Thanks for this message, which touches on so many interesting issues. We have discussed some of these issues before; you have presented an interesting perspective on all these questions.

None of us seem to be pure investors, buying now with the hope of selling for a profit in the future; only a couple of our readers are declared "dealers" (roughly defined as those who hold themselves out as being willing to buy and sell watches, etc.)

One could look at my collection and accuse me of being an accumulator. But for me, the real blessing of being in a strong market is being able to sell watches as my tastes may shift, without incurring a loss in doing so. For example, a few days ago, I sold the Autavia shown below for exactly $3,000. It sold in just a few hours, after another purchaser busted our deal. Yes, this sale represented some reasonable "profit" above my purchase price (five years ago), and this "profit" will likely be rolled into another watch (or some part of another watch). This ability to buy a watch at $x,xxx and sell it some time later for 1.3 times the purchase price (or even 3.1 times the purchase price, if we get lucky) definitely makes it easier to buy them and enjoy them. So they are not a pure investment, but it is nice if this hobby can be self-funding (or at least partially self-funding).

I buy them to enjoy wearing them; if I am no longer enjoying wearing a particular watch, then I will sell it; in this scenario, I am happier selling at break-even (or some profit) than selling at a loss. And, yes, I have sometimes bought to resell . . . the $1,500 BuyItNow Monaco was an exciting find, two or three years ago, and the profit from flipping it is now embodied in another watch (or maybe bought a month or two of college tuition).

Any way you look at it, I love this hobby . . . it is even more fun in an up-market (or a market that is only slightly down over the last year).

Jeff