Vintage Omega Covid Tax

I'm in the market for a specific vintage Seamaster with 552 movement. Doing lots of research reading the invaluable information and generally watching prices on the various platforms: here, Chrono24, ebay, Reddit, etc.

Most of the sales records I can find for a non gold 60s vintage Seamaster in the spec I'm after are from early 2020 (or earlier) and the going price for a good quality example seemed to be in the USD500-750 range. The listed prices in seeing now are considerably higher.

Here in Australia the used car market has gone crazy due to Covid19 - there's no less money around and people can't travel so they're spending it on luxury goods and cars. Has anybody noticed the same phenomenon with vintage Omegas? Or is it just proof of their value increasing over time?

For example, is USD1k too much to be paying for something like this? Comments on this forum from 24 months ago would be a resounding yes but for the current day I'm not sure.

Sorry, I was trying to keep this discussion more general than talking about the specific item I'm interested in.

Here in Australia the price of used luxury items has gone through the roof, hence people refer to it as "Covid Tax". Secondhand fun, performance cars are fetching very high prices or are simply not available. I don't know if this phenomenon extends globally and/or people have noticed it with vintage Omega values?

I'm a member of a sports memorabilia collecting board, and the same thing has been happening over there since the start of the pandemic. There are cards I bought in 2019 that I thought in ten years I could make my money back on that are now selling at multiples of what I paid. On the flip side, I passed on some cards back then that now, unless I strike gold in my back yard, I'm not getting anywhere near.

Holding cash is no fun as you watch it's value drop due to inflation. The stock market is too risky. Buying something you always wanted that seems to always be in demand at the going rate? Priceless! And you get to see it on your wrist sometimes.

This is obviously not the right group of people for sound general financial advice 😁

I think your observations are correct in a couple of areas. Used sports cars and motorcycles have jumped a bit in value over the past year. Unlike the financial meltdown of 2008, most middle to upper income people in Canada have not been adversely affected. Lots of people have been able to work at home and save on fuel and parking expenses. Without vacation travel, there is more disposable income for other things like cars, renovations and toys.

Vintage watches have steadily gained in popularity over the past 10 years, so I am not sure how much of the increase in prices is due to the normal trend vs COVID spending.

I saw an interview with a business manager from Mecum classic car auctions and he stated that 80% of their online auction sales since Covid were new customers who had never done business with them before.
I also saw that Manheim tracks used car sales and shows a 12-16% price increase on trucks and luxury Suv's respectively in 2020.
I do think savings is up for those whose income was unaffected and I know that auctions are a great distraction when you can't go shopping in person. I do wonder about the increase in the money supply and what inflation is going to look like next year.

I do think there is some truth in people who have not been able to holiday and save commute costs and all the other things we haven’t been able to spend spare money on are looking so spend this money on nice to have items.
My example is the Porsche Boxter 981 I am 50 this year and for the last 18 months have been saving to buy a nice used example of the last flat 6 variant.
Here in the UK the 2013/2014 cars in my budget have seen prices firm since last Summer so I haven’t jumped in yet as the drive at Easter from UK to Bienne and back with my son won’t be happening either.

In the fall I went to see a watch by appointment in an auction house here in France and the woman who was a jewelery expert said they had been surprised to see a diamond go much higher than expected-- it was 30 thousand something, of course some diamonds fetch millions but she considered it completely outlandish for the item.

My impression is that prices are going all over the place with some items shooting up wildly and others not.
My hunch is that with the potential economic devastation ahead some people must be looking to hedge their bets against potential future taxation (of wealth) and looking to move assets discreetely.
I don’t think an Omega watch in the 500-1000 price range qualifies as a vehicle for that but maybe it’s true some people could be spending unused vacation money...