The idea was great, but it didn't really work. It required too much wrist movement to keep the watch running. This watch has become very collectable, because it was one of the first automatic wrist watches, and very innovative. The numbers in which a watch was produced determines the demand for it. A watch that was made in millions is less collectable than a watch of which only 500 pieces exist.
Availability is the key factor for the value of a watch.
And there were vast numbers of GI's during the war, thus the number of that particular watch. It is still considered a collectable watch, since it is of good quality and has an interesting history to it. Desirability Desirability almost seems misplaced here, because it sounds very much like collectability. Desirability in my view is a combination of collectability and attraction. Some watches from the 1950's and 1960's are so odd in shape and design, that they become a curiosity.