.....i guess we all have different tastes. The Mk2 Patent Pending has always been my favourite Rolex. At one point I owned 7 Sea-Dwellers....i saw no need to own so many...in teh end i kept two.....and the Comex was actually right at the bottom of my preference list of the 7. As i said, just difference in tastes. The Omani was, of course, super rare etc. But did i prefer it to the Patent Pending? No...not at all. So yes, I made decisions based on my personal taste. If it had been purely financial, then the Paul Newman would have been an obvious sale....but I happen to lovethat one a lot and it carries great memories......end of the day....just personal taste. I will say that my decision to sell some was also based on a desire to expand my collection in other manufacturers...so yes, maybe I lost a handful of vintage Rolex but i have also gained in other areas of my collection....so when one looks at it, one asseses not only whether the Comex is a keeper within my Rolex collection but also is it a keeper against another manufacturer too.
There are some decent dealers out there. yet, as prices have sky-rocketed, so too has the general malaise within the dealer community. I do not believe it is a clean market at all. I also know very well that many vintage Rolex are not all they seem to be. One very respected dealer told me that he knows that many dealers get vintage watches and then send them to their special workshops where they are made to be "vintage perfect". if a watch has been relumed, then the workshop will reapply vintage radium to make it "original" again. Laser welding for the case.....hey presto an average watch can be made to appear perfect. Some dealers are essentially crooks.....perhaps many. I have experienced it first hand and to be honest, have no desire to have any dealings with dealers who are dishonest. In answer to yoru question as to why this is happening.....money.