It was quite a big weekend for auctions.
Some high prices but some bargains somewhere? With so many lots under the hammer someone must feel like they got a bargain?
So - who got what and how happy are you all?

 

My guess is that the auction houses and their sellers are very happy, and the rest of us not so much. I am already envisioning near term discussions with sellers and hearing about the supposed increase in "market" values.

 

I was contemplating a Day-Date, but in the end settled with this one, which I regarded as a bargain compared to many other lots.



Seamaster 501 in 18K in excellent condition

Nothing fancier than that, so should be pretty easy to trumph

 

@Spacefruit - did you manage to snag anything?

I saw that beautiful early racing dial Speedmaster at Phillips and wondered if you would go for it...

 

Ah yes....

Had to bid hard on that one....



The grey one went for strong money. (to a new member here, congrats!) I have seen those traded around $20,000; This one achieved nearly triple that.



With both, they are so rare its hard to criticise the price. However I would say the grey is easier to replace.

 

@Spacefruit , did you compete for Soyuz as well?

 

So were you the winner of the other one?

 

My status during the auctions..........

 

That one sailed harder than I anticipated, compared to the one in Christies NY in December

 

Wow that sets a new benchmark but still a long way to go before the stratospheric heights of Rolex. How many black dial versions do you think are out there? Would love to see what the extract says.

 

I have heard there about 10 black racing

 

I actually believe that I did get a bargain – certainly in relative terms. While i wasn't expecting anything like the price of the Valjoux chrono version, this one is more rare, very attractively designed, and purportedly near NOS.

As a related aside, the Christie's auctioneer was one of the very best that I have ever seen. Really exceptional.

 

History is well a ....... http://www.investopedia.com/features/crashes/crashes5.asp

 

I have to say that was a real sleeper, and it snuck through.

Good catch

 

Thanks! I was very surprised. On the other hand, it was a bit out of place given the rest of the catalogue, which probably explains it.

 

Well I have to say I watched it thinking, shall I? Anything under a grand that made it into the Christies catalog had to be cheap!

But my discipline held

 

With models that are rarely seen on the market, there are obviously few collectors actively seeking them. But what I found so odd about this example is that, given the current state of the vintage dive watch market, it should have been a no-brainer for a dealer, based solely on aesthetics and condition. But again, such dealers probably weren't focussed on this particular sale.