: What you say makes sense. I guess I will add an investor category
: to my thoughts.

My father, a collector who at one time probably owned over 1,000 watches once made me a bet that I could not beat the stock market by being an "investor" in watches. I proved him wrong only by buying watches and selling them right away....cash flow...being a "dealer". As a collector, I am an opportunistic collector. I think I am a pretty astute buyer. There are certainly people who know more about specific types of watches than I do but I will put my broad knowledge of vintage watches or the vintage watch market up against most. I also work pretty hard at it. I travel far and wide to build relationships with sellers and I have the means to buy. Having said that, the watches I have collected...in-other-words, the watches I have kept around for a while would not have beaten my dad's stock investments. I would bet, the same as my dad, that most "investors" end up losing money in the long run if what they would have made in more traditional investments is taken into account. Most investors die or at least get very old with their watches. When the watches get sold they take their lumps.

You might be able to give me individual examples where what I have said above is wrong....but the whole will prove me right....I have been around long enough to see a statistically significant sample.

JohnCote