I haven't seen the auction, but the old 'friend gave it to me' line is a dead give away.
Someone has just lost 700 bucks.

Stewart

: ...'if it seems too good to be true...'

: Something is not right right here. The old 'it was a gift from a
: friend' rings alarm bells with me straight away. How many
: friends would buy you a $20000 watch??? Maybe a friend who's
: just been to the far east...

: Anyway, if I was that friend and I'd genuinely bought someone a
: watch like that, I'd be royally p-ed off to find they've sold it
: for $700!!

: IMHO, a collector who apparently knows his stuff would never sell a
: watch like this for that price.

: David H

: Some lucky watch collector bought a Monaco 24 Calibre 36 for only