Advice for purchasing a secondhand watch?

Silent H

Silent H

Joined
Feb 1, 2018
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I have a significant life event coming up at the end of this month, and I've decided I want to buy a nice watch to commemorate it. I've decided on a specific Breitling model that isn't in production anymore, so I'm looking at secondary markets for the watch. This is my first watch purchase that will be more than a few hundred dollars, and I'm wary about getting a fake on the secondary, so any advice would be appreciated.

One specific question I had is about the eBay authenticity guarantee. They say they send watches over a specific price point to an independent authentication service. Has anyone purchased through this program on eBay? What are your thoughts?

Also I saw two different eBay listings from different sellers using the same pictures. Those ones are a scam, right?
 
I would not buy a watch from eBay unless the seller is an actual dealer. First, try chrono24 for price and availability. Search on your model and dealers with that model and their price will pop up. You can buy off chrono24, their dealers are generally well known. Or you can google for a secondary market dealer. If you buy from an individual, like on eBay, the price may be cheaper but you have no idea about parts inside or the history.
 
I'm never sure if we're allowed to link to other forums, but WatchUSeek is a great place to find out more about the Ebay authenticity thing (just use site search there, there have been a bunch of threads about it) and to purchase watches. Some searching and lurking will help you get a feel for the culture and the site's marketplace.

WatchRecon is handy for hoovering up all the recent listings on the web for a specific model of watch. I usually pay attention to Reddit and WUS, but getting a feeling for what's out there and seeing new listings in one place is useful.

I've never bought a watch pricey enough to hit Ebay's authenticity threshold, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. :)
 
Dadpool said:
WatchUSeek is a great place to find out more about the Ebay authenticity thing
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Thanks, I read a few threads over there, the general consensus of the ones I read were that the authenticity guarantee is good to go. I'll probably create an account over there and ask a similar question today. I'll have to check out WatchRecon too.

Locutus D'Borg said:
I would not buy a watch from eBay unless the seller is an actual dealer. First, try chrono24 for price and availability.
Click to expand...

Sometimes it's hard to tell who's a dealer and who isn't on eBay. The two separate listings with the same pictures that I mentioned both appear to be Japanese Dealers with good feedback, but seeing two listings from different users/(dealers?) with the same pictures is raising red flags for me. I've been keeping an eye on Chrono24 too, unfortunately the specific model I want hasn't popped up on there yet, but it's good to know that's a trustworthy site.
 
Fair enough, I'm looking at the Breitling Avenger II GMT in 43mm with the arabic numerals.

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Stockx, Grailed, and 1stdibs also purports to investigate products to ensure authenticity.

I would also check out Tourneau. That way you can see and handle the watch before walking out the door with it.
 
Silent H said:
Fair enough, I'm looking at the Breitling Avenger II GMT in 43mm with the arabic numerals.

D1Ivmcm.png
Click to expand...
Check out Bob's Watches. There are a few Avengers on there now but not an exact match.

I would say put the money in your pocket and be on the lookout like a trap door spider & seed as many restock alerts as you can.
 
You could check teddy baldassarre's site to see if he has anything you want, he seems to be reputable. He is also an active youtuber.

If you can find what you want on watchuseek you can check up on the seller pretty easily. I agree that you want a reputable seller. I'll second what Locutus said but I'll add "I wouldn't buy an expensive watch on ebay...". I've bought low priced watches on ebay and not had any problems.

With respect to buying used watches- find out how old the watch is and what its service history is. A mechanical watch will need service every 5 years, at least that's what is recommended. Some people argue that if you don't wear the watch every day you can go longer but not everybody agrees with this. IOW you wouldn't want to buy a watch that is nearing the time for its service or you would have to figure the service cost into your budget.

The secondary watch market is very busy. You've probably noticed on the knife exchange here that there is a lot of buying/selling going on. I've found that knife enthusiasts do a lot of that, the only hobby group I've seen that does more buying/selling than knife enthusiasts is the watch enthusiast community.
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone! I've pretty much limited my search to Chrono 24 now, even though I just had a bad experience there this weekend. I have a relative who lives near a Tourneau store going to see if they have any that aren't listed online.

I was able to try on the currently made Avenger II at my local jewelers this weekend, and the size is exactly what I want, but the current ones are lacking some features of the older ones that I want.
 
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