Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/15

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Subject: [Leica] Pateks and Rolex
From: Henry Ting <henryting10@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 10:31:59 -0800 (PST)

Not meant to be snobbish in knowing some of the ins
and outs of highend watches. I've owned quite a few
and if one knows the market and the history of vintage
watches, any buying or selling can be quite
profitable. The resale value of Pateks are like
Leicas, but the only difference is that the base-price
is exponentially higher (quite often into the million
$$$ range, which of course yours truly is not in that
league). Pateks owns the high-end watch market. Where
Rolex(s) are famous the world over, and regarded as
expensive among mechnical watches, Pateks' price are
astromical. The most expensive watch to-date sold for
a record $USD7.5 million at auction and its a vintage
watch made in the 1940s. It was a complicated model
consist of moonphase, hour, min, sec, weekday, month
AND this is the most complicated function, the leap
year. Except for the year 2100, which is not a leap
year, the watch once adjusted will never have to
account for the leap year forever, if it runs forever.
All these complexities are achieved by mechnical means
(in a miniaturized watch), not based on the modern
electronic programming algorithm timepiece such as 
Timex, Casio or Seikos. A motto of Patek's
advertisment "One never truely owns a Patek, but
merely look after it to pass on to the next
generation.

Kind of parallel to Leica's stronghold in mechnical
camera. But then with the upcoming M7 .... I guess
Leica has to join the fraternity of electronic
algorithms in keeping costs down. 

- --- SthRosner@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 2/15/02 12:20:34 PM Eastern
> Standard Time, 
> Tom.Henson@bakerbotts.com writes:
> 
> > But the joke is referring to a Patek Phillipe
> watch.
> >  
> >  Slightly above a Rolex I imagine. More on the
> level of a Leica in the watch
> >  world.
> >  
> >  Tom Henson
> 
> Hello again Tom. I rather think that Leica and Rolex
> go together, at least 
> today. There is so much individual handwork in the
> Patek, thus its orbital 
> price, that if there is an analogy, it might be
> closer to the Leicas and 
> Leitz lenses produced 30 and more years ago when
> machinery didn't exist to 
> produce in the current manner and Leitz had to rely
> on much more detailed 
> handwork. At least that's what I hear from such as
> Sherry, Don Goldberg, John 
> Van Stelten and others.
> 
> Seth   LaK 9
> --
> To unsubscribe, see
http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html


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