Million dollar Rolex at the Geneva Watch Auctions, read my analysis now...

[Philipp]

3 of the top lots in my hand which fetched almost 5.5 million swiss francs!! Below PPC’s ref 1463 went for 1.85 million!



My earlier predictions for the November 2015 Geneva Watch Auctions where close to spot on. Where I was wrong, the achieved results where even higher. The trend to pay record prices for rare top quality only continues. Then another phenomenon has chanced the market when we compare it with some 5-10 years ago. Due to the improved knowledge of the individual collectors and the possibility to bid online and see whats going on from their lazy chair, we now see many buyers act on their own, cutting off the dealer provision paid in the past.

The discussions on social media helps the modern collector to act independently. In specific Instagram has become extremely powerful and very helpful for every watch collector. IG has become a strong tool to connect buyer & seller and so I noticed that many dealers have become spectators instead of successful bidders. They definitely do not spend as much as during the Geneva watch auctions then they used to do in the past. A trend that will only continue in my believe….





This edition of the Geneva Watch Auctions had again many “known” watches for sale and hardly any fresh finds. As I said before, the market has to realize that we’ve come to a point where new discoveries, fresh barn finds will only happen once in a while. That somebody who gets it, doesn’t need a auction house anymore to sell it successfully for the highest price for him. Upload it to your IG account and the offers will come in automatically. With other words the watch market will hardly grow in quantity as almost everything has been found and everybody should realize that what is known to date, is about what has been left over.

So far Phillips had again the rarest examples for sale, which achieved exceptional prices. But we have to ask ourselves, how long will it be possible for the auction houses to find collectors to sell their rare watches now that the market clearly shows us that keeping great original condition brings much more redement then selling it. And if you sell successfully, what you gonna do with the money I hear a lot as there’s hardly anything interesting in the free market to buy back…



Those that say there where bargains, are blind as there where none. Those watches that sold low, where not worth buying. Those that where interesting went double, triple or even 10 times the estimate. All dealers where ready to spend their cash. You see, what I ask myself while writing this is, what do all the dealers do now with their corporate money they used to spend during the auctions? Off course I see them buy but then its much less then I’ve seen before. Many lots sold nowadays go directly to the phone bidders or even to the online bidder. The essence to sell their best watches has become hardly interesting for most professionals as it’s still better for them to sit on those interesting pieces then offer it for sale now.



The vintage watch market is still growing as I noticed many more Asian and Middle East buyers in Geneva. The general “problem” what we see in the collecting world is that everybody wants to own the best, pushing prices even further. All over the results where strong again, hardly any watch disappointed and for instance a simple Nina Rindt Universal sold for nearly 30K and off the market offers are heading to 50K already, which is imho a bit crazy…



I will not comment on the rumor(s) some big buyer(s) are having problem(s) settling their account(s) as I still saw him/ them bidding nor will I elaborate about the fact that auction houses still guarantee minimum sale prices for the top lots for their clients as that might be part of their marketing budget. Then, apparently the reason why the black military dialed Patek Philippe Ref 2497 suddenly and abruptly got canceled right before it came up is that Ethiopian- Americans together with Haile Selassies grandson successfully blocked the Christie’s sale because they believe the PPC was plundered from Selassies estate after a military coupe in 1975. Was this the last time we’ve seen it in public? Only the future can tell us… Enjoy my report! Thanks my dear friends!



Read all about it over here:

http://rolexpassionreport.com/18762/...s-my-analysis/

Greetings Philipp