I 'll never be able to properly express the gratitude I feel towards you for finding for me what looks to be a homerun ( or , a triple at worst). I know u probably hate American baseball analogies. How about a goal - on the full !!!!? Go, St. Kilda.

My only "hesitation" was limited photo's but this seller has such a superb reputation and the rest of the watch is definitely mint + condition. Bonus: complete set.

He had it listed wrong which may explain the low level of interest. There aren't many comps because it truly is a rare piece but going way back the avg. selling price is 3.5 to 4.5 USD which is exactly what you wrote (you actually wrote 3.5 to 5 but I couldn't find any 5's. 4.5 turns into 5 with a quickness once you start dealing with hammer premiums and GST's or VAT.

 

I've just been through this pain. I sold my first ever watches, seven in one batch and all my watch collecting missteps, including some with issues discovered post purchase and some where I broke the 'condition condition condition' rule. I put them on ebay as I had no idea what their value was and wanted to see where they settled. Some went well, some hurt, but the one that really passed me off was a cal 751 c shape Connie with a missing date surround but otherwise immaculate linen dial and nice case that went for £230. I'm pretty sure its worth more than that to me as a parts movement, but of course honoured the ebay transaction.

My point is however, that if id done this just to pay off debt, this would prey on my mind - as it is, if anything bugs me about the sales, I just have to look at the hour vision on my wrist and the pain goes away.

Dennis, I think a wedding is also in the 'worthwhile trade off' category...

 

Dennis: You've got mostly choice pieces in your collection . Your 50's and 60's stuff is primo. Never sell any of it if you have the choice to hold on. If you're paying say 18% interest on any revolving credit then by all means get rid of that debt.

Look, we can all pretend that we don't look at wristwatches as investments but that'a poppycock. Heck, there are hedge funds which concentrate on buying collectibles like high end watches. So , to say watches can't be investments is silly.

Not all wristwatches are good investments. In fact, hardly any are. But, the few which are investment grade produce insane returns.

Certain PP white gold Complicated's, 1950's and 60's Rolex tool watches, certain Omega Speedmasters, many true "limited editions" . These are excellent long term investments. I'm not giving investment advice save for the ambiguous advice that a select few watches are among the best investments available. Bonus: you can always "boof" your AP (shove it in your bum) and split town - Anyone get the movie reference?

 

I meant the list that makes your heart race, the VC is a special watch and has my vote for a wedding day spot in the rotation.
It would be cool to have a ceremony with not only a ring-bearer but a watch-bearer!

Back to the original question of selling a few, even at a loss.
I'm all for it, just like with stocks, when you have a better idea on what to do with your $, go for it!
Most often, your earliest loss will be the smallest loss.

 

Sound financial advice for the ages....

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen [pounds] nineteen [shillings] and six [pence], result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery." ~ Wilkins Micawber


Of course Wilkins was not a WIS/collector.

 

I just sold my IWC Aquatimer to pay some med bills. It hurt.

 

and i repeat myself, theres nothing like enjoying one watch stress free. you can have 50 luxury high end watches, but you aint gonna enjoy a single one of them with stress of a debt.

 

I'll be keeping my eyes peeled in the For Sale thread... Sorry I missed that Polerouter you had for sale Dennis.

 

Keep movin, movin, movin
Move 'em on, head 'em up
Head 'em up, move 'em on
Move 'em on, head 'em up
Count 'em out, ride 'em in,

 

yup I am 13 beers in. A wise man once told me sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar eats you. I played a lot of yes / no with watches. Now I own a speedy pro and the bumble bee aqua t

 

I would Dennis. The only thing I buy on credit is the house. Everything else is cash (Or credit card for points, and paid off in full monthly). If we were not able to do that financially, we would still only finance "needs" not "wants".

 

OK i'll admit to watching Rawhide as a kid,

 

I suspect age has a lot to do with your outlook, in younger days credit/finance was just a part of everyday private and business life.
Now slightly more mature admit that credit /finance doesn't feature. Not that I have funds just waiting for a home more that I would prefer that when I pop my clogs everything left behind is as simple as possible for family.
Hope I don't come across as morbid, more a realist. Yes I do have lists of all my watches, price paid, when and where and realistic value also contacts on the forum who may may be interested in a purchase.
Btw don't intend departing for a long time yet, if one day a new member appears possibly a "Lady Alpha" you'll know the score

 

It felt a little awkward giving you the thumbs up on what's basically a de facto last will and testament. My thumbs up was for your sage, killer advice (yes, lame pun intended).

you don't want get run over by a truck or die of old age @ 120 (up until very recently, the oldest living man in the world was right here in dirty NYC; can u believe that??)

Anyway,,, and have your wife or other bequeathed walk into a jewelry store with your watch collection. They'll walk out with 5 bucks or the equivalent of whatever crazy money you guys use. Yeah, yeah, I know you were first...blah blah

hahaha

 

How about a lottery? I'm good at $100/ticket

 

love the Gallet mate. I've got one very similar (the dial is the same style only "older"). It was the first vintage buy and I'll probably never get rid of it.

as for the question Dennis posed. Sell 'em all to start again. what else would there be?

 

I hate debts.... And I hate credit cards too, the only reason I use one (only one) is because I travel abroad a lot and credit card is the only way to book discount tickets and hotels online.

And yes, I will sell my collection and maybe a leg if fate really bites me in the butt.

And remember, only do business with people you know AND own mechanical watches. Otherwise you're in for all sorts of nasty things. Last month I sold my rolex DSSD to a friend's friend, complete stranger and knows nothing about mechanical watch, here's a portion of the list of things he asked me till yesterday:

...it stopped!
...it gained 4 seconds a day!
...I just been to an AD, and their dial is different! Especially the 'ft' front!
...the date changed at 12 noon!
...there's nothing on the case back!
.........

 

Dealing with n00bs isn't always easy, is it?

 

Le sigh. That's miserable. Sorry.