My oldest friend is also WIS and he has been collecting longer than I, plus he inherited some spectacular pieces when his Father passed a Patek and an early man wind Daytona being the most desirable of what he inherited.. We had frequently collected the same watches, often identical models, the EZM1 he was wearing yesterday is a good example, we bought them together. The big difference today is that he has never sold a watch, I have sold off hundreds. Another WIS difference he does not participate on any forums at all and never really looks at the "market" for watches, mainly because he is never selling anything. We were talking the other day about how much fad and fashion affect values and how diverse they can be simply because of that. A good case in point are some chronographs he owns and how their values have changed in the last 30 years, 5 watches in particular, all of them in spectacular condition, the 1st an 18k square pusher generic Swiss chronograph, from the 50s I think, in 1993 I think a fair price would have been $400, today on a great day maybe $7-800, the second is an AOPA Navitimer his Father bought new, in 1993 I had seen them selling for $1,200-1,500, these days I do not think they would exceed that price at all, the third he bought new in 1992 or so, a Breitling Sextant, a mecha quartz HAQ with dual stepper motors, he purchased it duty free in the Caribbean and paid close to $2k, today maybe $750 on a great day, more likely $500, fourth is an Omega Speedmaster Moon he purchased in 1985, also purchased duty free for just about $1,200 now I would expect it to fetch $5k, the fifth is his Father's Daytona, his parents were on an Anniversary trip in the Virgin Islands and his Mom wanted to buy his Dad a Rolex, it was the only watch in the entire store that they had discounted as it had been sitting there a while, the only thing missing from the full kit that his Dad preserved was the actual warranty paper, the sales receipt is still there, just under $900 in 1970, it is a reverse panda with a steel bezel, I would wager in a "well advertised watch auction" it would get an estimate of $40k and probably make much more. Fad and fashion is what drives all of these prices, if you wait until fashion or fad elevates a watch before selling it you may never get to sell, if you only sell what has been elevated you will have no complaints. As I had said, I have sold off hundreds of watches and my goal now is to never sell another watch, so I only buy "affordables" that I truly consider keepers, I do give away quite a few watches mostly to my two Sons, the last one I gave to my younger Son, an SNE439 I asked him to find a worthy recipient to gift it to, it is way to big for either of my Sons. It had been my beater/work watch and I got bored with it and replaced it for no reason other than boredom.
