With Paul Newman Daytonas selling for £90k+ ($149k) then the best and rarest Heuers still look to be very good value in comparison, even allowing for some of the recent prices acheived. Even though it is sad for me knowing that 3 or 4 of the watches that I would dearly love to own are almost certainly spiralling beyond my reach, there is some comfort in the hope and belief that the better pieces that I have managed to buy over the last few years are doing OK; not that I have any intention of selling, simply that I feel marginally less anxious about some of the prices that I have paid to get the "right" watch.

Best wishes to all

Jon

: Believe me -- I am as surprised as anyone about some of the
: recent prices -- not only these tow informal auctions, but in
: the broader market. You may recall an Autavia (3646; first
: execution) that I sold recently at $3,800, and people wrote to
: me offering $8,000. So perhaps I am not the best expert in
: prices.

: What I am seeing -- sharply higher prices for the special (very
: rare) watches; the ones with the names or stories (Orange Boy;
: Transitional; 2446-2; Seafarer; Panda (SN or NS); Exotic).

: Why we are seeing this trend -- seems to be an acceleration of what
: we have been seeing for the last decade, driven by the same
: factors: great looking watches; genuine motorsports pedigree;
: TAG Heuer promoting its heritage and vintage imagery; easy
: drop-down from other brands that have also gone through the roof
: (sport Rolex) enthusiasm for the brand in the watch media [call
: it the "Hodinkee effect", but it goes beyond that . .
: . it's that people like Ben like these watches] great
: community of enthusiasts, supporting each other in this mania,
: with good information and a friendly, fair place to trade the
: watches [half-way kidding / half-way serious]!! Also,
: financial markets have been strong and many categories of
: collectibles have risen sharply.

: I agree that some of this is bittersweet -- saying farewell to a
: watch that I will probably never own again. Still, I would
: rather be in the situation of collecting an appreciating asset
: than worrying about a collapse in prices.

: My two cents . . . would be great to hear from others.

: Jeff

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