When restoring a dial nets you a 660k profit...

[exador]

Punter buys a Rolex 6062 'Pink Stelline‘ with poorly relumed dial at auction for CHF 315k.

Four years later, and with the dial restored with period-correct radium, watch sells at auction for CHF 975k.

Not a bad return for a $500 re-lume

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/ch...-6062-stelline

[Woody]

An interesting article - as someone who favours functionality over originality I often find myself in the minority!!!

[Juhuatai]

From the phillips auction and this one, it seems that the current market is very strong. A pristine 5508 went for 500k euro in the Phillips auction. I never thought a small crown would fetch such a price.

[roh123]

Hardly think it netted the seller 660k profit. The auction house got paid as well.

I think the rarity of this piece has a lot of value. It sold ”too cheap” at AQ and this time they got more. I don’t think it was the restoration itself that fetched a higher price. More the market that has changed and Christies did a better job than AQ. Kind of healthy that it sold well below the estimate which was kind of crazy.

[SunTzu]

Originally Posted by roh123

Hardly think it netted the seller 660k profit. The auction house got paid as well.

The auction house collects the buyer's premium plus a certain percentage of the sale. If the owner knows what he's doing, he probably negotiated a very small percent as the auction house wants that business and notoriety for bringing a time piece like that to auction. So I would think the owner did rather well for themselves.

My boss sold a few million dollars in rare coins at a highly regarded auction. They forwarded him a million to start and settled on a tiny percentage of the sale price after negotiations.

With a rarity, the sky is the limit because there's really no other to settle on. Almost a one off. You just need two hungry buyers.

[roh123]

Originally Posted by SunTzu

The auction house collects the buyer's premium plus a certain percentage of the sale. If the owner knows what he's doing, he probably negotiated a very small percent as the auction house wants that business and notoriety for bringing a time piece like that to auction. So I would think the owner did rather well for themselves.

My boss sold a few million dollars in rare coins at a highly regarded auction. They forwarded him a million to start and settled on a tiny percentage of the sale price after negotiations.

Sure

Point being was that it wasn’t the restoration itself that made the profit.

[SunTzu]

Originally Posted by roh123

Sure

Point being was that it wasn’t the restoration itself that made the profit.

Agreed, duly noted.

Maybe a slight factor though as the original material was used?

Still a cool read nonetheless.

[roh123]

Originally Posted by SunTzu

Agreed, duly noted.

Maybe a slight factor though as the original material was used?

Still a cool read nonetheless.

It looks much better which of course helps. I doubt however that it is the main reason between 315 and 975k.

[dhknola]

Yeah, if you have a brain and marquis item like this, you can negotiate with the auction house to take near nothing for themselves as they get their pound in garnering the prestige of selling the marquis item.

[Tom1675]

Originally Posted by roh123

Hardly think it netted the seller 660k profit. The auction house got paid as well.

I think the rarity of this piece has a lot of value. It sold ”too cheap” at AQ and this time they got more. I don’t think it was the restoration itself that fetched a higher price. More the market that has changed and Christies did a better job than AQ. Kind of healthy that it sold well below the estimate which was kind of crazy.

x2 on the market value comment, as evidenced by the steady cadence of "bubble" or "crazy valuations" threads on this site. There was even one about the increase in 1601 prices today.

[exador]

Originally Posted by roh123

Point being was that it wasn’t the restoration itself that made the profit.

Would the watch still have sold for CHF 975,000 had no work been done? You have no way of knowing that of course.

The owner of the untouched example in the article would have to sell theirs for CHF 3.9M to make a similar ROI.

[roh123]

Originally Posted by exador

Would the watch still have sold for CHF 975,000 had no work been done? You have no way of knowing that of course.

The owner of the untouched example in the article would have to sell theirs for CHF 3.9M to make a similar ROI.

No idea. I am however fairly sure it would have sold above 315k.

The work made it more attractive so it was probably a wise move. The lot was close to hammer at 500 before one bidder fought until 800. Small margin between success and failure sometimes.

[zapokee]

Interesting that it went for below estimate. I feel a general market softening...

[exador]

Originally Posted by zapokee

Interesting that it went for below estimate. I feel a general market softening...

The estimate came out of someone's a$$. CHF 1,000,000 to CHF 2,000,000? That's quite a spread...

[zapokee]

Originally Posted by exador

The estimate came out of someone's a$$. CHF 1,000,000 to CHF 2,000,000? That's quite a spread...

Fair point. But this is just one data point among many that indicate a market that may be at, or slightly past, its zenith...

Either way, I ain't selling. I've never bought watches as an investment. They're my kids.

[roh123]

I felt the results over the weekend were very strong. Many Daytonas continued to soften unless quality was exceptional. Most good watches sold well.