There are a number of things at play here that influence the desirability and there for price.
Until the late 1990s / early 2000s you could not buy a CWC from Silvermans, they only sold them straight to the MOD (and BBC) so prior to a given year they are all ‘issued’ watches - yes some may have sat around in stores or on the wrist of the QM, rather than on the wrist of the bloke on the embassy balcony but they are a true issued military watch. Earlier watches command a bit of a premium for this reason.
The MOD did not need thousands of watches every year so some years are rarer than others E.g. the 1980 automatic dive watch probably numbered less than 100 examples made, there are more 1980 reissues on wrists than the original. There are far more Milsubs out there
The world of truly dedicated CWC collectors is very small, less than 10 people world wide (I would guess and I would not include myself in it this), the majority of these guys also collect the ephemera that goes with the watch including stories etc, this can push the price up and some dealers think it’s the watch driving these prices, it’s not.
I guess some people do like the image and daring do that the CWC represents, other realise they are a very well made watch and if you are of a collecting bent they offer the perfect collecting opportunity - look at our very own Ken and his former CWC navigator collection. Different years, services, numbers etc. collectors always want the one they don’t have.
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