To recap, the vintage Heuer market has developed at quite a pace over the past 12 years that I have been involved in collecting. Perhaps no other brand has seen such an increase in that timeframe, and that includes Rolex - certainly that is true by percentage. During 2008-2012 prices were rising at a decent rate as people recognised that many of these watches were undervalued for their build, historical significance, motorsport fame and design quality. Then between 2012-2014 prices climbed faster and this is when we started to see some of the best and rarest pieces make £30-50k. However we can look back at the explosion of vintage Heuer values back in 2015-16 as the point in which the market tipped over from being strong but predictable to one that was "infected" with speculators and some rogue auction results (a £70k PVD Autavia was always total madness, as was the Orvis Solunagraph and a crazy price for an average Rindt in that same phase). The two world records for vintage Heuer pieces (not including the muddy waters of multiple Steve McQueen Monacos) were Euro199,000 for a 2446 1st all lume hands and an Autavia 3646 Indy at Christies NY that sold for $199,000 (which we can now call peak market). However If you want an insight as to how far Heuer has come as a collectible brand then read some of the blogs from 2012 and 2013, it is interesting to note that a massive £17000 for an all lume hand 3646 Autavia seemed unbelievable ;) Also, who back then thought a mint exotic Autavia would be worth 4 times more than the record £4000 they were changing hands at then. Remember too that prices were a fair bit higher in 2013 than 2009/10! 

Thankfully these "investors" have disappeared, and have found new markets (and if you follow their Instagram accounts you will see no Heuers but maybe Pateks or some modern watches which in my opinion are in their own cycle). There is no doubt to me that this last phase has been detrimental to the market and, since the end of 2016 and spring 2017 (the peak), values have probably fallen back 30% from the real world. By that I mean the very best 2446 1st exec might be £70k instead of £100k+ and a good example £40-50k. The very best Rindt may be £20k and not £27k, and a good Rindt £14k not £20k. However when you think that a nice 2446 1st exec was a £10-15k watch back in 2012 and a Rindt £5-6k, and both much less back in 2010, then we are still far ahead of those days. Quite right too as these are beautiful watches, however I do think that we could be looking at a few more years before the market has washed out many of the fair and poor condition examples that are for sale and vastly overpriced. Just look at the Autavia 3646 Andrettis available to buy which are 100% over a price likely to attract a buyer. 

Anecdotally, I have recently noted many new Heuer collectors and I get emails from them every day. This support for entry level watches - the low and mid end of the market - will be crucial and it is gratifying and important for the community to see the interest from 25-40 year olds, not just the old core who are now the wrong side of 50 ;)

The guide has seen some falls in values, mostly at the fair condition grade, as the margin between the best and also-rans widens once more. The good and mint examples (the latter make up a very small percentage of the market) have mostly remained static but with some small adjustments, here and there.