Yeah, I'm not going to get any new friends from Sotheby's today. But I feel it's important to point this out because A LOT OF PEOPLE think auction houses have well run operations and are staffed with experts who are accurate and precise all the time. But in reality, mistakes happen all the time!
I'd like everyone to imagine the operations at an auction house. Most of the time an auction house has a few important auctions at each location per year; one for impressionist art, one for contemporary art, one for pop art, and a few other art-related ones. The rest of the time, the building is empty and staff are looking for consignors - things are slow. Then, a month or so before the auction, there is a frenzy, as the catalogue is published and everything is quickly and rushed through inspection. Then the salespeople field calls, inquiries, and inspections for the last couple of weeks just prior to the auction. Then there's the mad rush of auction day. And then there's a mad rush to get everything shipped to the clearing houses and customs houses for the new owners. Now... when it comes to watch auctions... They're still rushed. The cataloguers understand art but may not understand watches. There are a lot more lots in watch auctions than art auctions. Almost every watch is generally lower in value than a famous master painting. A valuable painting is probably inspected by multiple experts and consultants, but a watch is quickly glanced over by the "Intake Personnel." Try to think about the operations of an auction house and you'll realize, watch departments are very small and they're borrowing the photographers and catalogue staff from the art department.