Benrus 1969 Watch Non-Maintainable

[CDTMiller]

I was watching this item on eBay this past week. It just sold this morning and reached $1,600. I'm trying to learn more about these non-maintainable watches...is this an unusual price? It also appears that the watch, despite being NOS, is not functioning per the seller when I contacted them. 

 

Does the original packaging add THAT much value?

 

Do these watches value differently based on their date of manufacture (this being 1969...I know some of these go back as early as 1965 though?)

 

Photo of the item just after auction closed: 

[Matt-M]

Auctions are not always the yardstick for what an item will "normally" sell for. Watches are a collectible category unto itself, and could lend credence to why it may have sold for what it did. Could be someone trying to raise the market value on what they have more of..(maybe the seller has a carton of these things and wants a completed auction to help sell the others), and among the myriad of other scenarios I could offer, it simply could be that 2 bidders just had to have it. In the end, an item's worth what the seller and buyer place upon it.

[Quartermaster]

I have one of those with the nylon wrist band.  Benrus 1968 marked.

 

Still works and keeps good time.

 

Apparently it took a lickin' and kept on tickin'!

 

It's my backup watch if my modern analog Timex conks out or the battery dies ....