The economic power of the "naming" (or perhaps "branding" or "marketing") can be demonstrated by the phenomenon of the "Flat V". Based on some preliminary work with the serial numbers, I am fairly confident that in the early models (3-6-9-12 on the hour recorder, with the ridged markers) the "Flat V" was far more common that the "Pointed V", and the Pointed V seems to have been used first. So the Pointed V was earlier and scarcer. I doubt that anyone can suggest that the Flat V is aesthetically better, but we are still seeing sellers list their "Flat V" Autavias, and we are probably seeing buyers pay more for them.

So is there really any enhanced value in the "Flat V"? I doubt it. Are they selling for a premium? It seems that they are. My conclusion: Giving it a name, and marketing it as such, does increase the value, at least where the community of collectors buys into it.

I believe that, as a community, we can improve the "market" when we expose these worthless details, for what they are. Over time, this should all settle out, and people will collect the watches that they enjoy and that look good, rather than based on a passing "fad" or marketing idea, like the "Flat V".

Long live the ShaunTavia (and the Orange Boy, as well)!!

Jeff

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

: ...to the extent where that detail becomes more important than the
: watch as a whole. Not something the Heuer collecting world
: suffers from as much, though I wonder if we open the door to it
: with ever more detailed model tables.

: In part, I think the trend of giving a specific model a catchy name
: (DRSD), attributing it to a personality (McQueen Monaco) or
: anthropomorphising it (Bart Simpson crown) is to blame. Dry,
: factual descriptions are much less likely to spread virally or
: become memetic and that's why I prefer them. Often they are much
: less ambiguous too (just exactly what IS a Derek Bell Autavia?).

: I've written about my preference for the white on black date wheels
: on the 1158 CHN. I could have attributed that to one of the F1
: drivers who wore it in that configuration, but I'm happier
: spelling it out each time. And that detail, whilst important to
: me, is still only a small part of the picture of the watch as a
: whole.

: You definitely have a point with volumes. There's no point in
: slicing the Heuer pie ever thinner when it's such a small pie to
: start with. When a model doesn't make it into the thousands,
: there's not much need to differentiate between them. A watch
: with tens of thousands of examples annually? Different story
: perhaps.

: And let's be thankful Heuer never had a rehaut that had
: "HeuerHeuerHeuer" on it repeatedly... ;)