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I would strongly recommend The value of Art by Michael Findlay
Rare high end timepieces trade in very thin markets and spreads between bid and ask can be huge. Auctions used to be the worst place for selling an independent watch as the buyers largely didn't care about them. This has changed dramatically in recent times. Still, past auctions are rarely a good indicator of current value. The book explains at length as to why that is the case for the art market. I don't want to write a whole essay on finding comparables etc, you are a long term collector and know all those things. But I would say that finding a dealer or market that has the best access to the niche buyers that might want to buy your watch and having patience are the keys to getting the best price.
I have a real question that I don’t know the answer to. How do you determine what your watch may be worth? Auction prices seem to be all over the board. Some of the watch website sellers seem to have
inflated prices. Where does one go to get a handle on realistically what your watch should be valued at for a sale? If this discussion is not allowed then please excuse me. I am not asking about any particular piece nor referencing my watch or any others;...
There is a site that shows all of the recent auction results...
...but off the top of my head I don't remember it...I will look. It seems that an average of all recent results would get you pretty close, but as you know, something is only worth what a person will pay. Btw, if you ever sell your 5950 I have first dibs ...
Dear Sire Ed.
This a tough one. I think one approach is to look, as people say, to recent selling markers of said piece. This could be auction houses, sites which list third party sellers to certain types of consumers, and/or similar. This is likely to be good for piec...
If it is a special piece, and you have many of those...
...I'm not sure what you'd have to lose by putting it up with a big auction house, giving it a reserve you can live with, and see what happens. Maybe wait for a 'themed' auction or one that is particularly well-known/attended. Not an auction expert, but i...
There usually is a seller's premium as well.
Perhaps more importantly, a lot of the watches in an auction are purchased by dealers, who are willing to pay only wholesale prices. The price only rises to a retail-type level if there are at least two retail-type buyers interested in the item.
Maybe it could be a 'pocket listing' like real estate...
...with a trusted AD with connections to other buyers that would take a premium less than a seller's premium. Or maybe just for goodwill's sake as Ed has given them a lot of business over the years... Just thinking out loud.
A few key words
History, Provenance, Context Technology, scarcity, popularity (or lack of it), access to repairs All these words drive the word “intrinsic value”
Earlier this year, there was an Ω ref 2254 on eBay . . .
. . . listed for ~ $2600. No takers for months. Finally, the seller put it up for auction. It went for almost $3500. ...
I would strongly recommend The value of Art by Michael Findlay
Rare high end timepieces trade in very thin markets and spreads between bid and ask can be huge. Auctions used to be the worst place for selling an independent watch as the buyers largely didn't care about them. This has changed dramatically in recent tim...
I always figured art...
...was just a way for super-rich Russians and communist Chinese to park their money overseas so it wouldn't get confiscated by the powers that be... Or drug lords as a way to launder cash...I suppose either works.
I second to going to the dealer and test out the price and re-visiting it once in a while.
I also pass by this pawnshop in the neighbourhood mall and could not resist to take a look at the watches display there. That top left volcano is so tempting. ; ) ...