I just logged in, so I can’t see it. Do you know how lot 33, the gold Breitling 815 Long Playing, did? I was interested in it, but was scared off by the very high estimate.
Well I think it was an interesting sale, with far more sold watches that I anticipated.
I was going to bid on the blue dial calibre 860 but decided against it last minute. So many of the watches seem to have been estimated right on the value, and this might be why only one bidder appeared on the sale so often.
I would have loved to hear and see an auctioneer, and to hear the bidding start much lower, and to see the bid history as the item was sold.
I will say it again, I think WOK had a good selection and I think they did a good job of bringing that selection to market. You cannot have an auction full of one owner barnfinds and NOS watches.
I do think their interface needs work, and also I would like to see more activity - I found the process dry, distant and unexiting compared to all the big houses.
I have not done the analysis, (and frankly I am not going to) but my feeling was that the lots passed was about the same as previous sales.
I liked the NAAFI speedmaster and the SW and the 105.012 was a true fixer upper but a bit rich.
As for the future, I doubt there will be any B&M auctions for a while. Indeed the B&M auctions might wonder if they have a future, other than viewing galleries.
Now we can look forward to the autumn season - that is going to be interesting, as a lack confidence might prevent consignors and frankly there are a lot of big houses that will be scrambling to find stock, let alone customers to sell to.
I do not have a crystal ball, and I would like to know who in six months will feel good from this sale, the buyers or the sellers?
Suspect a major re adjustment of the vintage Market is showing here
Interesting....
The bidding clearly shows “Internet” or “Room bid” to get people thinking someone’s bidding on the items, but then they are “Passed”.\
I would call this bollocks, and a stupid way to get people thinking there’s a bidder for the lot.
Down below an example, where clearly shows the lot has one Internet or Room bid, but then if no one else is bidding on it, then it’s Passed? 👎
Or is it because it’s under their estimate, well then why do they show that it’s even a bid??
WOK had a good selection and I think they did a good job of bringing that selection to market. Y
For posterity:
this auction started before "peak panic" hit in most of the world but to my eyes was quite quite strong
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/watches-online-2?locale=en
G GammaI was about to say the same thing, I also noticed this one earlier this week and although I’m far from an expert it looked to have been quite strong. I didn’t see any bargains anyway
Except I guess if you want insights into how the market will respond if there's another similar situation in the future.
It's hard to imagine a worse time to sell watches, by conventional standards.
We’re not even close yet to what will be ahead, so the results of this auction can not be used as a reference to your statement, as the prices will continue to go even lower.
As this pandemic continues and is being fought and eventually won, but when people start to return to work they may realise there’s potentially no work to go to anymore...
The end of this saga is still unwritten, but i hope it’s not as bad as i imagine in my worst scenarios.
I suspect that the auction house had given most estimates to sellers long before the COVID outbreak and the sellers decided to include their watches based on those reserve prices.
We’re not even close yet to what will be ahead, so the results of this auction can not be used as a reference to your statement, as the prices will continue to go even lower.
As this pandemic continues and is being fought and eventually won, but when people start to return to work they may realise there’s potentially no work to go to anymore...
The end of this saga is still unwritten, but i hope it’s not as bad as i imagine in my worst scenarios.
You are correct, of course. But..there may be that "reward" phenomenon that lies ahead: "I made it through this shit-show; I'm going to get myself something really nice to celebrate. What about those unfortunate souls that didn't make, and had regrets. I'm going for it!" The question, though, is when...
