Rolex

Bill
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Great POV on Rolex Box and Papers

There is very little that I disagree with on your thoughts.  With the more rare pieces the paper punched, letters, receipts all help to paint the picture of the history of the watch.  An as noted with rare pieces you don't have a s many pieces flying around so you may put a very high premium on papers like you noted as much as 50%.  But again that is not the rule in assigning the premium.  I also agree that as a general rule 10-20% range is about standard for sets and it can climb a little as you get in more specialized pieces.

For me box and papers across the range, in my case i am only talking about vintage, really represent provenance and history.  It is like a puzzle that a historian dating an object based on empirical evidence.  For example when looking at a an OCC 1675 we know certain facts.  How do we know we know by comparing other examples.  The general rule is serial around 504,xxx and a case back of I. 60 but when you can add other evidence like like a chron cert or  receipt etc this helps not to validate necessarily but to confirm when it may have hit the market vs when it was born.  For example a receipt for the OCC dated 1963 may explain why it has a bracelet stamped from that year.  Other example can be validated by papers when a watch is said to have been owned by someone in the service and the papers clearly illustrate that from having been sold through a military PX.  I think that the papers complete the story to some extent and validate the watch to other.  We always but the watch based on their condition and rarity the papers are a bonus and a luxury not always essential but complete the story.

Complete sets are a real joy to own.  A mint watch with all the accessories will always command a premium but it up to the buyer and seller to agree on the premium.

Bill