I was also pretty shocked by the price. But I don't think it is a new era for Heuers.

It does seem to be a new era for a few important/fashionable models, with more extremes for these very specific rare models, but for the rest of the Heuers there are only mild rises or flat prices over the last year or so - and in the future. I do think the $20k was an exception, and probably quite a bit higher than where you could sell many of these models across a wide range of collectors, it just when two guys are determined to win a rare watch (or a car, or a painting), things can go crazy. I also don't think (and I doubt any of us would think) that a $20k first exec makes a Viceroy worth $5K or $10k (although I am sure there are many over optimistic ebay sellers who will think so!).

I know many collectors from the old days (not so long ago) are upset that Heuer prices are going Rolex-ward, as it makes a fun hobby more unobtainable. But I think there are still really cool and interesting Heuer models out there that still are selling where they sold 3-4 years ago (Silverstones, Monzas, Viceroy Autavias, Montreals, 5100 series, barrel case Carreras, etc). And beyond these there are niche models that nobody seems to love (other than Jack Heuer;-) like the Kentucky, or Senator which stay "reasonable"(ish). So hopefully there is still room for fun collections without huge outlay.