zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: Jeff

I missed this post, likely when I was (once again) out of the country on business.

The replies make points with which I generally agree.

Have you ever heard the expression "a sea change"?

It is is a poetic or informal term meaning a gradual transformation in which the form is retained but the substance is replaced, as with petrification. The expression is Shakespeare's, taken from the song in The Tempest, when Ariel sings,

"Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones are coral made,
Those are pearls that were his eyes,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change,
into something rich and strange,
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell,
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them, ding-dong, bell."

I think we have undergone a "sea change" in the watch marketplace, in watch collecting and in our overall attitudes towards economic matters.

We, as a country, in the United States, no longer believe we can live "rich" with debt and not have to "pay the piper". The piper has been here and played a tune that reminded many of us to live within our means -- and to pay down debt. Watch collecting with anything but truly disposable income seems very inappropriate.

We do not lack optimism, but is deferred; we realize good times are a few years off. After good must come bad, bad has come and is here for a while.

So good collectible watches are not being sold, and I disagree with the article and some views -- prices of even good pieces are down. Jewelers and watch dealers are going out of business, reducing inventory and downsizing next year's order. So, some of these watches are being dumped at auction houses.

However, 25 or 75 new watches in an Antiquorum auction is a tiny fraction of the slow moving inventory at jewelers in even 5 states in the US, let alone the entire world. It is unusual, but not huge.

Sam