To be fair Andrew quite a few of us were aware the auction was taking place. No it wasn't discussed openly here but it was still "on the radar", for many of us.
Just to remove any public doubt, i did not bid on this watch.

: As an underbidder on this occasion, I would be interested to know
: how and when the auction house discovered that they were selling
: something special. They clearly did not know when the watch was
: catalogued. It is always difficult to balance the need to ask
: for further information with the risk of alerting a seller to
: the fact that they have something potentially very valuable on
: their hands.

: It would also be interesting to know how and when the buyer found
: out about the sale.