So hoch ist der Preis doch gar nicht, wenn man die Konsequenzen betrachtet ...
... falls PP die Uhr gekauft hat:
1. PP ist Tagesthema in der (Welt)Presse wegen Rekordpreis
2. PP stärkt den Nimbus seiner Uhren als Wertanlage (Preise müssen steigen)
3. PP bekommt eine schöne Uhr fürs Museum
4. Umso mehr seltene Stücke vom Markt genommen werden, desto höher fallen die Preise bei möglichen weiteren Aktionen aus (einem zukünftigen Preisrutsch wird gegengesteuert)
=> Perfektes Marketing für relativ wenig Geld.

Und das Patek da ordentlich mitbietet (manipuliert ), wissen wir alle.


Patek began promoting its watches as long-term investments. "You never actually own a Patek Philippe," ads read. "You merely look after it for the next generation." Mr. Stern says he bid on used Patek watches as part of a plan to open a company museum in 2001. Building that collection, he says, was key to preserving and promoting the watchmaker's heritage, the brand's most valuable asset with consumers. "Certainly, through our action, we have been raising prices," he says.
Auctions gradually became recognized as marketing tools. Brands ranging from mass-producers like Rolex and Omega to limited-production names like Audemars Piguet and Gerald Genta flocked to the auction market with Antiquorum and other houses. Cartier and Vacheron Constantin, both owned by the Cie. Financière Richemont SA luxury-goods group in Geneva, have starred in separate single-brand auctions organized by Mr. Patrizzi.
"Patek opened a lot of doors for us, but we also opened a lot of doors for Patek," he says.
Brands began to vie for his attention, sending Mr. Patrizzi watch prototypes to assess and, they hoped, occasionally wear. They hired his assistants at Antiquorum as their auction buyers, cementing ties. "He was a kind of spiritual father for me," says Arnaud Tellier, who worked under Mr. Patrizzi before becoming Patek's main auction buyer and director of the Patek museum.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB119...&mg=reno64-wsj