Simon 69

Can anyone recommend an established, decent, reliable, honest and realistically priced vendor for the above? Im looking for either an Oyster Precision/Oysterdate Precision or a simple Perpetual Datejust. I know exactly what I want and I have a good idea of how much (or how little) it is worth.

'Good' or 'bad' recommendations appreciated.


Simon

KiwiGTI

Not much help, but I know New York has a whole area/street full of them. might be worth enquiring about.

monotokpoint

Argos?

Brendan Hughes

I bought mine from here:

Second Time Round. Specialists in Rolex, Cartier, Omega, Patek, Breitling and many more pre owned and unused watches.

Simon 69

Thank you: what did you think of them Brendan (price/value/condition/service)?

Simon

Simon 69

I'd be interested to hear people's opinions on Tudors too, as I nearly bought one as an everyday watch a while ago...

Cheers Nat.

RRH

There are a couple of reliable guys on ebay, Darren Reay fine watches an Ancient and Modern- Johnny Marr. Both have very good reputations.

I have uses a chap in Liverpool for many years- he owns several pawn shops and specialises in Rolex. He's phenominally knowledgeable and highly regarded as one of the UK's top Rolex people. Welcome to Miltonaires.com.

Hope this helps.

Simon 69

Appreciated. Im a little uneasy with anything coming from a pawn shop mind, even if that sounds a little soft. I'll give him a look though.

Simon

Simon 69

It looks better than it sounds..... His prices are a little high though. He has a worn Precision for £795 and it wouldnt be worth that if it was virtually as-new.

Brendan Hughes

Simon, I didn't put much else as I didn't know what to write! I simply have no-one else to compare them with, so I can't say if they're better, worse, etc. I went to the shop (the days before internet, LOL) as they advertised in Car magazine. Got to New Bond Street, there seem to be tons of sellers, but they had some press clippings on the wall so I thought that added something. I wanted a GMT II but with an all-black bezel - at the time, Rolex didn't make them, the GMT was all-black, the II was ?(black/red or) red/blue. No problem, the chap got a GMT, popped the bezel off and put it on mine. I also wanted the clasp with the fold-over link, but the watch was a ?1996 model which was pre-safety link; again, he phoned around, I waited in the shop for 15 mins, and a new clasp was delivered and fitted. I think I had to pay a bit extra for it, probably only 20 quid.

Two words of warning. Firstly it seemed to be a father and son operation, the son just shrugged at my requests, sort of "take it or leave it" but when the father came back from his lunch/tea break he was all smiles and solutions. Secondly the watch came with no papers, box or anything. I was a bit peeved but again trusted them, and I've had no problems, the watch has been to Rolex twice for servicing and they didn't complain.

I've had my watch for about eight years now and am very happy with it.

HTH

albob

some links for u!

..::: Somlo Antiques :::..

Vintage Rolex Watches Rolex Wristwatches Rolex Prince in UK.
BJSOnline Watches Introduction
Buy and sell your watches, Rolex, Cartier, Breitling, Omega, Tag Heuer, Panerai, Patek Philippe and : The Swiss Watch Co.
James Dowling´s Rolex Webpage
Rolex Forums | Rolex Newsgroups | Rolex Discussions | WatchNetwork
Second Time Round. Specialists in Rolex, Cartier, Omega, Patek, Breitling and many more pre owned and unused watches.

eBay My World - darrenreaywatches

i've had dealings with Somlo antiques and Darren Reay (on ebay) and would recommend both...


alan

Scooby Soon!

I bought a yellow and silver sub from David Duggan Watches - London Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier and Fine Watch Dealer

He has 2 places on Bond Street, lots of watches (and a big minder!)

DaveMiddleton

Have bought Rolex twice from Second Time Round and can vouch for their honesty and good service.

Infractme!

Try chronomaster.co.uk and Blowers Jewellers Rolex Watches UK. Omega, Breitling, Franck Muller, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai and many other of the worlds leading watch makers .. I've bought and sold to both with no problems. Chronomaster tends to be cheaper.

Another source I haven't used but has a good reputation is

rolex watches cartier iwc vintage omega Brittons Watches UK

Regarding the Tudor's they are good value and some models have Rolex crowns and signed bracelets. Depends why you want to buy one really- so you can show off your stupidly expensive wristwatch or because you love the design. The 'Oyster Prince' is a Tudor that's relatively comparable to some of the Rolex you mention.

Maybe another Rolex model to consider is the Explorer I which tends to depreciate very little and due to it's reputation and pedigree is only going to increase in value. A budget version of this is Tudor's virtually identical non-date 'Ranger'





All these watches look a bit small these days with the trend towards bigger watches and are more suited to women IMO. Unless of course you've got puny wrists.

Longjing

I've used chronomaster happily for a couple of watches.

Andy Hamilton

I used these people to buy a used Omega Seamaster last year.

http://www.watches.co.uk/

I visited their office to view a few different watches before buying, found them to be very effient and also very pleasant to deal with. Usually have a good selection of watches on their website including plenty of Rolex.

paulr

Simon.
I'm a watch fan and whenever i go anywhere always look out the decent watch shops. My advice is buy a new rolex. The difference in price between new and secondhand isn't that great imo. However if you really want to save the few quid i'd get one from an authorised dealer. Often i see secondhand ones alongside new ones at authorised dealers. People trading up or changing models.
I'd never get one off the internet, never. Its not as simple as saying its genuine or not. Maybe the case is, but the movement may not be, or some part may not be genuine. You wouldn't know until you sent it for service. The deal with authorised dealers is there is always the threat of complaining to Rolex UK and they could lose the francise. That is your guarantee of satisfaction. An interent retailer could just fob you off, however much they say they wouldn't.

Infractme!

None of the dealers I've recommended are going to sell you a 'frankenwatch' with some other movement in them. By any chance was it an 'authorised Rolex dealer' who put these ideas in your head?

Ebay on the other hand is another matter altogether- caveat emptor should be your philosophy.

paulr

No, its just what i've learnt from experience. If i'm paying a lot of money for something i like the added "insurance" you get from an authorised dealer. Same with cars.

falkster

Got mine from here

Blowers Jewellers Rolex Watches UK. Omega, Breitling, Franck Muller, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai and many other of the worlds leading watch makers .

Infractme!

I don't think, unless you are buying new, that an AD offers much more than any of the sources I've mentioned. Apart from a higher price tag that is.

People like Blowers have been in the business for years and only sell Euro sourced stock with provenance.

what would scooby do

There's a nice datejust on ebay at the moment @£700 but not for long I guess.

paulr

Each to his own. I'd still only buy from an authorised dealer.

Simon 69

I appreciate all of the replies Ive received here. Its reassuring to see that Chronomaster and Blowers are both well thought-of, as they are both firms that Im considering using. I dont have thin wrists Alan; and I also want a Tudor because I appreciate the quality, without needing to show off...

Simon

Infractme!

I'll let you into a secret, if you were talking to me my name isn't Alan, it's a rather banal name which if you'd read my thread on 'baby names' obviously isn't mine.

Perhaps you should try on some of the watches you are interested in, they look rather like a child's watch on the wrist if you are used to wearing a 'normal' watch.

I have an Explorer I and I barely wear it for that reason, it looks great when my girlfriend wears it although that said my 1950 no-name homage looks best on her and that's a massive watch by comparison.

The Tudor Tiger is a great value watch well worth considering although maybe not quite what you were looking for. If not you could do a lot worse than a Tudor Sub, Prince or Ranger.

Simon 69

Without a 'Trolling Who's Who' It's hard to be sure..... Alan is a convenient handle; whether you're Alan Pastor or not. Anyway, I appreciate your opinion.

I was thinking about an automatic Tudor Prince, it's essentially an Oyster Perptual but without name/cost/worry and is probably more suitable as an everyday watch. I particularly like the late 1960s - early 1970s Oyster Precisions; far more than later and larger pieces. It'll suit my slightly less-manly wrist too!


Simon

Longjing

Some of the older Tudors are very nice, I agree.

I always say this, but I think Sinn watches are great value too.

Since we've got a watch thread going and I'm having trouble deciding on a new watch, which of these do people reckon represents the best value:

Very nice mint Omega Flightmaster 1971 - asking £2k (!)

Faded and well used Flightmaster - asking £950

New Tutima Nato 4 Titanium approx £2k

IWC Spitfire Chrono, leather band, not new but unworn (seals intact etc) - £2k

IWC Aquatimer chrono, ditto unworn @ £2600

Zenith El Primero sports chrono - used @ £1300

I like chronographs. The Tutima is one of the last Lemania 5100 watches in production and that movement is now out of production, so that appeals. But really I want the similar discontinued Sinn model 157.

Ditto the Zenith - the el Primero is another legendary chrono movement that one day I must own. I think the price is good but there'll be more of those if I wait.

IWC - the pinnacle and two cracking models imo. But do they really hold their value that well?

Finally - any views on 70s watches? Seems to me that the price of these is steadily increasing and they good be worth having.

All of these watches will maintain their value in my opinion.

Any views or preferences from the watch lovers?

Infractme!

The mint flightmaster is overpriced but sounds nice, the well used one I'd avoid. What you want is something inbetween the 2.

I don't know about the Tutima.

Both IWCs are cracking watches but they depreciate a lot. Maybe worth tracking one down that's already done it's depreciating. Personally I'd go for the old style non-chrono aquatimer. It's a stunning watch that you can find for around £1500 :: DIVE (into) WATCHES - the IWC GST Aquatimer - and the History of IWC's Dive Watches IWC Aquatimer REVIEW, Home! although the older 'proper' IWC's are rare.

70's sports watches are already going up in price although some of the more outlandish ones like the Omega Speedy MK series are still pretty affordable. I've got a MKIV



Which cost me £450 a few years ago, it would be at least £800 these days.