Milgauss insanity!

You answered the question; everyone from YouTubers, to flippers are speculating it’ll be discontinued. Ditto for the Air-King.

Such a shame...I wish people were just appreciating the watch. It has a lot going for it.

Agreed, I always loved that it was unloved. I’ve been offered the blacks few times over the years, but was holding out for the blue. Blue comes in but offered a new OP at the same time. I liked the Milguass when it was $8k, but over nine with the  recent price increases, I just couldn’t.

yeah I feel you man :( for a time only watch 9k is tough. There are a lot of great watches out there at that price and I don't blame you for taking the OP over it. The milgauss has a lot going for it, but the OP is for sure a more versatile piece. 

Yeah, mentally anything near ten opens up too many other watches, where a $6k OP, arguably still over valued, is easier to swallow, especially given the after market, not that I’d sell.

The financial speculation regarding objects that provide the user with a generalized calculation of theoretical construct but made with fancy rocks and metals really reminds of this great investment idea I got from this guy named Charles. Charles Ponzi was his name, if I recall.

The real problem is the old dealer speculative market of collectors with vintage or soon to be discontinued watches has now, in many aspects, resembles a market bubble waiting to burst. Yes, speculation on the possible discontinuation of any watch would raise grey market prices, but what we have been seeing is crazy stupid. 

Despite the many virtues of Rolex watches in general and of the various Milgauss references in particular, Rolex is a default watch for the masses who have no real idea about the large universe of wonderful watch brands. While the Milgauss was historically a sleeper in the Rolex catalogue, there are no longer any sleepers in the Rolex catalogue save perhaps for the Air King and I doubt that is easy to find at retail any more. Rolex may be a phenomenon for people outside the hobby but there is absolutely no need for erudite persons to spend much breath addressing either the Rolex price run up or the lack of availability at ADs of any Rolex reference. There are too many other wonderful available and relatively reasonable watches besides Rolex upon which to expend one’s life force. One should retain and enjoy the Rolex references they currently own and only buy new references if they can get the at list price without paying silly additional and unwarranted markups which bring the price of Rolexes to more than the price at which genuinely superior watches can be purchased. Following the crowd to dive bomb for any Rolex reference is both unimaginative and unrewarding. My office is within two blocks of two Rolex ADs and I find nothing enthralling about the “For Exhibition Only” pieces on display. I just don’t even bother to go in to either AD. Rolex as a brand is nonexistent for me in the way that ex-wives with whom one was fortunate enough not to have children are nonexistent.

Well said. Rolex is a marketing company who have a sideline in watches; bought mostly by people who know little and care even less about watches. IMHO.

So I have a Milgauss, and according to some on this thread I‘m potentially a flipper, YouTuber, someone who doesn’t appreciate the wider world of watches, or potentially knows little about watches or cares? 

Just want to know where I stand?

My first automatic was an Orient Mako. My grail soon afterwards became the Milgauss, mainly because of the strange green crystal and orange lightning bolt seconds hand.  It took nearly 15 years, but I finally got one at list price with a whole lot of luck and some generous help from relatives and friends.  So count me in as insane…

No. The Milguass is a great reference if you own one and your ownership only reflects that you were blessed with good fortune to be able to obtain your Milgauss. There is a genuine basis for appreciating Rolex but too many people are indeed obsessed by Rolex for the wrong reasons in a horological equivalent of the Tulipmania which gripped the Netherlands in the 1600s. The gray market is dependent on dipshit lemmings willing to pay premiums for Rolex references who have no clue about the heritage and functional rationale of the brand. These lemmings, if asked to identify Hans Wildorf, would likely guess that Hans Wildorf is a town in a German speaking canton of Switzerland where Rolex centers some of their production. There are no lemmings on WatchCrunch.

And as a regular user of the grey market?

You are entitled on a knowing basis to use the gray market. I am sure that you can take care of yourself because as a WIS you have a good deal of knowledge about pricing and collectability in a way that the lemmings do not. I have personally used gray market dealers to source many watches but usually at less than manufacturer’s suggested retail rather than well over suggested retail. The market is what the market is. I do not know you personally but I have no reason to think that you are deficient in either intelligence or moral character because you use the gray market as do I. 

I really wish I had not sold my GV. Not because I lost some $...It wore a little large for the case shape, but I do miss it a fair bit. That said, I would never "re-buy" at these prices. The only watch I ever re-bought was a Speedy Pro, when they were still around $3K new.