rhombomere
I totally agree about the quest aspect of it. As I posted in a top level comment, one of my grails cost only $600 but it was a multi-year search.
Here we go with the "grail" discussion again. I'm of the opinion that spending lots of money for a watch that can be found at the dealer is instead a matter of prioritizing expenses. My definition of grail is "the object of an extended or difficult quest".
I have a number of grails and I'm tracking them down one by one. One of my grails cost only $600. I knew it existed from a photograph of one in bad shape and I started a long search. A few years later I was able to get the watch when one just showed up on ebay. My watch is now one of three known to exist.
My most recently acquired grail was a 14kt gold Alpina Gruen Techni-Quadron Jump Hour from the early 1930s. It uses an Aelger movement that was branded as a Gruen 877 when used in this watch, or a Rolex 300 when used in the Rolex Prince. Here's a picture
It is easy: I only collect Gruens. I have over 100 and am very pleased with my collection.
If you want to know more, check out this post I made a while back. I really should update it.