more on dealer vs. private
Aside from the obvious heroic amount of research that went into the compilation of this guide, the striking thing to me is the delta between dealer and private prices. With a shift away from bricks and mortar to internet based sales and trades, the question of who is a "dealer" stands out relative to the imputed premium. Historically, a dealer paid rent and fixed overhead, including inventory, tools, labor, insurance, etc., which along with the accretion of expertise warranted charging a premium for inventory. The internet has clearly blurred this demarcation. How does one define "dealer" today? Among our community are a variety of subject matter experts. Is a dealer one who possesses technical talent and limited inventory or deep inventory and limited technical talent? Is it an historian or active trader without much of an appetite for detail? My view is that there is a continuum here, with perhaps only about a half dozen true dealers--those who make all or a substantial part of their income from selling watches, and the rest of us comprised of collectors, some of whom have the time and resources to dig deeply into the real of Heuers.