New Old Stock Watches
New Old Stock Watches
Author
Discussion

Gnasher

Original Poster:

113 posts

292 months

Thursday 12th February 2015
quotequote all
Hi,

I've been looking for an El Primero Zenith for a while, and have found one, which is in Italy and is a NOS watch, complete with box, papers & tags.

This raises a couple of questions, firstly should I expect any problems from a 25 year old unused watch?

And how much can I rely on an Italian Ebay seller with a feedback score of 64, which includes 2 neutral and 1 negative ratings?
I know Paypal is supposed to give cover if the watch is not as described, but is it worth the risk.

Any advice, experiences or thoughts appreciated.

GC8

19,910 posts

221 months

Thursday 12th February 2015
quotequote all
Id expect it to be sticky, no matter how honest the vendor is. That said: why would you sell a watch like that without having it serviced?

Variomatic

2,392 posts

192 months

Friday 13th February 2015
quotequote all
If it really is NOS then the oils will be seriously degraded by now. It'll probably run ok as it is, but putting it into regular use without having it serviced is going to cause (expensive) problems down the line.

As to "whey sell without service", it's a fair question but there are a couple of possible reasons.

Firstly, anyone who accepts an EBay seller's claim that a watch is freshly serviced really needs their head examining unless there's very good supporting evidence. Certainly, from my own experience of selling on there, the likely difference in price between "serviced with guarantee" and "running ok for its age" is minimal, even when you have plenty of feedback from people delighted with similar watches.

Also, as per another current thread, many buyers are only interested in manufacturer's servicing above a certain level, and may actually see the watch as being devalued if anyone else has been in there. They'd rather buy unserviced and send it to the authorised centre themselves than have it (possibly competently) serviced elsewhere before sale.

Paying out for a manufacturer's service before listing would wipe out any likely profit on the sale, so better in some ways to sell it as is and let the new owner decide what they want done with it.

Gnasher

Original Poster:

113 posts

292 months

Friday 13th February 2015
quotequote all
Hi,

Thanks for your comments, certainly some points to consider.

Unfortunately the seller removed the watch last night, presumably it has been sold elsewhere.

So the search goes on......



sparkyhx

4,200 posts

235 months

Friday 13th February 2015
quotequote all
Variomatic said:
If it really is NOS then the oils will be seriously degraded by now. It'll probably run ok as it is, but putting it into regular use without having it serviced is going to cause (expensive) problems down the line.

As to "whey sell without service", it's a fair question but there are a couple of possible reasons.

Firstly, anyone who accepts an EBay seller's claim that a watch is freshly serviced really needs their head examining unless there's very good supporting evidence. Certainly, from my own experience of selling on there, the likely difference in price between "serviced with guarantee" and "running ok for its age" is minimal, even when you have plenty of feedback from people delighted with similar watches.

Also, as per another current thread, many buyers are only interested in manufacturer's servicing above a certain level, and may actually see the watch as being devalued if anyone else has been in there. They'd rather buy unserviced and send it to the authorised centre themselves than have it (possibly competently) serviced elsewhere before sale.

Paying out for a manufacturer's service before listing would wipe out any likely profit on the sale, so better in some ways to sell it as is and let the new owner decide what they want done with it.
what a fine answer