Omega Speedmaster 50 Christie's Auction

[MTROIS]

So, I am sure that most of you are aware of the December 15 auction to take place at Christies in NYC (http://www.christies.com/salelanding...ntSaleID=25971 ).

Of course, I fully understand that the die hard fans are worried that this type of sale will keep driving the prices up further, and thus will make more and more of these pieces out of our reach (i.e., the true fans who do not have unlimited means), but this is in my opinion a fact of life resulting from the general public having more and more access to expert information via blogs, forums etc.
The people who were lucky enough to buy watches at a bargain price a few years/months ago should just feel that, LUCKY, and newcomers like myself will just keep hoping that the prices will remain reasonable for a bit longer and that true fans and enthusiasts will be able to enjoy nice pieces not only because they can simply afford them, but because they enjoy them for what they represent in terms of history and mechanical prowess in watchmaking.

Having put this out of the way, I was wondering what you guys thought about the various lots? Of course we do not know what the final prices will be, but when reviewing the estimates of the different lots, I was actually surprised to see many pieces in our Classified section that seemed way overpriced when taking their condition in perspective. Do you also feel like that or not? I mean you sometimes see watches with bezel that have really taken a beating and case backs completely scratched by hack mechanics that fetch offer prices in the same range as these pristine models listed in the auction.
The two blogs from Fratello Watches were especially educational but I do know that I need more info about the minute details of what makes or breaks the value.

For one, I would love to be able to acquire a nice vintage piece, but I just don't think that I have enough knowledge yet and don't know which auction house or seller to really trust when it comes to the authenticity and originality of the pieces as of yet.

I guess I will keep learning until that point and hopefully, I will still be able to acquire a piece.

I look forward to reading your comments...

[georgetownhoya]

Hi mtrois - thank you for your interest in OMEGA SPEEDMASTER 50! As auction houses, we generally try to be conservative with our estimates as we want to see all our watches sell and do well in order for both our sellers to make money and for us to make money. Conservative estimates can help encourage more people to get invested in the bidding process, which can help achieve higher prices.

Christie's and other auction houses are commission businesses, so we need watches to sell and do well in order for us to to make any profit. If you are interested in any watches in our OMEGA SPEEDMASTER 50 or other auctions, please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to discuss any of the watches and their condition with you. At the end of the day, auction houses are only as good as their specialists, and I feel it is important and beneficial for serious bidders to develop relationships with specialists before bidding.

Best regards,
Eric Wind
ewind@christies.com

[MTROIS]

Eric,
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to this post and to "educate" newbies like myself on the general strategy that auction houses like the one you represent typically follow to stimulate the business.
At least the general pricing environment in comparison to the quality of the watches makes a bit more sense to me now.

Rest assured that I will be directly in touch with you as needed but there is actually one specific area for which I could use your help or the one from someone at Christie's: I have now tried several times to register an account on your mobile app and via the website to review condition report etc. and it just does not allow me to create an account. Could your technical crew / webmaster look into this?

Wishing you all a happy thanksgiving!!

[MTROIS]

...just managed to finally create an account. Apparently it did not like my initial password but never told me that the account could not be created because of it....

[georgetownhoya]

Originally Posted by MTROIS

...just managed to finally create an account. Apparently it did not like my initial password but never told me that the account could not be created because of it....

Cool, glad it now works for you and sorry for the problems!

[MTROIS]

Eric, it was great to "meet" you in the Hodinkee Speedmaster Reference Point video today!!

[repoman]

We've been discussing the auction, the pieces, and everything related over on OF, Here are some of the threads:
https://omegaforums.net/threads/chri...ic-sale.30111/
https://omegaforums.net/threads/late...-nov-16.31592/
https://omegaforums.net/threads/spee...8/#post-357085

[MTROIS]

Thanks for posting @repoman. I had completely missed these threads.
I really appreciate all the posts from Eric Wind which have been VERY informative. Things make much more sense to me now, and it is quite clear that most if not all of these watches will be unattainable for me...
I am still hoping to attend auction in person though. Should be interesting.

[MTROIS]

Anybody around here who is going to NYC to check the watches out today?