taddyangle: Neither Christies or Philipps would have taken this watch for their Geneva Auctions in MAY let alone for an April auction.
This is further proof that the OP didnt bother with due diligence or shopping the watch for the best selling opportunity and instead had it pre submitted to the auction house before ever even joining the forum.

As far as the dates on the pics, if you like I can take a pic of my dog and change the metadata to say it was taken in 1925..

 

So could we get an honest answer here from OP @Strope on only two questions from me, for the sake of all members that have chimed in and helped you here the last days?

1. Did you have ANY contacts with ANY auction houses prior to your post here on Saturday?

2. Did you start all the action of searching for an auction house, enlisting and signing contract for sales of your watch with Bukowskis ONLY AFTER hearing the comments here on OF, not prior to your post on Saturday last week?

 

I don’t think that the OP invited offers (he wouldn’t be allowed to anyway), so any buyers or dealers who made offers were doing so in a purely speculative manner. If they wasted their time I don’t see it was the sellers fault.

 

By the way, as for Auction negotiations: I may be out of date but when I was active, you could negotiate the sellers premium down to 0. They tried negative premiums but that was seen as illegal as they had tried giving buyers discounts but that was definitely legislated against. I vaguely remember the big houses getting into trouble for fixing commissions for big collections - and like colluding divorce lawyers sharing out the spoils between them.

Further shenanigans available to AH’s are the price guarantee. It’s a backwards way of reducing buyers premium. So they guarantee a watch will sell for 100k so they effectively own it, thus if the bid is 75,000 then they break even.

This guarantee is more often used to attract a large collection or estate rather than a single piece.

With all that said, when Phillips sold a 2915 for 400,000 I doubt there is a single dealer who could have achieved that price. Indeed Phillips themselves have failed to follow it.

But those top sales, like a lottery win, keep everyone focused where evidence fails to lead us.

 

? You have a chance too?

Surely you did not encourage rule breaking by offering to buy from a new member without sales priveledges?

And remember

 

3. who offered to buy privately.

 

w154: As has been demonstrated on this and every other forum for vintage watches, cars, etc.. When someone comes on a forum as a new member asking questions about their fathers watch or their grandfathers 1954 Ferrari, you ultimately get people who privately contact the OP asking if it is for sale or their desire to purchase it. This is an indirect FS post and everybody knows it. If I had access to the OP's inbox you would probably see over 100 PM's. He didnt ask for offers directly, but the very nature of the post always generates interest AND circumvents the forums policy on items for sale.

Spacefruit: I have negotiated all of my Auction house listings down to a zero sellers premium, but I have been at this for a long time. If the OP had the wherewithal to do that then he is a smarter man than me. Perhaps the auction house just dropped it to zero just to have a piece that unique in their auction and drive buyers to their other watches without the seller even asking..

 

"?You have a chance too?"

I wont bid on it out of principle. Thats just the way I am. If I think a seller is shady I wont reward them by buying their watch or even increasing the value of the watch by bidding it up even if I lose it. He lost me as a buyer and bidder now.

"Surely you did not encourage rule breaking by offering to buy from a new member without sales priveledges?"

Is that a rule? I never read that one. If he had posted it for sale without having seller privileges and I contacted him then I would agree, but inquiring to buy a watch from someone posting a legitimate informational thread is not a violation as far as I know.

 

1. I did not have any contact with any auction houses prior to my post on Saturday. I had never even heard of Bukowskis before. And I thought Phillips only made electric appliances

2. A lot of you said it was best to choose an auction. So I sent emails to Bukowskis, Christies and Phillips on Sunday, but Bukowskis replied first and as they are closest to my location I went there first. They asked me to come by with the watch and when I was there they gave me a fair offer. Everything was done after hearing the comments here.

Thats true. I received a few, but tried to tell them nicely (in my opinion) that I had not decided what to do and that I needed to find the value before making my decision.

 

No doubt that’s all true, but I don’t see how those who make offers can get angry if they’re not accepted (or even considered).

 

Once again, good luck with your sale... I guess it will end up north of 200k!

 

In my inbox I have 11 conversations, 5 of them are from someone giving advice, 6 of them are from someone who said they would be interested. Only 3 of those 6 came with an actual moneyoffer.

 

So you got on a flight to Sweden after "They asked me to come by with the watch". Makes sense to me. No firm offer or confirmation they would accept the watch but, hey book a flight to another country at your own expense so we can take a look at it. And then "when I was there they gave me a fair offer". Only the Lord knows what the fair offer was. If they bought it outright, guaranteed a specific bottom price or gave you zero commissions.

Again, it doesnt matter and everyone is entitled to believe anything they like. I choose not to believe the story at all.

 

Sounds like life comes at you fast when you have a 2915.

Not sure if the OP is telling the truth or not, but it seemed the majority of the advice was to take your time before you make a decision. I know if I was in his position, I would’ve at least waited to hear what the other major auction houses had to say.

 

but calling a fellow member a liar without proof is defamatory and shows a lack of class.

 

You're getting all spun up for no reason. I don't get it. Take a lap around the block, maybe grab a pint, and realize that you're probably venting for some reason other than the OP putting his watch at Bukowski's. Stop derailing the thread, please.

OP - best of luck. Bukowski's is a quality house that's made great strides in the past couple years. It will have plenty of eyeballs and hopefully a lot of interest.

 

Totally agree. I certainly would have taken my time to check around, but then I’ve been interested in vintage watches for a while and would want to enjoy every minute of such an amazing opportunity. I assume it’s a whole different motivation for the OP.

Wish you all the best with the sale @Strope. Shame there isn’t a quality auction house in Norway where it could of been sold and it’s ended up in in Sweden. Fingers crossed.

 

What is problem in that, 1 hour flight that you can buy with 50€. I don't see the problem...

 

As much as I love Speedmasters, if I found this in my dad's drawer, I'd sell it at an auction and pay off my house!