Elbow
86
I think it's pretty much comon knowledge
I don't think it raises any questions of ethics. A watch purchase is like anything else you buy. It is likely to (supposed to) depreciate over time with a small chance of increasing in value over the long term. If you approach collecting from that perspective, you're unlikely to ever be dissapointed. If this practice in auctions helps support the secondary market prices for Pateks, great! Who am I to complain about that. I've bought mine to wear because I like them. Having said that, I'm not sure that the Stern family have been out there buying tons of 3(5)970's at auctions. These models seem to have a pretty stable resale value of between $95-120K and I'd say that their value at that level is simply due to the fact that a lot of people want them (maybe influenced to some extent by their potential for holding value) and very few dealers can get them.
