this one very important clarification -
Graham, you are indeed right that I instituted the "no prices" policy to deliberately SLOW DOWN the inevitable slide towards "wow! $10,000/$50,000/$100,000/$500,000 watch!!!!"
Personally, who CARES how much the watch cost? the "cost" of a watch should only be the last hurdle in ACQUIRING a watch, not in appreciating it.
I liken price discussions to tobasco sauce on a delicately nuanced complex dish - sure, I like hot sauce as much as the next guy, but once you slather it on, all the nuances are covered up. So it goes with prices and price discussions.
For those that don't know (and yes, I realize "context" is nearly impossible in internet text mediums) our "$million dollar table shots" are made mostly tongue in cheek, and in fact, many "old timers" have already called me on it. They emailed or called in no uncertain terms, "Thomas, that is so crass; what's happened to you?!?"
This is indeed a very heartening thread to read; thanks to all, from the original founding Purist.
TM