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Current Prices Of Juliets

Carrera1963

Lover of Juliet
Premium Member
14,142
7,443
UK
I'll freely admit that I started collecting Juliets late in the game, late last year. Nevertheless, there were plenty around and generally at a reasonable cost.

It meant I was able to add a few quickly and then to focus on quality with boxed examples or rarer executions like JCs or JBRs.

Now I find myself in a decent position, with 24 examples and able to pick and choose what I want to buy, whether it be a rare model or an interesting custom.

In the space of about 12 months or less though, the baseline seems to have shifted. Looking at eBay UK, the cheapest BIN is £220 (about $358). For a mainstream model, bag only. Everything else is north of that, with few truly rare or complete examples. Auctions tend to be bid over at least £150.

Sustainable or not? Has everyone just gotten into x-metals all of a sudden? Someone getting into Juliets now would be paying maybe 30% over what I've paid.

Overheating? Bubble about to collapse? How does it look in other markets and for other models?
 
I'll freely admit that I started collecting Juliets late in the game, late last year. Nevertheless, there were plenty around and generally at a reasonable cost.

It meant I was able to add a few quickly and then to focus on quality with boxed examples or rarer executions like JCs or JBRs.

Now I find myself in a decent position, with 24 examples and able to pick and choose what I want to buy, whether it be a rare model or an interesting custom.

In the space of about 12 months or less though, the baseline seems to have shifted. Looking at eBay UK, the cheapest BIN is £220 (about $358). For a mainstream model, bag only. Everything else is north of that, with few truly rare or complete examples. Auctions tend to be bid over at least £150.

Sustainable or not? Has everyone just gotten into x-metals all of a sudden? Someone getting into Juliets now would be paying maybe 30% over what I've paid.

Overheating? Bubble about to collapse? How does it look in other markets and for other models?

Well I cant speak for other and to be honest, My prices from what others tell me, are on the high side. i have 2 xmetal ruby juliets complete. I wouldnt take any less then $500 for one or the other
 
Supply and demand
Demand is around the same supply is lessening quite fast.
 
I'll freely admit that I started collecting Juliets late in the game, late last year. Nevertheless, there were plenty around and generally at a reasonable cost.

It meant I was able to add a few quickly and then to focus on quality with boxed examples or rarer executions like JCs or JBRs.

Now I find myself in a decent position, with 24 examples and able to pick and choose what I want to buy, whether it be a rare model or an interesting custom.

In the space of about 12 months or less though, the baseline seems to have shifted. Looking at eBay UK, the cheapest BIN is £220 (about $358). For a mainstream model, bag only. Everything else is north of that, with few truly rare or complete examples. Auctions tend to be bid over at least £150.

Sustainable or not? Has everyone just gotten into x-metals all of a sudden? Someone getting into Juliets now would be paying maybe 30% over what I've paid.

Overheating? Bubble about to collapse? How does it look in other markets and for other models?
Speaking from personal experience, I only resurrected my X-Metal "collecting" at some point in 2012 when I got wind of the fact that they were going to be discontinued.
Before then, all my purchases were brand new in box with me being the first original owner, spread out from about 2001 onwards.
I thought my last purchase was going to be the 24K's, as it had already been rumored that it would be the swan song of the X-Metal line.
Then I found that the itch hadn't fully been scratched and wanted to delve into customizing as everything I'd bought prior to that point was std. issue colorways.
The only thing that convinced me to go down that road was the wider availability and professional output of custom lens cutters and the ability to bring old frames back to life with a tune up or with the services of someone like THE X MAN.
Wind the clock back to 2005/2006 and beaten up Juliet's could be barely given away for £50.00 because there was still the ability to buy brand new.
Get back to today and I suppose there's that thing in the back of my mind that say's "get 'em now, it might be your last chance" o_O.

Depresses me now that I sometimes pay more for a second hand example than I did for a BNIB.
Guess it's all down to desirability and supply and demand.

I think that prices will only continue to steadily rise though.
Romeo 1 is a good example of this. If you look at the trend there, after that model was discontinued in 2004, prices rose sharply and they've stayed that way ever since. Even poor condition examples with totally trashed/cracked lenses fetch crazy money today.
True, there were less Romeo 1's released than Juliet's but back in 2002/2003, they weren't that rare. You could always find a BNIB, but as soon as that ability is gone, the market demands a higher price. And due to the iconic nature of the entire X-Metal line, I think it will stay that way unless a superior line up takes it's place. And I can't see that happening any time soon...
 
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"I think it will stay that way unless a superior line up takes it's place. And I can't see that happening any time soon..."

"I dont EVVVVEEERRRR see that happening at all. The X-metal line will forever be iconic and @@MJLSr knows it more than others."[/quote]


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Not only do I see this never, ever happening again, but even if it did the X-Metals were there first, no other can ever claim that title. There will be other styles, O Matter, CF, the next 'Bomb... and yes, another '?-Metal. The point is that Oakley will do something again, and again, and again but it will never be, can never be 'original X-Metal'.

Even if something X-Metal-like was introduced/resurrected [and that is not likely from a business perspective as the profit margin is too low and the warranty/service obligations are too high, it would be 'X+n-gen', not the first - it would not be, it could not be. If there was ever a re-release of anything similar it would have to be limited, as the production and back-end would be cost prohibitive, not to mention it being not significantly less meaningful to those in the know.

And regarding supply and demand - most of us who collect these [Juliets and other X-Metals] wear them; Let's not forget this. Those with 'too many not to shelf whore - good for you - I wear mine, ALL OF MINE! ...and while some of Us take better care of them than others, wear and tear, damage and loss, the occasional drop... these are imminent, unavoidable at best, and terminal in many cases. This further decreases OEM supply forevermore.

This does not take into account the pieces that make our precious X-metals complete: real t-shox, nose bombs, earsocks - even the original bridge flex couplers and pins are subjective - I would rather have OEM, but that too will not last forever.

Of course those of you who are comfortable with aftermarket stuff - you're future availability and price points are much more reasonable - supply, and time - are on your side. :) [I'm not one of them, never have been, no plans to convert in this lifetime :cool-20:]
 
I agree with most of your point MJLSr ,I would suggest that there are far more collectors out there that dont wear a lot of thier glasses ,I am one of them,I have a lot of BNIB sets some bought cheaply ,some of which I paid a fair bit for. From a collectors point of view I think most would agree that BNIB is the way to go for a display piece ,as soon as you start wearing it it becomes second rate ,collection wise.
I have 3 or 4 pairs I wear the rest will stay mint,the person who may eventually aquire some of these pieces down the track may decide to wear them but they will have to pay for the privelige because by then they will be even scarcer, because of you guys who like to wear em all. LOL:gotcha:
 
My first Xmetal was a Juliet back in 2004 which got stolen in a year.
I finally replaced it with a XX in 2009 and an X squared in 2011.
I did not know until 2014 that they were discontinued since 2012 making it "AN OBJECT OF DESIRE" for me.
I never ebayed until my new found desire and hence acquired the Juliet and Mars crater recently.
Maybe there are more like me out there who seem to increase the DEMAND than SUPPLY.....
 
How does it look in other markets and for other models?

Read more: http://www.oakleyforum.com/threads/current-prices-of-juliets.36938/#ixzz3DsS7ERSJ

Limited editions aside, I've seen Plate's, Splice's & Mag Switch's in particular escalate drastically in price from 2007/8-2011 from what their original retail price was, then drop back down again to something a bit more reasonable now.
Zero 0.2's & Zero 0.3's command some of the higher prices still but I feel that's purely down to the rarity/age, particularly if it's in pristine condition.
X-Metal's are just totally unique with no other manufacturer producing anything remotely similar and have held their price/escalated as a consequence.
And as @Manish say's, there may be quite a few people in his position.

I've also added to that "demand" by not only customizing but doing something that I swore years ago I'd never do. Duplicating. So that I COULD wear a pair and still keep my BNIB as a BNIB. I've never felt the inclination to do that though with anything else other than X-Metal's.
Because they're brilliant? Definitely! Because they're now discontinued? Probably.
I'm surely not the only one doing that...
Who know's, in 5 years time we'll probably be debating how a pair of Half X's is going for $600.00 on e-Bay :crazy:.
 

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