Dear All,

This is my second attempt at a first post! I am really excited about being part of this community.

Yesterday, in Phillips Geneva Watch Auction among many collectible pieces, there were several Heuer pieces up for auction. One of them particularly stood out for me, which was the Limite Edition Carrera Skipper from 2017 made for Hodinkee. It was sold for a staggering 19,000 CHF excluding the buyer's premium.

What do you all think of this achievement? Do you see this as a genuine market interest on the current Carrera/Monaco limited editions? Or is this only the hype for Hodinkee pieces?

Best,
Onur

 

I think it partly represents the uniqueness of the Hodinkee Skipper limited edition (and the fact they don't come up very often), and partly marketing, hype and people getting competitive and carried away in an auction.

 

I am actually really curious to see other glassbox Carreras going to auctions: Calibre 18 Telemeter, Blue Dreamer, Fragment; and see if these will bring similar results, considering these pieces are actually quite limited too and not coming up to the market that often. But I definitely take this as a positive sign on Tag Heuer getting well-deserved love through these auctions.

 

Welcome back! FYI, in case you didn't realize it, one of our mods moved your first post here: https://forums.calibre11.com/thread...1-tag-heuer-forums.18554/page-12#post-1782237

 

Hey!! Thanks for the heads up I realized that it was gone but didn't realize that it was moved under another discussion.

 

@Hubert will most likely move it back, or combine it with a thread dedicated to the new watch, once the watch is officially announced. He does this kind of stuff all the time. But you being new, wouldn't know that.

 

Exactly I thought it was gone for good, but what do you think about Hodinkee Skipper being sold for 19k CHF in Phillips Auction?

 

I didn't follow the auction that closely. Was it just a normal Hodinkee Skipper or was there something unique about it? If it was just a normal one, I think it's great for all the owners of this watch. Hope this means my Hodinkee Dato will appreciate in value too!

 

Collectors and traders with deep pockets 'supporting' watches in which they have a financial interest isn't anything new. It doesn't mean these watches will sell for the same value on the open market. They will most likely get a boost though, which is the original intent. The main question is: does a watch sell high at auction because people love it or do people love a watch because it sells high at auction?
This is the second high for a Skipper and this trend will probably continue to cement the reputation of this watch as a collector's favourite. For illustration a really good full set I had been tracking had been sitting at 14k for more than 6 months. An outrageous amount until last weekend. That tells you something. Dont know if that one sold or might sell now because of the auction result.

 

It was just a full-set good condition regular Hodinkee Skipper and as Yago mentioned this was a second high for this reference. I really believe that this will affect the value of your Hodinkee Dato, which is already trading around/higher than the RRP, but of course it will never be as hyoed as the Skipper

 

So somebody bidding on it at the auction didn't do their homework.

 

I cannot agree with you more, it is indeed what auctions are doing now. They create an interest around some brands/ references, which is a nice thing in my opinion since they are giving new watches to love to the community, and even though the whole community is being directed by some watch people with deep pockets, the new watch enthusiasts discover new brands/ references to love thanks to these initiatives. Now what I am curious to see is if we are going to see this interest/hype around the Hodinkee Skipper expanding into the Glassbox Carrera Limited Editions and hopefully to all vintage-inspired Tag Heuer limited editions or not...

 

It is crazy to see all of the auction results, you see many watches going much higher than the C24 advertised peers... And then there is the buyer's premium on top...

After you get past this craziness, then you start to understand that actually, these auction results are important to keep up the hype around certain brands and references in order to keep the market prices high. So overall, it is actually a big illusion

 

Yago hit the nail on the head. It's like Rolex, it's a self fuelling hype machine. Something sits unloved for ages and then it gets deleted and suddenly everyone 'wants' it... I can't imagine that all these people suddenly fell in love with this watch, but they are all suffering collective FOMO and panicking that this previously unloved watch will suddenly double in value. Meanwhile the people that actually fall in love with that watch can't afford to buy it... and as for buying a watch at auction for $19k when it's available online for $14k, that's just dumb - or maybe there's an ulterior motive. Maybe Hodinkee bought it to bolster their brand?

 

Absolutely. The piece unique solid gold Ringmaster was sold for $88,000.... to Mr Biver on behalf of TAG Heuer. It's now in the museum at La Chaux de Fonds.

 

Maybe Hodinkee bought it to bolster their brand?[/QUOTE]

This is probably true.

 

Either that or someone stacked 10 of these pieces and trying to drive the price higher and higher in order to slowly release these back to the market with huge profits once the market excepts the hype...

 

Someone needed to move some money without attracting the attention of the tax authorities. Or law enforcement.

Try offering any of these watches at Phillips' prices (even without the 25% buyer's premium you pay on top) on the open market - your watch will sit on the shelf like that 14k Skipper set.