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Tony C.
··Ωf Jury memberAt the risk of sidetracking the thread, I do actually think dealers are directly responsible for the current high pricing (is it a bubble? these days I'm not so sure). If you finesse it then yes, it's some dealers in particular, maybe even some categories of dealers if you're willing (or able) to group them together. But I imagine the nett result would be that other dealers, being part of the same community, would eventually raise their prices as well to avoid being shortchanged on their merchandise. Whereas in the private collector circles (e.g. sales forums on OF, or on OTD), there is now a growing disjunct between what individuals are asking for the same pieces which dealers are offering.
But that is just my personal view, there are of course some good dealers out there who still try to keep the magic alive, and I wouldn't die in a ditch debating who is at fault. The reality is what matters, and that is asking prices are going up and grail watches are getting further out of reach. That is a perennial issue in watchcollecting, but when I started a few (short) years back I don't recall ridiculous asks being as commonplace as they are now.
Yes, it's a bubble, which doesn't mean, of course, that it will burst tomorrow.
There have always been pricing disconnects between ebay, private transactions, and dealers, and different levels of pricing within the dealer category. Some of the differences are more extreme now, but that is what always happens when bubbles develop.
Top-end dealers, whether of vintage watches, cars, or any other collectible, help to facilitate the upward spiral, but they are not "responsible" for the sharp rise in values. After all, if they were responsible, buyers would, by definition, have little or no power over the market. But they actually have almost complete control, which is precisely why, when bubbles burst, prices decline so rapidly, and there is absolutely nothing that dealers can do to stop the slide!
