Sorry, that wasnt my intention, I was just clarifying why I was one of said worryers.

My Blackbird is due a service and polish soon as I have now worn it day in day out for a couple of years so will send it home to Breitling and hope for the best too, even though I bought mine from George Banks in the lakes, an authorised dealer. Still scary. LOL

 

That's where the showcase backs come in handy as you can check out the movement is what it should be without taking off the cover.

Having said that it is possible for a 'really good' fake to use the same movement as the original. For example most Tags and Omegas use an ETA derived movements of some sort. Now this is a movement that is only about £250 or so to obtain in its basic form ( http://watchpart.co.uk/movements-mov...7_116_125.html ). But the question is would a faker go to te expense of using OEM components to build a fake watch? Very rare IMO. More likely for a Chinese faker to copy an ETA movement, but even then most fakers just use a off-the shelf Chinese movement.

This is a pretty good write up: http://www.pmwf.com/Watches/ARTICLES...20compared.htm

What also is of concern when looking at old watches is 'bitsa' watches. Ones that are made from bits of this and bits of that. In other words its not original; the movement or parts of the movemnt may not be the correct type, or the dials, hands, crown etc. It maybe a genuine watch thats been customised or repaired where original parts are too expensive or unobtainable. However sometimes its done to a basic model to make it appear to be that of a more valuable/rarer one. For example, someone may put a Milgauss dial and hands into a Oyster, but not the movement.

To sum up, unless you 'really' know your onions, even the most knowledgeable watch buff can get caught out.

 

Thanks for the link Ali, very interesting.

 

Just send it to the manufacturer for verification. I did that straight away after buying a preowned Tag Heuer from The Money Shop store in our local town. I saw it for around £150 lower than the secondhand market price and a good 60%-70% off new price. It was a bargain, almost too good to be true but I thought that being a highstreet store it was more than their reputations worth to sell fake goods.

I sent it to Tag who paid for Special Delivery and within a week they confirmed it was genuine. They sent it back SD with a confirmation of authenticity and in a little box that I then sold on eBay for £10. If it had come back as fake I would have been straight back to the shop and got my money back. As it was I was very happy knowing that without doubt it was the real McCoy .

 

I'd get a Breitling Avenger Seawolf black steel yellow for that budget; stunning watch if you like darker watches and just about in budget; I nearly got one but got vetoed at the last minute.

However if you want a safe investment, IWC, Omega or Rolex is a better bet. TAGs don't seem to be holding their value at the the moment,

 

Are any of them a safe investment? Take the IWC Spitfire for example, £4000 new and I have seen preowned ones for £1500!

 

I'm a fan of Zenith watch and wear a El Primero chronmaster T moonphase. Probably not so fashionable at the moment as its not huge and flashy but is very complicated and well made. In fact its the only 36,000vbh auto chronograph watch ever made and takes zenith 56 weeks to produce each watch. Its the same movement Rolex put in the early and very sought after Daytona but that is de-tuned to 28,800vbh.

 

Yes

My seadweller cost me £2,900 in 2007 and I've just been offered £4,500 (minimum) as a trade in (plus a 10% discount on the watch i was looking at replacing it with)

 

There are ways of getting a cheaper Tag or similar.

Tesco clubcard vouchers are worth three times their face value at Goldsmiths but usually in the run up to Christmas they are worth four times.
If you get a Tesco credit card and put everything you buy on that you will collect points/ vouchers, get more if you actually shop and buy fuel there as well.
The vouchers are valid up to three years and soon build up if you stash them away. You have to pay off the card in full every month obviously...but is possible to get £1500 in vouchers to spend at Goldsmiths in under three years.

 

Was that a safe bet or just luck?
Omega prices shot up a few years ago. If you bought one before you were lucky and you would now get your money back. If you bought one after and you can expect nothing but depreciation.

 

Bit of both. Was never going to lose very much anyway - Rolex Seadwellers were hard to come by when I got mine and this comparative rarity, combined with with the price rises and their being replaced with the apparently less desirable and much more expensive Deep Sea has helped.

I'd have been delighted to get my money back. To have a profit of over £1,600 has been a pleasant surprise. If it hadn't, I'd maybe have kept it, but it would be daft not to trade it now to be honest.

 

Its very hard to guess whats going to be more desirable or worth money in the future, especially with the more mass produced items A while ago at auction there were 2 Rolex Daytona's sold. The earlier Zenith movement Daytona in stainless case sold for quite a bit more than the Daytona with Rolex movement in a gold case. Who would of predicted that ?
The more exotica like Patek Phillipe grand complications will always be worth money and highly desirable because of their quality and limited numbers.
Cars are the same, who would of thought a moggy minor would end up desirable and worth money yet there would never be any doubt about an F40.

 

+1

My SeaDweller I bought from £1500 back in 1991.... think I'd get a bit more now. the newer version the DeepSea Sea Dweller is now over £8k!!!


And don't start me on the Cosmograph Daytona!!!!!! is it still a 4 yr waiting list?



if you have £2k to spend on a watch.. buy a 2nd hand Rolex.




Ps: this thread's a rake up! lol

 

I can confirm a rolex air king date bought for me by my old man nearly 30 years ago costing around £700 now worth £3000 pus especially as it has just had a new crown and full service.

 

+1 if investment is the reason you can justify a nice watch. Some people cant get over the fact that someone has owned it before, whereas I struggle knowing that my watch instantly devalues by £1000 when I walk out of the jewellers.

 

I bought my wife a Ladies datejust for her 40th back end of last year.

Went into goldsmith in Notm and said what I was looking for, told him didn't mind 2nd hand and he found one that had come into Rolex HQ and it had just been serviced... came with 2 yr guarantee. I think he said the watch was dated about early 1990's.

Didn't bother me.. it looks like new

Probably paid as much for it as when it was new.