I’m sorry but I think there are some rather blinkered views here and unfair blame being apportioned on so called ‘local’ auction houses in relation to why sales figures aren’t higher right now.

Firstly I have been both a buyer and seller at WOK for some time now and find them as good if not better at running an auction as any of the old guard. They successfully sold my Siffert last year for over $30000, Phillips didn’t manage that with any of theirs at the more than underwhelming November sale!!

Secondly, and apologies if this has been already discussed, Heuer prices in general have softened from their heady highs, for some models significantly. I believe what we saw at WOK is a straight forward indication of what buyers are willing to pay right now. As mentioned more quality watches have come to the market even on eBay, dealers appear well stocked, and it’s costing more for those buying in dollars to purchase from the UK now than it was 12 months ago. Also let’s face it they simply aren’t the flavour of the month right now in the wider collectors market.

On the flip side good Rolex subs and GMTs flew at WOK, their buyers didn’t appear put off by the snow (which is pretty irrelevant as most people bid online at home these days) or Paddy’s day (we’re not all Irish you know) when bidding for them, I bought two and was manning my daughters 7th birthday at the time, were there is a will there’s a way!! I also sold my Reverso for double estimate in this sale, so I’m happy as it negated the hit I took on my 3646 Andretti, yep that was mine..

So the fault of lower prices being achieved right now at auction should be blamed upon market forces, not how the watches are marketed... All IMHO of course!

: John:

: I am glad that you were successful with your sale last year.

: When I read Nic's message about the bad weather in London, and
: other negative factors, it reinforced my view that these
: "local" auction houses can be bad platforms for these
: sales.

: So I have owned a watch for 40 years; decide that March 17 will be
: the sale day; then wake up and realize that it's St. Patrick's
: day (which had been on the calendar for a long time) and rainy
: in London? Well, at exactly that point in time, I realize that I
: have chosen the wrong guys to sell my watch!! Yes, anyone can
: have a bad day, but the better the platform, the fewer these bad
: days.

: We saw a couple of nice old Heuers sell on eBay over the weekend .
: . . at full prices . . . the photos were excellent and the
: information was comprehensive. And the sellers weren't
: complaining about St. Patrick's Day or the rain in London. And
: the buyer's weren't multiplying by 1.25 to get from the hammer
: price to the final price.

: Perhaps the one word summary for these local auction houses is
: "inconsistent"? And when I am selling my precious
: watch after owning it for 30 or 40 years, that's not what I want
: to see.

: Jeff

: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

: In response to your question. I sold my 2446 at a WOK auction a
: year ago and got what I thought was a very good price. At that
: time it was the highest price that WOK had got for a 2446. The
: reason I chose an auction house to sell my watch was that it was
: a very safe route to take, bearing in mind there are now so many
: scammers operating in all fields. There were no hidden agendas
: and the sale and payment were completed with the minimum of
: fuss. I believe, as one of your fellow contributors has said
: that on the day London was quiet, the weather was against it and
: generally there are more and more 'specialist' watch auctions
: around. The auction houses can only sell what is offered for
: sale and prices will reflect their collectability.