Well, I am not an auction regular, but I believe that mood and excitement around a Lot can be measured by the time it takes to be 'hammered'. The majority of the 400+ lots did not take more than 1 minutes to be hammered, indicating a regular excitement for that piece. Few lots took more that 10 minutes to be hammered because 2-3 bidders really and badly wanted it. The McQueen Monaco, which I believe was purposly toward the end just to keep the bar attention high for the entire auction, IMHO would fall in the middle of an ideal "mood/excitement scale". It took approx. 5 minutes to be hammered and, if I remember correctly, there was a bid war at the end among two internet bidders, one from England one from German, and I think the English one got it. Maybe Nic or Alex could shed more light....:)

As per the final price, $87,600 reflects the hammer price of $73,000+20%. As per the T.V.A tax, you might be right...I am not sure an European would have to pay it, but if you are willing to spend $87,600 for that Lot, probably $7,300 additional would not be a big deal...My regards to the ODT circle!

: Excellent, maybe you could tell us more about the mood and
: excitement in the room Francesco?

: The final price Antiquorum give is $87,600 - NY sales tax would
: only apply if the watch subsequently remained in the state is my
: understanding, so I guess that tells us that the winner isn't a
: New York resident at least!