As you say, the buyer must have a line on those duaphine hands.

: I think its an incredibly difficult task to try & value these
: rare 1st execution Autavia's as its just so seldom we see them
: offered up for sale.
: There are no shortage of fans of the big eye screwbacks & its a
: case of die hard fans making an all out lunge at the opportunity
: to own such a watch.
: With that in mind we see the frantic & committed level of
: bidding on this 3646 - 5 serious bidders over the €12000 mark.
: The missing dauphine hour & minute hands are an issue but over
: the years we have seen them offered for sale. Perhaps the buyer
: is well connected within our community & has enough solid
: contacts to shake a pair of hands out of someone spares box.
: As Paolo states is his posting above the watch is in correct order
: other than the main hands. I was personally a little surprised
: to see it sell at over €15000 but if the buyer has the hands
: already OR a solid lead as to where to find a pair this could
: turn out to be a very good value for money buy in the future.
: The sad news for many collectors out there ( myself included ) is
: that these eye watering high values now obtainable by the rare
: & significant models may actually push some of us aside as
: the costs become prohibitavely higher.
: Has the ship of opportunity sailed ? Maybe !!!!
: I cant see these early big eye Autavia's coming down in value. They
: have always been sought after but seem to be the forum darling
: at the moment.

: - Darren