Hi Nicolas,
I am terribly sorry to read what has happened and moreover that you were not able to retrieve your watch back. It is the nightmare of every watch lover/ collector.
It makes you think what would have been the appropriate way to act once one discovers the fact the watch has been stolen.
The buyer being an honest guy did what he thought would have been the right thing to do…inform the auction house and return the item to them in the assumption they will investigate, call the police and very likely provide a process how you can obtain your watch back. Would it have been better if the honest guy first contacted you and then you could have informed the police of the fact which auction house sold it and work from there.
It would seem that way, as the auction house would not have the goods to send back to the consigner, but at the same time the honest guy would also not have been able to retrieve his funds. However, at least we would have known where the watch was and as you mention you were in contact with the guy, so he may understood the process you would have liked to follow. Or should the police first be involved before informing the auction house? These are difficult decisions and both the honest guy and yourself did what you thought would be the best and with every good intention and faith in the auction house.
I don’t think we will know the reason why the auction house did what they did. However, it is very unfortunate to say that this has happened …………..
I will be on the look-out as well for these watches and will pm you if need to be ….
Good luck!