I ended up buying it. Now waiting for it to get through US Customs (or wherever it is) == the Swiss Post tracking info stops with it having arrived at JFK. Not enjoying the wait.
I agree with you completely, so many nice watches ruined to the grinder. I think there's a huge difference between merely brightening the case up (involves very little polishing at all..) and actually ruining the shape and lines of the case!
It's all about the money. It takes time to polish and brush a case correctly without harming the facets and edges. Time is money to a dealer. They can do a quick pass on the wheel and cater to the "ooooo, shiny" crowd instead of bust their stones and take a whole day to maybe get a collector interested.
Very true, but it doesn't make it any easier to swallow… I've seen some real dogs coming from dealers. And sometimes even from auctions, they just have to give it the "oooo, shiny" kiss off death!
Discerning collectors probably make up a very small percentage of the customers for vintage watches. It's pretty much the same with classic cars, vintage guitars or what-have-you. Many buyers simply want the style and the look of the past because it is cool to do so, and they are not overly concerned with the details. After all, who else buys all these dreadful ocwatchco redials or Mumbai specials? The snag is, a lot of perfectly decent watches end up being "poshed up" for the mass market (such as it is) and lose all their historical value in the process.
That's probably true for the lower value vintage watches. Once you get into the $5000-10000/watch and up price range, discerning collectors make up a significantly larger percentage of the market and there originality and condition become much more important.
Agreed, but the problem is these dealers that cater to the "oooo, shiny" crowd get their hands on the upper end vintage watches and treat them just like the sub-$1000 watches. They're seeing dollar signs and don't realize how much money they're costing themselves with the buffing wheel.
That's why prices of correct and original high grade examples in great condition keep on going up - they've become endangered species!