About Limited editions
I know it's an old marketing trick. However, what makes it interesting is how collectors try to guess the "relative interest" in a given piece. It's a big world out there so one of two hundred should be pretty special right? Well no, sometimes it only has to do with the idea that "many" will be interested in a given item. Why and when we believe this? Only when it's real. That's why some LE are more equal than others. Interesting how somebody that really knows a brand can tell you whether a new LE feels right or not. And it takes time to know a brand. I mean it's important to know a brand before plunging thousands and thousands. At any level people want to feel assured that they're not flushing down a pile of cash.....and that's when we hear at Tourneau/Wempe..."there's only two hundred pieces of this one..."
As I look into other brands this is one of the hardest things for me. Because I've owned mostly Panerai and Rolex I'm really not used to losing money on a watch, or at least a lot of money. I look at the big brands and there is much I like, much I'd like to try out. But I don't buy into the idea of "buy it if it talks to you". That really is like the one night stand, feels good but not for too long, and it may cost you. The only way is to really get to know a brand, get to now what makes a brand special, what is it that is unique about it and why do people care.
Panerai lives in the world of LE's and collectors have already sorted out the good ones. Yeah the 203 was a good one...really a great one. The 203 is such a special piece that I don't think management needed to put a public price tag (recent charity auction) on the aftermarket? I mean the 203 is great so why make it about money? I know, I know AP and others do the same. Man it's tough out there. But the guys that know a brand really well can still make this collecting thing fun, well until it isn't.
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