On the other hand, if a buyer likes that one-off, then who gets his money may not even be so relevant to him, and it becomes a win-win...
Alas, I'm pretty sure these things *do* occur in reality, and watches are not even the most lucrative option here -- just think of what happens on a daily basis in the art world (especially modern), where virtually everything revolves around mere speculation...;-)
It's a sad but obvious state of of things that there are many ways to dishonestly/unethically manipulate a market, provided one has enough access to it ;-) Cheers.