Has watch collecting finally “jumped the shark” with this article?

Tik-Tok of Oz · Oct 26, 2018

When Bloomberg does an article like this on how to impress a watch collector (and it’s not all that informative btw) it makes me think the end times are near.

I can only imagine what The Squirrel would say to this sort of article.

Not that I wouldn’t want an Ed White someday.

To be fair it was under “Pursuits” not the news sections.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-vintage-watches-from-great-ones?srnd=premium

I don’t know the editor they interviewed. Hodinkee has good information and articles. Any thoughts guys?

kov · Oct 26, 2018

Certainly (only) a good read for clueless belongers.

Still, I can recall a couple of similar situations where a totally random guy dropped me a « Beautiful Premoon Speedy ! Have a great day... » and walked away 😀

ext1 · Oct 26, 2018

It's kind of funny, and sad, to think now that Ed White might be now more known as someone a watch is named after, and not the the Gemini 4 mission...

@kov I wish those things happened to me! but that's because I wear SM300 all the time and people think it's a no-name quartz diver. Attracting zero attention is good sometimes, I feel.
But sometimes I do wish someone recognized it saying "Hey nice Seamaster-300-reference-165.024-no-date-WatchCo-but-not-really-watchco-because-you-got-it-assembled-elsewhere watch!"

Tik-Tok of Oz · Oct 26, 2018

I think the article gives the impression that if you have 20, or 200,000 dollars you can just find these watches out there. And often you can’t. I agree with @ext1 that it’s sad that reason it’s called an Ed White is lost in the superficial treatment of the article. Considering he ultimately died in the cause of space exploration.

watchknut · Oct 26, 2018

It was rather harmless, but love the fact that they interview Eric Ku about being at Wilkes Bashford...sets the tone of the article.

Ed Whites being valued at $20k+...are dealer hoping for a Bloomberg Bump?

1972Steve · Oct 26, 2018

ext1
It's kind of funny, and sad, to think now that Ed White might be now more known as someone a watch is named after, and not the the Gemini 4 mission...

@kov I wish those things happened to me! but that's because I wear SM300 all the time and people think it's a no-name quartz diver. Attracting zero attention is good sometimes, I feel.
But sometimes I do wish someone recognized it saying "Hey nice Seamaster-300-reference-165.024-no-date-WatchCo-but-not-really-watchco-because-you-got-it-assembled-elsewhere watch!"

Well put. Ed White put his life on the line for the benefit of humankind.

What have you done today?

kkt · Oct 26, 2018

Don't kid yourself. Mentioned in this article or not, I'm sure the great majority of people who have heard of Ed White have heard of the astronaut, and have no idea that there's a premoon Speedmaster named after him.

abrod520 · Oct 26, 2018

Tik-Tok of Oz
I don’t know the editor they interviewed. Hodinkee has good information and articles. Any thoughts guys?

The article itself was written by Stephen Pulvirent, one of Hodinkee's top guys.

To me this sounds like market-making, I'll bet the Hodinkee Shop will soon feature examples of these watches, or certain Hodinkee staffers need another vintage Porsche and will be offering a Tiffany-dial Patek in one of the upcoming auctions...

midcentury · Oct 26, 2018

I think it’s worth remembering that not everyone who likes watches, expensive/rare things, or appreciates horology will be as informed, experienced, or even interested in the details as the folks on forums like this. Some people are content to just know enough to own a nice piece.

Most hobbies that become hostile/snobby to newcomers eventually die through attrition. Worth keeping in mind, even if it’s purely out of self interest for the value of your collection. 😀

Perspective, and all.

Larry S · Oct 26, 2018

Just more flogging of unobtainium by the watch press. One can have fun with this thing of ours without breaking into the kids college fund.

Foo2rama · Oct 26, 2018

I’m more curious about the different Cartier fonts being tied to different shops.

We knew the shops operated independently already.

Archer · Oct 26, 2018

abrod520
To me this sounds like market-making...

You mean like when Forster opined about a new VC chronograph calling it "This watch is one of the most important enthusiast-oriented chronographs any company has made in quite some time." and 6 months later Hodonkey just happened to release a Ltd. Edition Hondonkey version of the same VC chronograph that they had been working on for a year? Yeah, like that for sure...

Foo2rama · Oct 26, 2018

Archer
You mean like when Forster opined about a new VC chronograph calling it "This watch is one of the most important enthusiast-oriented chronographs any company has made in quite some time." and 6 months later Hodonkey just happened to release a Ltd. Edition Hondonkey version of the same VC chronograph that they had been working on for a year? Yeah, like that for sure...

I’ll go a step further
I’m not sayin hodinkee has been involved with market manipulation... but there are very odd coincidences a few years ago...

M'Bob · Oct 26, 2018

CK-2915 and 2998 are getting just crazy pricey, but there are a number of decent Ed Whites still out there for under $15,000.

Three Daytonas I had in the late 1980's I bought for $2,000, and flipped for $4,000. I was in heaven. I see the same watch for $80,000. Now I'm not feeling so good.

My point: I STILL think a nice 105.003 is undervalued, and has a good amount of room to appreciate. I remember posting a question to the forum a few years ago, whether they thought the Ed White would crack $10,000. I guess we know the answer...

https://omegaforums.net/threads/will-the-ed-white-soon-be-a-5-figure-watch.13940/

Has watch collecting finally “jumped the shark” with this article?

Tik-Tok of Oz

kov

ext1

Tik-Tok of Oz

watchknut

1972Steve

kkt

abrod520

midcentury

Larry S

Foo2rama

Archer

Foo2rama

M'Bob

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