: Prices are obviously inflated. NASA purchased the Omega moon watch
: off the shelf in 1964 for $82. Factor in inflation and that same
: watch today should be under $1000 (US). Instead the equivalent
: item is priced at about $3000. The mark up is enormous.

Have you ever had the chance to take a look into an AD price list? Some of them even include the cost from the importer to the retailer. As mentioned above, the mark up is huge but, of course, the distributor needs to offset their costs of maintaining a nice store in a nice location, salaries, commisions, the financial cost of having the watches sitting in exhibition shelves for an undetermined period of time, etc. And don't forget the discounts that us, the customers, request.