to but 8.20 or 7.20, which was thought to give more 'room' to the dial overall as you may have two subdials in the upper half whereas you typically have just one in the lower.
So for a vintage auction they probably wanted to revert back to the old fashion?
Cheers.
Fabrizio