Any watch lovers here????

I wish! I actually considered going this route and running it w some brown leather deployment straps would look cool. Found one on clist local, guy wants $7k for it. Damn.

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/jwl/4837433469.html

Way over my "white face test run" limit, but at the sellers price for $1500ish more I can just swing the Pan.

 

White face test run: http://www.jomashop.com/tag-heuer-mens-watch-wv2116-ba0787.html

Sell it to me when your done

 

$4300 but I haven't looked too hard.

http://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-explorer-1.html

 

Sold to this compulsive buyer

 

Enjoy, have one myself. I'm still planning on putting a new band on it. Not sure what yet.

 

Agreed, the band looks a little cheap. Let me know what you find.

 

Dave K's right. Here's another. 20 seconds invested.

http://www.hqmilton.com/watches/1995-rolex-explorer-ii-16570

 

Right now, the Explorer II is the best steal out there in preowned. Same guts and bracelet as the GMT at less than 2/3rds the price.

That guy on craigslist has been smoking the crack at $7K.

 

No doubt. I paid less than that for my 42mm brand new.

I looked at a 10 year old one with white face recently but I couldn't do it. I've been a little silly lately. I need to control myself before I'm homeless with shopping cart full of cool watches.

 

Is Chrono24 a trusted site or is it full of scammers? There are quite a few pre owned Explorer IIs on there. A lot of them seem to be from Italy or another foreign country though. I've never bought a pre owned watch before, let alone on line.

 

It's as legit as the seller. I've never tried it, but I know a lot of watches pass through that site.

I've never bought from overseas, and I have no details, but I've heard that there are specific issues with customs and watches. Maybe someone else can fill in the blanks...

 

Chrono24 is pretty alright but that's second hand info. I know people that have used it but never did it myself.

A few unwritten rules of buying preowned (for me at least):
1) Don't buy overseas.
2) Buy from a reputable shop if at all possible. You might pay a bit more but it beats being scammed.
3) If the deal is too good. . . obvious one but it never hurts to say again.
4) Don't fall in love at first sight. Research, research, research and when you think you know enough, research some more.
5) Trust NO ONE.
6) research the seller. Chrono24 has a lot of tools to do it and then google the seller.
7) The second your new watch arrives, run it over to an AD and pay to have it verified. Most Rolex ADs will do this for a fee.
8) I want the box and papers. Doesn't have them, I don't want it.

HQ Milton is a good source for pricing and a damn good place to buy (they are a bit high but not all that bad).

 

good list

 

For uninformed buyers purchasing from totally unknown sellers, this is pretty good advice. However, if one hangs in the right places, there are a number of reputable people to buy watches from and sell watches to.

Keep in mind that for many people who like watches, buying and selling is part of the hobby, so there tends to be a plentiful aftermarket, with many people keen to maintain a good rep, to enable them to buy/sell more watches in the future.

I've bought from so-called "preferred" sellers with good success. I've bought and sold, and even traded watches privately to forum members, cross-border (CAN-US) on numerous occasions, with no bad experiences to report.

As in everything knowledge is power.

That said: I'd not buy a watch off eBay, unless it comes from a seller with immense (and unanimous) positive feedback, and then again, I only buy stuff I have researched through and through, seen in the flesh plenty of times, and know inside and out...

This is a hobby of mine and I've invested a fair bit of time and money into it, so my approach may not work for someone who has little knowledge or little interest in anything over and above "getting a nice watch at a decent price".

As in most things, your mileage may vary!

 

It's a nice watch! Congrats!

Just in case it could be of interest to you: by channeling your compulsive tendencies somewhat and skipping three or four of those compulsive buys, you may find yourself able to buy a "grail" piece you've coveted for a long time (one of those BRs, perhaps)?

Just sayin'...

 

As with most things in life, there are exceptions to the "rules" I posted.

 

There's some truth to that, but you'd have to buy a bunch of used seikos to add up to anything.

I was on a cheap watch kick a few months back. I bought a goddamned Timex. I thought it was awesome for about 3-5 minutes. Same with the massive gaudy TW, the stupid Tissot, and the piece of shit Akribos that I bought... wait, that's a lie. I hated the Akribos the second I opened the box

Every one of them is gone. Except the Timex. Who would buy a used Timex?

 

It's amazing what one can do if, anytime the urge to buy something utterly not-needed (say, in the $80-300 range) arises, one forces himself to instead put the money in a savings account, add a 20% "penalty" as a reminder of why one should know better, and then look at the results a few months later.

That's how I managed to afford my first Speedmaster after about a year and a half. Cost me a cool $3K, but it was worth much more to me than ten $300 watches or other gizmos that ultimately would have ended up collecting dust and cluttering my home...

 

Fair enough, but cheap watches can be awesome too.

I love this thing:


It was less than $200, and I wouldn't trade it for a Tag or Tissot. Just saying.

 

This is how I got my HK-94. $5500 for a NIB one that the seller was willing to hold for me. I just carved it out of the monthly budget and instead of doing silly things, put that money towards it.

J-Braun, I got a 5H26-7A19 quartz version. Got it for $50, spent the money on a new bezel, and *bam* new to me watch that's awesome.