Illiquid watches
Author
Discussion

matrignano

Original Poster:

4,665 posts

227 months

Thursday 14th December 2023
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This year I bought three watches, two of which I’m not gelling with: a Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde in white gold and a Panerai Radiomir Cali (limited boutique edition).

Both are unworn as I quickly decided to put them on Chrono24, and there they have been languishing for most of the year with pretty much zero interest.

Do I just suck it up and start wearing them, while they are up for sale and hope someone will bite eventually?
Or are there other outlets I can try to move them on?

Watchfinder only gave me a poor bid on the Panerai, and I don’t trust some of the newer online-only type places that advertise on Insta and ask that I physically move the watch to their premises.

Would one of the auction houses be a decent bet?
FWIW, I’ve got somewhat of a relationship with Bonhams and Sothebys.

don logan

3,797 posts

239 months

Friday 15th December 2023
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Hi

I’ve done this with them lots of times and been very happy

https://www.watches.co.uk/contact-us/sales-returns...

nikaiyo2

5,434 posts

212 months

Friday 15th December 2023
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They are really niche watches both a bit “marmite.”

I would think anything over 50% of the C24 selling price is a strong bid from a trader.

Stirling Vault, Fellows, watches of Knightsbridge are all good auctions, but you will usually bay 15-30% commission on the hammer price.

Edited by nikaiyo2 on Friday 15th December 16:54

matrignano

Original Poster:

4,665 posts

227 months

Friday 15th December 2023
quotequote all
Thank you both, good food for thought

don logan

3,797 posts

239 months

Friday 15th December 2023
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matrignano said:
Thank you both, good food for thought
No problem, they’ve treated me well, I may have sold 12 watches through them

We don’t really NEED watches and life is WAY to short to wear something you’re not mad about, you need things that you look forward to wearing!


gregs656

11,805 posts

198 months

Friday 15th December 2023
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Guess you have to decide if reducing the price until someone buys them takes them down to a price you’d rather keep them.

BrokenSkunk

4,900 posts

267 months

Friday 15th December 2023
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If they're not selling it will be bacause:
* Your pictures aren't good enough.
* Your prices are too high.
* You're not advertising in the right place.
Or any combination of these. You're on C24, so I think we can rule out the third option.

Whilst you may consider 'unworn' to be the same as new, others will consider 'unworn' to be second hand. In other words, you may have to take more of a hit than you'd like. But in your shoes, I'd try refreshing the pictures first.

Edit:
I looked at the JD. I assume it's the one ending id29656254.htm . I've no idea how competitively priced you are, but I don't think your photos are very good. I don't mean to upset you, I'm just being honest.
Hovering over the images of the dial, the printing looks poor and the dial patchy. The picture appears to have been saved in a lossy format (.jpg?) with a lot of compression, which doesn't help.

It looks like you've not removed the stickies. If that's the case add a banner to each photo to say so. "Manufactuer's sticker still present on dial in this photo." If the stickers are still on, make a point of saying so in the advert. "This watch still has all the manufacturer's stickers, it's brand new! Unfortunately that means some of the photos aren't as clear as I'd like."

HTH

Edited by BrokenSkunk on Friday 15th December 14:36

Bob_Defly

4,870 posts

248 months

Friday 15th December 2023
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I agree on the photos. If you have a DLSR try using that (and saving as 300dpi) instead of your phone camera.

matrignano

Original Poster:

4,665 posts

227 months

Friday 15th December 2023
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Thanks, appreciate the feedback!