Am I out of touch or is this what an auction can hide?

Was anyone following this watch recently? These were ALL the pictures, with an estimate of under $100, to show what the auctioneer thought of the watch! (The frontal shot with the cover closed was the only pic shown up until a day or so before the sale)

To me, the auctioneer was clearly trying to hide the fact that the watch is obviously a marriage and the case as unsigned as the dial.

Admittedly the movement is a bit interesting, and whereas most Zenith movements have a similar basic layout, I'm sure I have seen that movement (which looks like it needs a bra for the sake of decency alone) somewhere before?



To me it is surely relevant that it is hardly likely that anyone will ever find a bezel for this particular watch anywhere, nor an original Zenith dial? And that if an outer cover looks quite this much like aluminium foil, the gold must be exceptionally thin?



It went for four hundred quid!! For a watch with at the very least some likelihood of the new owner finding a glued-on dial for a pocket watch which has had the legs broken off? (what are those two protrusions on the collar just below the crown?)

Am I out of touch or is the value of gold now so high that however thin the gold is, an 18kt watch is now worth about this amount?

Yes, i figure whoever bought it didn't realise it probably isnt a Zenith and it probably is a marriage. And they will probably never find that bezel.

And I do remember all the dealers collecting in the cafe across from Christies SK after jewelry sales and auctioning the items the items they had bought between them!

Does any Zenith lover here recognise that curious movement layout from any wristwatch? Since posting I have come across this rather beautiful page . I dont know if it was available as savonette or Lepine but still think the buyer will find he has a glued on (turned) dial.

When 18kt gold is 35 quid per gram, it doesn't take a whole lot for the value to be there in melt alone. I mean I'd kind of be shocked if a watch case could weigh in at less than 20 grams - this could have just sold for a little over half the melt value.

Well personally I cant believe they took the pandemic into account, and wrote a paper on what people are thinking when they bid on highly breakable things like watches based on the description of some generalist (a non-expert) when they have had has no proper inspection and no proper photos!

I'd be intrigued to know whether they do in fact write about these curious supposed "auctions" where the end of the sale comes NOT where the person who wants to bid the highest amount puts his bid in, but at some arbitrary time when the bidding suddenly stops!