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Marsimaxam
·Sold for $15,600.00 all in.
*Or $16,250.00 if the bidder was going through liveauctioneers.com
Still think it is a bit high, but, I'm not the expert... still learning.
Is This Another Speedmaster Auction Gone Crazy
Still think it is a bit high, but, I'm not the expert... still learning.
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ndgal
·So, back to the original soup question... does the price seem high, or is it fair considering the condition of the watch?
Still think it is a bit high, but, I'm not the expert... still learning.
If someone wanted a super mint Transitional for their collection, they paid whatever they were willing to pay.
Vintage watches in this condition don’t come up very often.
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repoman
·I'm not one to say a buyer "overpaid", unless I'm commenting on myself of course. I have definitely overpaid once or twice and knew it when I did it, and I still slept fine that same night. For vintage, quality is just so hard to find, take the 1976 Apollo-Soyuz Speedmaster, those come up for sale at regular intervals, 19 out of 20 have issues (wrong pushers, no engraving on caseback, questionable provenance, etc.).. For the 1 out of 20 that are 100% correct examples you then have to evaluate condition, and about 1 out of 10 of those are in really top shelf condition, and for those, in today's market, you are looking at $80,000 - $100,000 USD. For incorrect examples in average condition, $25,000 would probably be enough to buy one in today's market.
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Marsimaxam
·I'm not one to say a buyer "overpaid", unless I'm commenting on myself of course. I have definitely overpaid once or twice and knew it when I did it, and I still slept fine that same night. For vintage, quality is just so hard to find, take the 1976 Apollo-Soyuz Speedmaster, those come up for sale at regular intervals, 19 out of 20 have issues (wrong pushers, no engraving on caseback, questionable provenance, etc.).. For the 1 out of 20 that are 100% correct examples you then have to evaluate condition, and about 1 out of 10 of those are in really top shelf condition, and for those, in today's market, you are looking at $80,000 - $100,000 USD. For incorrect examples in average condition, $25,000 would probably be enough to buy one in today's market.
Edited:
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Dan S
·I haven't looked at the bidding history, but my fantasy is that two serious Speedmaster collectors battled it out because both of them were missing a good 145.022-68 example to round out their collection. If I were a casual Speedmaster buyer, I wouldn't pay that much for this reference.
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watchlovr
·I think it was top money for a top example.
Show me a better one for sale for less.
Show me a better one for sale for less.
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ATWG
·We're living through crazy times, a '68 transitional for $15.6K is the latest of many instances of hyper inflated market. Just look at the Silver Snoopy with asking prices around $40K! If this isn't indicative of a bubble, I don't know what is. If there are fools willing to pay this much for a watch that retailed for $9K with no special movement or technological advances, I truly feel sorry for them.
The '68 happens to be one of my favorite references and am fortunate enough to have bought a near mint example many years ago. I'm not sure I'd be in this hobby with today's pricing.
The '68 happens to be one of my favorite references and am fortunate enough to have bought a near mint example many years ago. I'm not sure I'd be in this hobby with today's pricing.
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Marsimaxam
·The 68 transitional is a rare bird and even Speedmaster 101 states, "These are worth more than the much more common painted logo 145.022-69. They are very rare, and when one comes on auction there are many buyers, especially for fine examples. While prices are higher, there are so few traded that pricing them is not easy to be precise ." And if you consider what Ndgal stated about the atypical case..."However, there is a batch of Transitionals from around March-April 1969 (as far as I can tell according to the examples I have had go through my hands so far) where the case profile was slightly changed. (the OP watch is one of those)... it is a rare bird indeed, and maybe worth the price after all, at least to someone.
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harrymai86
·For some people 15k usd is like pocket money, if they fix on something, spending a few extra grands to get it is absolutely normal to them.
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M'Bob
·People with money can't travel. Can't spend and shop like they used to pre-COVID. Most buying and shopping is done online and at auctions. This has actually resulted in a spike in prices.
The watch market is on fire. Pretty much everything is up. Just look at the recent auctions.
I definitely underestimated this aspect. We have more time to devote to our hobbies and interests and we are looking for entertainment. A similar dynamic is at play in fantasy sports / sports gambling, which is also through the roof.
But this may be demographic specific.
Most of my friends in the medical/dental community are at about 60-70% previous Covid capacity, so this is one example where occupations that traditionally require face to face contact have taken an income hit, and have less disposable to play with.
