Rosneathian
1471
I haven't been following watches closely for the last six months and have just read this. I'm not surprised, frankly.
May 08, 2023,10:22 AM
The United States Treasury Department's office for financial crime began to investigate money laundering and fraud in auction houses a few years ago. As more money has come sloshing into the watch market, so the attention into watches has grown.
I'm not suggesting that there was fraud or money laundering involved in the present case - from what I've read there's no evidence for it. What is true though is that auction houses don't dig deep into where the money behind bids comes from. The actual source of funds could be two or three or more steps removed from the bidder. Add to that the interest of some watch companies to land a totemic result, and we have the ingredients needed for this kind of thing happen. The actual fakery is the least interesting part of the plot.
The encouraging part of stories like this is the sleuthing done by excellent and committed watch collectors, and the force of pressure now being applied to keep all parties in line.
Anyway, I don't claim to know the details, so these are just general impressions.