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In the vintage watch world, condition, rarity, and provenance are the trifecta of value. But one factor above all gets collectors truly jazzed.

“The notion of provenance is something a collector loves and cherishes,” Geoff Hess, global head of at Sotheby’s in New York, tells Robb Report . “For the most part that’s absent from modern watches. There’s a much lesser story and virtually no provenance when you walk into a Madison Avenue boutique and buy a new watch. Vintage watches tell stories that modern watches often don’t, and collectors, as you know, love to tell stories about their watches and the lives they lived.”

On Nov. 9 in Geneva, the house is

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