This went for maybe 20 or 40 times the market value. But then "The dial is bewildering in the cavalcade of subtle details, adding up to a fabulous result."


https://www.phillips.com/detail/LONGINES/CH080118/195

 

Wow to the watch and wow to the price.

 

I have a 32mm version of the same watch (available at a substantial discount).

 

"The present watch stands out not only for its spectacular condition but also its pure design awesomeness."

There you go...

 

"The case measures 35mm but wears much larger thanks to its untouched case"

Because we all know that unmolested cases factually wear larger than their polished counterparts.

Flowery descriptions open the wallets of fools.

 

"its tasteful design and untouched condition offer an opportunity"

The bleed mark from the top of the 9 (59) has me thinking that this has been re-finished, as does the case edge differences, particulaly near the left lug.

Note that this is only my uneducated impression.

 

I can imagine the new owner strutting around the watch, shouting at random people passing by: "BEHOLD THE CAVALCADE OF BEWILDERING DETAILS!" "

After 15 years of army service my bullshit tolerance is very, very low. The one responsible for this drivel ought to be dragged to the town square for a public whipping.

 

Hand me the cat!

 

I think it's more because that exact same watch is featured in the new Longines book by Goldberger.

 

Hands don’t match the dial lume wise. Odd stamping on the case back is always cause for alarm. Glad I got into this thing of ours a few years ago now. Wish I’d been there earlier. Now it’s a bewildering cavalcade of high priced cray cray.

 

Maybe the watch in the auction belonged to Goldberger - conspiracy theory alert!.

 

I'm staring at that dial looking for this cavalcade. Sure there are some nice details. I am just not bewildered somehow. There must be something wrong with me??

 

Watch out for the kool-aid at those Phillips auctions!

 

Dibs on that then
Have I seen it? How can I have missed it???

Yeah, I'm sure those cavalcades would not have been so bewildering out there in Afghanistan.
Guess some people have got to busy themselves with stuff that looks and sounds important in order to justify their standing in society.

 

So is Phillips the present day embodiment of PT Barnum? "There's a sucker born every minute" and of course then the corollary of "A fool and his money are soon parted". Who are these people with so much money to spend? $40K on this watch, but a 2998-3 sells for $20K? It just boggles the mind.

 

The cavalcade is in the eye of the beholder, as they say...

 

Uh, you're here aren't you?

 

$?&@!!. I sold that same watch for like 200 bucks a few years back. Those stupid shapes, I thought it was one of those post war re-dials. Fml.

 

The exact same watch? Or one just like it?

 

The watch is the exact design of the watch provided for a French mountaineering expedition. In other words, the bidders were convinced that was a Longines experimental watch sent up a mountain to study the temperature and air density effects on time pieces. That's why so damn expensive. It was the first ever study way before 1953 Explorers and Smith DeLuxe

Ref 5483

Watch naturally runs faster at high altitudes, but lubricants harden slowing down watches. Find the balance to compensate