: My conclusion -- yes, they were crooks / dishonest / unethical to
: have sold this lot, knowing what they knew at the time. And the
: phrase "Custom Made" does not give them much cover at
: all. I suspect that there is more scrutiny and more knowledge
: about the higher price pieces (Patek, Rolex, etc.) . . . but
: this fake Heuer was just "filler" . . . being sold
: early in the first round, just to have another lot to add to the
: list. It would be better for everyone if they would leave this
: garbage for ebay, where we expect to see these sorts of pieces.

: Won't it be fun if the lucky guy who won this one hits Google with
: the phrase "Heuer Index Mobile" and sees the
: discussions we have been having!!

: Jeff

:
: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Interestingly, there were three pieces that during the auction, the words "lot withdrawn" flashed across the screen. Hmmmmmmmmmmm . . . .

So, either AQ does have a conscience, or one of their customers does? Why would a lot be withdrawn . . . . one can only speculate?

In some ways, I am sympathetic to AQ's management issues in trying to operate in the market they are in. We know how difficult it is to validate even the watches of the brands we know and love.

AQ has to give the impression that they are experts at anything that comes to them to auction, examining it, photographing it, writing a supposedly knowledgeable and intelligent-sounding description and rating it -- on any model of any of the hundreds of brands going back as far as the 1500s. Tough job.

>> They could specialize and refuse to sell anything under a certain dollar amount or limit it to a handful of brands that you can actually validate . . . but that would leave money on the table.

>> When you don't really know and aren't confident, you could simply mark a lot "Provence unknown or uncertain" or list the questionable bits . . . . but that would likely reduce short term revenue.

>> Or you could simply arrogantly ignore most complaints about suspect watches and only under the most intense pressure append comments to a listing and use "weasel words" to attempt to escape liability, relying on "reputation" to protect you and your customers, maximizing revenue in the short term . . . and hurting it in the long.

My sympathy runs out pretty quick. Ever see those cartoons that pop up occasionally spoofing advertising, but saying what the product or service is really like? I could see a cartoon for AQ:

Antiquorum

"Arrogance and greed before honor and reputation"

This latest auction was sharply disappointing . . less than 75% of the lots sold. Most of the watches sold did not reach their low estimate; the median percent of low estimate realized was 96%. Maybe it is the economy . . . or the competition. Christies has a Geneva auction today, Patrizzi Auctions a Geneva auction tomorrow. We'll see how those events do.

My guess is - better than AQ . . . .