What's it worth?

[Bill Kapp]

A philosophical essay, not a valuation of individual watches can be seen at Chapter 52's web site:

http://members.tripod.com/williamkapp/id39.htm

I am hoping to generate some interest amongst chapter members in submitting articles/editorials/rants at a level below Bulletin standards. I am going to link comments here back to the web page.

Thanks and happy hunting,
Bill Kapp

[Glyn Meredith]

I wish you well with your web-site, Bill, and thank you for putting a link back to Global Horology.

[Bill Kapp]

Glyn,

You are more than welcome! Actualy, it is I who should do the thanking. By Cross linking/posting, I get the services of your message board added to my chapter website without having to do any of the prodigious amount of work associated with message boards.

Happy hunting,

Bill Kapp

[Glyn Meredith]

Glyn,

You are more than welcome! Actualy, it is I who should do the thanking. By Cross linking/posting, I get the services of your message board added to my chapter website without having to do any of the prodigious amount of work associated with message boards.

Happy hunting,

Bill Kapp

That's good, Bill. The more choice horologists have, the better. Cooperation and sharing between web-sites and message boards is a good thing.

[Stephan]

Here is a comment for you. just to try out your system.

You state "I think as collectors or dealers, this is a consideration for all of us. Every buyer enjoys a bargain and all rational sellers want a profit!"
I don't think I entirely agree with this notion.

There are some among us who collect particular watches for reasons other than their worth.
It could be that they have some connection to the maker or some relative once sold that brand or perhaps they just love them and have a desire to build a collection of that type.

Suppose for example you decide to collect 992B's and wish to have one of each model made.
You might start off buying at trade prices but as your collection grows and the gaps get fewer you would tend to place a higher value on an example you don't have yet.
How much would you pay for the last one to complete the set ???

Another example would be if your best friend had one of the watches you needed to complete your collection.
Would he perhaps give you a deal on it or hold out to make a profit.

We often see people spend a lot of money having a watch repaired just because it once belonged to a relative or friend we admired.

Then there are the people who want a particular watch just because they like it and the cost does not matter.

Add to these the people who take a sudden dislike for some make of watch and decide to get rid of all those in their collection at whatever they can get for them and you can see that the "worth" of a particular watch at a particular time is a very subjective thing.

If watches become your hobby then there are a lot of other considerations at work. You might buy a common 7 jewel watch for $200 for example. It might take you a month to figure out how it works, what is wrong with it and how to fix it. It might cost you another $200 for tools and parts so in the end it has cost you $400 for your watch that has a book value of $75. But it has entertained you for a month. The feeling you get the first time you see it tick again is priceless.

Was it worth the $400 for your $75 watch ????? - You bet it was.
Could you sell it for a profit?
I suspect no but I also suspect it would not be for sale anyway.

[4thdimension]

Bill, I read your piece on the Chap. 52 site and think you made a fine and accurate statement. Supply and demand is the gold standard for watches but I would add access as a third criteria. The internet has rearranged market values by exposing a truer picture of supply and allowing a wide exposure of both supply and demand. The net has brought such a revolution of info into our hands that biz as usual has been thoroughly updated. I grew up in the era of analog bartering which today seems like something out of Dickens.
-Cort

[Bill Kapp]

Cort,

When I took economics in college the professor always qualified his statements by saying economic theory applied to markets that had fully informed or knowledgeable buyers and sellers! Of course that ideal is seldom met, but with the internet, we are closer to it than ever before.

happy hunting,

Bill