Normally when I take photographs of watches I spend most of the time on the head-on shots of the dial- after all, this is the view that you have when you look at your watch. This angle offers the best view of the hands, the sub-dials and any pattern on the dial (oh, and you can also tell the time).
However today I want to focus on the Heuer Montreal- and ignore its dial and hands and instead focus on its amazing case finishing. That is not to say that the dial of the Montreal is not something special: this white example (ref. 110.503W) is one of the most colourful Heuer dials- white, blue, red, black and orange/ yellow all making an appearance. But its the case of the Montreal that really sets it out from other Heuer models and makes it unique.
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Since the original post on 18 September, there have been two examples of the predicted “big movers” that have sold on eBay. Given that these came up so soon after the initial post, I thought it would be worth tracking to see whether there were any signs of values heading north.
1) Heuer Montreal
Sold for USD1,525- 25 Bids
- The white-dial Montreal is the rarest of the lot, so on the face of it this is a pretty disappointing price. However, look a little closer and note that the hands are not correct and that the case had been polished- two sure ways to reduce your selling price
- The bracelet looks like it comes from a 5100-series/ Valjoux Montreal and is not correct for the Cal. 12 version of the Montreal
- Its also worth noting that the seller of this watch always goes for “Private Auctions”-I always get a bit nervous about these (no insinuations about this seller- they are a well-known vendor on eBay) and wonder if that also reduced the final price
- Verdict: A poor price for an average- below average example of a rare watch
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Every year it seems that a different Vintage Heuer model enjoys its moment in the sun- collectors suddenly realise that there are some under-appreciated models out there (with under-appreciated prices to match), a few examples are bought and photos posted…and the Heuer collecting world has a new favourite.
Of course, there are always the “blue-chip” models- 1133B Monaco, Siffert Autavia, Carrera 12 that will continue to appreciate (although my view is that the Siffert and 1133B values will slow in their appreciation), but the real fun comes in finding models that are off the radar of most collectors and so can still be bought at reasonable prices.
I have tried to limit my list to models that are reasonably easy to find- some models have such a low “Samples Per Year” count (see http://onthedash.com/priceguide.shtml) that a some collectors will pay whatever the asking price when one is available…because it will be a long time before the next one comes long.
Here are five models that I believe could be the big price movers for 2010:
1) Heuer 510.500/ 501/502/503
These Lemania 5100 powered watches were released in the final days of Heuer and survived through to about 1986 as TAG Heuer models. Through their production run they were offered with a date window and later a day/ date window as pictured left.
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Cheers Arno
