Reply To: Bidding Fever

[david pierce]

Pocket watches are antique collectible recics from the past. Like many other members of this forum I have several pocket watches that I collected over the years, but also like many other members I don’t carry them on on my person for everyday timekeeping. I think that a lot of the price issue on these items has to do with supply and demand. Many of the items that have come up for sale were from the estates of watchmakers who collected these items over their lifetimes and died. As these watches are sold and the supply diminishes, the price goes up. Most, if not all, of the old pocket watches sold today are going to end up in a collection. Since there are no new watches of this type comming up through the supply chain, the supply goes down and the price will go up. This of course makes it difficult for watchmakers who are looking for inexpensive watches to repair and resell.
Another aspect of the problem is the emphasis that watch repair courses put on working on pocket watches and then going to smaller watches at a later time. This puts a further strain on the dwindling supply of inexpensive high quality movements and watches.
david