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Bruno.M1 initiates a provocative discussion on the recent Sotheby's auction results for Cartier watches, questioning the astronomical prices achieved for pieces he considers 'average.' His post challenges the community to explain the perceived disconnect between Cartier's horological standing and its soaring auction values, particularly for models like the Crash.
Does anyone have an explanation for the insanely high prices most Cartier pieces achieved at yesterday’s Sotheby’sauction?
In my opinion, Cartier produces fairly average work …and I don’t mean that negatively. I own a Santos myself, but it’s nothing more special than a Rolex, Breitling, or Panerai. They’re all roughly in the same category in terms of quality, finishing, and price.
I also understand that Cartier focuses more on design than on movement finishing, but there are still limits.
A Crash (sorry to the fans) isn’t even remotely attractive to me. But regardless of that, those prices are completely insane for what I would consider a fairly average watch. €200k up to 1 million and even more, for something that, in my view, should be worth more like €30–50k.
What really stood out yesterday is that nearly all of their previously produced oddities achieved absurdly high prices. Yes, estimates can sometimes be conservative, and it’s not unusual for the high estimate to be reached… but when even the high estimate ends up being off by a factor of ten, something very strange is going on, isn’t it?
Public auction data does not confirm whether the buyer paid in full, and neither whether the buyer was independent. Similarly, whether the bid was later quietly retracted. These things can and do happen occasionally in the art & watch world. So these specific results, which I also think border the level of church daylight robbery, could also mean nothing in reality.
Can winning bids be retracted without penalty, or did you mean retracted bid immediately after placing it?
There are no preset rules, and if the end game is creating publicity/hype, then there can well be pre-agreed penalty prices. I cannot know whether this is happening, but I am saying it can technically happen. Well, each (manufacturer) to his own. Not so important imo. One should and could buy what they desire at the price they deem right
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