Like many collectors, GaryG has bought and sold a number of watches at auction over the years. Being a systematic type of guy, Gary has taken the time to analyze his philosophy of auction bidding. Here he shares some of the tactics he uses with the hope that some may be useful to you in your own bidding.
Many of us have seen and heard the auctioneer’s hammer crash down on the final bid of a famous well-fought-over item. What interests Chris Malburg – apart from the artifact itself – is the seller. Why the sale? Is this is a one-off event or does he or she have more to offer? What brought them to this hammer time? This article explores motives for and provides expert advice on selling a watch at auction.
GaryG had the pleasure to handle, listen to, photograph, and write about two truly splendid minute repeaters, both property of a good friend: Patek Philippe Reference 5074P and Reference 5078P. They both look great, but you’re probably most interested in how they sound. Well, here’s your chance. Welcome to the great Patek Philippe chime-off!
The “unobtanium” phenomenon isn’t limited to watches from the past, there are a variety of references for which supply seems to lag demand. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the current market for select steel sports watches. Here GaryG highlights some interesting dynamics caused by that imbalance, led by a loud chorus of complaints from prospective buyers.
De Bethune celebrates the tenth anniversary of its groundbreaking DB28 in 2020 and, as Ian Skellern’s relationship with the model goes back the full decade, it seems an appropriate time for him to share the story of how he came to launch the DB28, own a DB28, and what he thinks of the DB28 after wearing one regularly for seven years.
As there is no official, universally accepted, or legally binding description of what a dandy watch is, Martin Green takes it upon himself to coin one. A dandy (like Martin) doesn’t follow fashion, but walks to the beat of his own drum. Here he shares a few watches that he thinks are just dandy.
“What, another watch?” she almost screamed in disbelief no sooner than WMMT had opened the front door to his little love nest. Rewind to last week. He had been looking for a Roger Smith Series 1 for some time now, and Jones, his watch dealer, happened to finally locate one. WMMT thought that he had played it pretty safe, so he really don’t know how she could have noticed. But what happened next changed the rest of his satirical life.
Last year, Colin Alexander Smith’s mother showed him a silver pocket watch. All she could tell him about it was that it had belonged to his grandfather. The watch appeared to be older than his grandfather, though, and he embarked upon a quest to identify it and discover the original owner. The story took a few interesting turns as he reveals here in a truly interesting trace of the origins.
A discussion with fellow collectors that is bound to elicit interesting responses is two-tone watches. People tend to either love them or hate them. The lovers consider them the perfect mix between a sporty looking watch and a dress watch. People who don’t care for them may think of them as a weak compromise at best. What do you think?
Can you recall the last time that you read a review of a newly introduced watch and the first few paragraphs of the article were about the case? Yeah – thought not. So here it goes: GaryG talks watch cases.