: Excellent synopsis Jeff, i think we may conclude down the line this
: auction and its results were rather random and to a degree chaos
: theory. I would put this down to a lack of knowledge from many
: of the buyers and some misunderstanding, perhaps on several
: watches on who actually wore them in their lifetime.

: I believe some of the important pieces had to be explained to their
: new owners post auction and from early reports not too many OTD
: ers purchased, certainly not the lots that madevno sense or went
: into the stratospere!

: I think going forward the "grail" pieces carry on their
: recent ascent and the very mint/nos pieces also will become more
: sought after. For me the biggest surprise isn't the PVD or
: Chronomatic Siffert, or the relative bargain of the Carrera
: chronomatic but the Silverstones. Comfortably outscoring the
: Sifferts and rare dial Carreras, this is amazing, and with a
: bottom price of £7200, this is the standout performer. Why?
: Again unsure but the name has some cachet and design is not safe
: but striking (if you collect Rolex for instance Carreras from
: the 60s are not much of a change but Silverstones certainly
: are!).

: It will be interesting to see how the landscape pans out in 2011,
: hopefully prices if they increase don't jump too much, as i have
: always said gentle sustainable growth is preferable, to boom and
: bust, just ask Gordon Brown..;-)

: Cheers
: Rich
: www.heuermonaco.co.uk
: www.heuersilverstone.co.uk

Hi Everyone,

I am a long time 'lurker' and infrequent contributer but here is my penneth.

I agree with Jeff and Richard and their comments, I was surprised at my own emotion at the time. (a combination of shock and sadness)

I was standing next to Thomas L, we were quietly 'predicting' prices of the lots as they came up, and were of similar mind on most things, but at Pre-AH prices.

In the end, I had to leave; as I found myself upset. Why is not yet clear to me, but I have seen hobby interests become 'investment vehicles' before and this auction as we all predicted has changed the game.

I will be deeply sad, that a hobby I enjoy has moved away from affordable to elite.

I can only hope that realism returns promptly so we can welcome new blood to the hobby, as I strongly believe it is this that drive the steady growth that enhances the brand.

N.B. 49,400 GPB [77,500 USD] for a PVD anyone ?

JFW