Is it that quartz "aved" the watch industry, or that it fomented the decline of mechanical watchmaking? My sense of the quartz Heuer versions is that they were strictly born of desperation--I have to defer to your superior knowledge of the products, but from my vantage point they seem vastly inferior in terms of detail, finishing, and aesthetics. That they are scarce can be explained by limited production and demand, and perhaps attrition due to poor quality.

The pin lever and other bad mechanical movements are certainly aberrations in terms of mechanical watchmaking--the cheapest ETAs and Seagulls are still engineering marvels.

BMWs are also mass produced, but like Rolexes they are a fine product.