Almost an eBay Horror Story (But not Quite) Sicura Chronograph

High Hope · Mar 3, 2021

I've bid on three things after imbibing. The first was an Aston Martin on Bring a Trailer. JFC, what was I thinking? I was the first and only bidder until the 7th day when someone outbid me. That week was HELLISH! (Later I did buy a car off the same site, but fortunately it turned out much better than expected and I still own it. And no, it isn't an Aston.)

Fast forward to yesterday. I had been watching the prettiest Sicura manual bullhead chronograph on eBay, and even set my alarm to go off 30 minutes before the auction end. By then we had had some cocktails, a bottle of wine with dinner, and, let's call it "an after dinner digestive." My alarm went off and the watch was in the realm of reason, $660. I thought, hmm, 28 minutes to go, I'll bid $850.

Except I bid $8,500. I sent off frantic emails to eBay that went unanswered. I said, OK, the guy has over 1,000 sales and 100%, and checking he sold only nice vintage watches. Fed Ex from Mexico 2-day service, shipping a reasonable $35.00.

I knew I was on the hook. My only hope was that a schill didn't bid it up to, say, $8,400. He didn't! I may have overpaid at $1025, but I do love it. Pix from eBay, I'll update when it arrives. I am a chrono guy, and bullheads are so cool. I'm happy, even if I'm a couple of hundred poorer at $850 vs $1,025. Now, the bullhead:

Nice crisp edges, finish looks good, dial is near perfect. The patina is minimal but seems to suggest that it hasn't been refinished. OK, Sicura and Valjous 7734 experts, did I get killed, or is she a beauty to cherish? (Be kind to an amateur! 😉)

dsio · Mar 3, 2021

Its still a cool watch and even cooler that it didn’t cost you 8.5k mate 😀

100% agree on the drunk biding thing, bought a salvage title 2008 Chrysler Crossfire. Never buy a Chrysler, I thought being basically a Merc it couldn’t be that bad but damn, Chrysler really outdid themselves ruining that car. Sober me was very sad after paying $4,500 for that thing.

High Hope · Mar 3, 2021

dsio
Its still a cool watch and even cooler that it didn’t cost you 8.5k mate 😀

100% agree on the drunk biding thing, bought a salvage title 2008 Chrysler Crossfire. Never buy a Chrysler, I thought being basically a Merc it couldn’t be that bad but damn, Chrysler really outdid themselves ruining that car. Sober me was very sad after paying $4,500 for that thing.

Ouch. I hope you got rid of it w/out losing your shirt. BTW, Merc often means Mercury in the US, a defunct Ford brand. I was trying to figure out how Mercury fit into the story, but then I remembered. The horrid 2000 aughts and early teens when Mercedes bought out the limping Chrysler...

Jones in LA · Mar 3, 2021

Wow, it's a beauty! Congrats on the acquisition, and saving seven grand 😀

High Hope · Mar 3, 2021

Is the Valjous movement highly regarded?

spinnaker11 · Mar 3, 2021

That is a great looking watch. I have seen a few nice Sicura watches recently.

CPRwatch · Mar 3, 2021

Just my Radio for company , music to my ears .

JwRosenthal · Mar 3, 2021

You got lucky. 3 snifters of Gran Marnier + Ambien = redialed Seamaster 🤦

Dan S · Mar 3, 2021

If you like it, enjoy it. Apparently you wouldn't have won it with $850. I generally avoid chromed cases, but I can certainly see why you were drawn to the dial. And the V7734 is a solid movement.

kingsrider · Mar 3, 2021

I made a similar mistake on shopgoodwill.com, but it worked out alright. I might have paid a little over but as of now the watch is worth way more than I paid.
Nice Bullhead. Chrome cases always give me pause, but this one looks pretty good.

arturo7 · Mar 3, 2021

I bid on and won a lot of 75 Frank Sinatra LPs one night. I'm not really a Sinatra fan.

There should be some variation of parental control that kicks in after 11:00 PM

JwRosenthal · Mar 3, 2021

arturo7
I bid on and won a lot of 75 Frank Sinatra LPs one night. I'm not really a Sinatra fan.

There should be some variation of parental control that kicks in after 11:00 PM

I have posted on this forum a few times while sitting in the living room waiting for the Ambien to kick in (the life of an insomniac)....then re-read it the next morning and thought....ohhhhh geeez. Some of them were so riddled with typos I had to edit and correct as I couldn’t understand myself.

The other night I bought this under the influence

I saw it come up originally and it sold for $100 and thought- oh, that’s cool- but I don’t need to be spending $100 on cheap watches right now (trying to save for bigger fish). The next morning it was in my purchased items...I do recall seeing it pop up again and feeling a little excited.

arturo7 · Mar 3, 2021

JwRosenthal
I have posted on this forum a few times while sitting in the living room waiting for the Ambien to kick in (the life of an insomniac)....then re-read it the next morning and thought....ohhhhh geeez. Some of them were so riddled with typos I had to edit and correct as I couldn’t understand myself.

The other night I bought this under the influence

I saw it come up originally and it sold for $100 and thought- oh, that’s cool- but I don’t need to be spending $100 on cheap watches right now (trying to save for bigger fish). The next morning it was in my purchased items...I do recall seeing it pop up again and feeling a little excited.

dibs

dsio · Mar 3, 2021

JwRosenthal
I have posted on this forum a few times while sitting in the living room waiting for the Ambien to kick in (the life of an insomniac)....then re-read it the next morning and thought....ohhhhh geeez. Some of them were so riddled with typos I had to edit and correct as I couldn’t understand myself.

The other night I bought this under the influence

I saw it come up originally and it sold for $100 and thought- oh, that’s cool- but I don’t need to be spending $100 on cheap watches right now (trying to save for bigger fish). The next morning it was in my purchased items...I do recall seeing it pop up again and feeling a little excited.

Maybe thats a feature we need to add for the next version of OF @Trev is working on, if local time is after midnight and spelling is deteriorating, maybe disable PM replies entirely and add a confirmation box to posts that jumps around the screen when you try to click on it

JwRosenthal · Mar 3, 2021

dsio
Maybe thats a feature we need to add for the next version of OF @Trev is working on, if local time is after midnight and spelling is deteriorating, maybe disable PM replies entirely and add a confirmation box to posts that jumps around the screen when you try to click on it

Requires a coordinated multi-key combination to unlock. Can you guys also design an eBay app layer that performs the same form of blocking? I think you could make a fortune if you sold that one. You can call it the Blotto-blocker

DaveK · Mar 3, 2021

Maybe OF could make some good money, and help JW to keep his, by selling OmegaForums-branded iPhone breathalizers. You just need to write some code that would link them to any outgoing PMs and eBay accounts...

Walrus · Mar 3, 2021

DaveK
Maybe OF could make some good money, and help JW to keep his, by selling OmegaForums-branded iPhone breathalizers. You just need to write some code that would link them to any outgoing PMs and eBay accounts...

We would need a blood test attachment for JW to test for ambien levels. Although if we ever want to sell him something we now know the best time to do it. Ambien is the closest we humans can come to time travel at this point.

JwRosenthal · Mar 3, 2021

Walrus
We would need a blood test attachment for JW to test for ambien levels. Although if we ever want to sell him something we now know the best time to do it. Ambien is the closest we humans can come to time travel at this point.

I hate the monkey- but I gotta tell you, I get why it’s used recreationally. It drops all inhibitions, your ID (in the Freudian sense) is truly unleashed, and you’re far more suggestive than your rational mind would allow. I actually ate whole bag of peanut butter pretzels under it’s spell- I found the bag the next morning, I don’t remember going to bed.

Walrus · Mar 3, 2021

JwRosenthal
I hate the monkey- but I gotta tell you, I get why it’s used recreationally. It drops all inhibitions, your ID (in the Freudian sense) is truly unleashed, and you’re far more suggestive than your rational mind would allow. I actually ate whole bag of peanut butter pretzels under it’s spell- I found the bag the next morning, I don’t remember going to bed.

And when mixed with alcohol you can travel both the space a time continuum. I’ve “heard” stories of people doing so and finding themselves in a Taco Bell in another state with no recall of travel during a 7 hour period. Many chalk up to “alien missing time syndrome.”

JwRosenthal · Mar 7, 2021

So my Ambien induced purchase arrived. At first I thought it was a dog- movement was banging around inside, crystal was wiggling (too small), and there was so much gunk under it I thought the dial was nasty. But it was keeping time.
Brought it to my watch handy friend, the tabs on the movement ring were not contacting the back- easy fix, crystal that was in it was 29mm, it should have been 31- he had a new one on hand, dial cleaned up beautifully with a sticky swab.
Stainless TK&co case at 36mm which is perfect, 17j Standard time movement- great dial- can’t complain for $100. Thank you Ambien- I would have passed on this if I had been of conscious mind.