Friends,

While roaming the net today, I also visited some of the collectors' websites with Heuer focus. One of them specizializes on Autavias. When I started reading it, my mind started floating back 6-7 years when collecting nice Heuers was still possible at prices around a 1000 Euros. Just have a look at this link;

http://www.heuerautavia.com/00000099ec0939810/index.html

The owner of the site obviously has been less active in updating the site. Have a look at those price estimates from not even so long ago.Sifferts for 2000-2500. Orange Boy? Around 1000 Euros. Prefer a 1163 GMT? You have to count with around 1500......

Aren't we all drewling now?

Assuming that those prices were right at the moment that the site was uploaded, we can ask ourselves the question however what has happened to prices but certainly also to collecting. Prices have gone up dramatically -and I mean dramatically- causing that quite a number of collectors are not able to follow anymore and lose interest. I myself find that quite sad. At the same time the real nature of collecting as we used to know it, threatens to be fading away slowly but gradually. Isn't my impression right that collecting is also more and more about business nowadays? "Unfortunately"a romantic collector may add to this development. Call me an old f..t, I started collecting Heuer in 1999, former century, but this impression has taken possession of me.

The Heuer world until, let's say 2-3 years, was still a world where enthousiastic people exhanged views, traded watches and friendships were built. Now it seems to become -in a growing number of cases- more and more the domain of traders, sometimes presenting themselves a passionate collectors, doing nearly everything once they spotted a piece that they see as valuable for their business. I myself witness that in some cases relations between the collectors change from collector friends to collecting competitors. I have witnissed some cases lately which make me worry about this development. Some do everything to get a certain watch without bothering to lose good manners. In some cases misleading innocent sellers by imposing their expertise, in order to talk down prices. And not a few hundred Euro, in some cases more than 40-50% of today's value. In one case I talked to a trader who was proud having bought a nice Monaco from a 70 year old widow for only 600,-! .Other examples are sellers that promise to keep a watch on hold for a few days, and then sell after massive, almost stalking, pressure from another bidder. To me such practices are out of bound, proving that greed has taken over there.

Some of you may say : "that's business", and of course that is correct in a way. There are limits however, and I guess all of you who read this,agree.

Now since this is Christmas time I want to close this contribution in a positive way. The cases that I just described are still exceptions, the vast majority of the Heuer community I know, still have their collector's heart in the right place. Lovely people with a great hobby.Please let it stay like that however, and let good manners and chivalry prevail always over collectors greed.That at least is my intention, not only for now but also for next year and after that. I hope many agree to that.

Happy hollidays to all and enjoy your favourite Heuer under the Christmas tree!

Ron