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Arguing with Private Seller on Chrono24 - advice wanted

tikkathree
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When you guys advise only to buy from sellers within the US, do you really mean "buyers within your own country, whichever that may be", or are you really xenophobes? I'm just kidding because I think that you aren't.

Here in Britain we have a legal principle which probably exists elsewhere too; caveat emptor which means buyer beware. Do your research. Demand detailed photos or walk away.

If this post becomes a Noob Tax confessional I got caught once with an empty box scam. £600 watch which I could ill-afford to suck up. Package was ballasted with one of those instruction manuals useful only for chocking the wheels of covered wagons. Seller in a central European country which I have since bought from in completely happy transactions. That was my £600 lesson in "Thou shalt video weighing first and then opening any package purporting to contain a watch".
 
W
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w154 w154
Sorry that it perhaps wasn’t clear, but I just wondered if the C24 advert did in fact state it was NOS. I haven’t read every post but in this thread the OP says NOS, but then in the original thread about the Cortabert talks about “original”, “not refurbished or polished” and so on. Is there a link to the advert ?
https://www.chrono24.com/cortebert/...-worn-vintage-collectable--id9790405.htm#gref

Original ad. The rest of the descriptions and anything about the inside of the watch came after messaging the seller directly.
 
jhross98
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wsfarrell wsfarrell
Disagree. NOS is NOS, or should be anyway. I seek out NOS watches and wear them with a grin on my face. Unscrupulous sellers are trying to change the meaning of NOS---to something like "looks unworn," or "no visible flaws." The seller here was dishonest, and the buyer should not be expected to pay a "noob tax."

but then. . they aren't NOS anymore are they

even a truly unworn watch may have flaws. ..especially something that was in a box for 60 years, was moved, etc
to me NOS means time capsule / "like new" quality . . .however if what we are talking about here is movement damage / internal water damage then clearly watch is not as described and seller should take a return
 
Archer
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Dan S Dan S
I looked back at the original post, and the watch is in nice condition, but it clearly was never NOS. There was an obvious small scratch on the dial by the 3 o'clock marker and many fine scratches on the case, etc.

Keep in mind that even new watches have defects. Scratch on the dial and on the hand, plus whatever hair/fiber that is are things that people who buy brand new watches complain of, so it's quite possible the watch is NOS and came from the factory with those defects. The dent on the case (that I really can't see in the photo) can come from poor storage and handling, as can the "corrosion" in the movement. Calling what is shown there as "corrosion" is a stretch in my view.

The official Chrono24 classification for the condition of this watch is "unworn" and they define that as follows:

Unworn
  • Mint condition, without signs of wear
  • From old stockpile, may have minimal signs of wear from storage
Note the "may have signs of wear from storage" which could account for the "dent" that is apparently in the side of the case. Just because it's unworn, doesn't mean it's perfect.

Cheers, Al
 
Dan S
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Archer Archer
Keep in mind that even new watches have defects. Scratch on the dial and on the hand, plus whatever hair/fiber that is are things that people who buy brand new watches complain of, so it's quite possible the watch is NOS and came from the factory with those defects. The dent on the case (that I really can't see in the photo) can come from poor storage and handling, as can the "corrosion" in the movement. Calling what is shown there as "corrosion" is a stretch in my view.

The official Chrono24 classification for the condition of this watch is "unworn" and they define that as follows:

Unworn
  • Mint condition, without signs of wear
  • From old stockpile, may have minimal signs of wear from storage
Note the "may have signs of wear from storage" which could account for the "dent" that is apparently in the side of the case. Just because it's unworn, doesn't mean it's perfect.

Cheers, Al

Yes, you're obviously right, and I really wasn't meaning to start a discussion about the meaning of NOS. The point I really wanted to make, but didn't do very well, was that some flaws were clearly visible in the original photos. More minor issues showed up on closer inspection, but that's not really surprising. And I totally agree about the minor discoloration in the movement. I don't know why people keep calling that corrosion.
 
Larry S
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tikkathree tikkathree
When you guys advise only to buy from sellers within the US, do you really mean "buyers within your own country, whichever that may be", or are you really xenophobes? I'm just kidding because I think that you aren't.
Damn right, you furriners can’t be trusted! 😁 I’m proud to say that all my noob taxes were paid right here in Murrica! They make the OP error look like a small order of freedom fries.
 
JwRosenthal
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Larry S Larry S
Damn right, you furriners can’t be trusted! 😁 I’m proud to say that all my noob taxes were paid right here in Murrica! They make the OP error look like a small order of freedom fries.
Agreed Larry- Merkin’s can swindle ya’ better than any furrin’ place- Merika #1! ::psy::
 
ConElPueblo
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Larry S Larry S
Damn right, you furriners can’t be trusted! 😁 I’m proud to say that all my noob taxes were paid right here in Murrica! They make the OP error look like a small order of freedom fries.

My worst deals were all done with people from my own or nearby countries. I seem to have reasonable success with sellers from countries that regularly gets warned against dealing with.

Waiting on a Certina from Eastern Europe as we speak. It may be crap, but it COULD be amazing 😁😁
 
JwRosenthal
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I have purchased twice from Mexico, both transactions went off perfectly. One seller even shipped it Fedex 2nd day.....that was amazing!
 
CameronD
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IMG_2077.JPG
pnwyankee pnwyankee
Being new to watch collecting I am only vaguely aware of Chrono24, but this thread has served to convince me that it is not a viable resource for me as a buyer

I have purchased three watches via Chrono24. The first was new from a US dealer, it was a Mühle-Glashütte SAR, the second was also a U.S. based company, a Cartier, for my wife. The third was for a used MeisterSinger from a gentlemen in Australia.

The only troublesome deal was the Cariter that was sold from watchshopping.com (via Chrono 24) - real pain-in-the-ass company with snarky emails and shipping way past the supposed ship date. I would never buy a watch from watchshopping.com again.

The MeisterSinger deal was ok - not great. There is a scratch on the crystal that I missed in the photos. (I can buff it out). Seller was fair about it.

My experience with Chrono 24 is generally positive. I would only buy new from a US or Canadian dealer (I am based in the states) and I'll never buy a used watch via them again. One thing I noticed was, I bought all three watches on a weekend and it took quite a while for payments to be posted for the seller to be able to ship the watch.

Like others have said, buy the seller.
 
asrnj77
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The original seller in question has another NOS watch for sale but this one is 120€. He said it needs a new battery but if you don’t want one he can lower the price..maybe to 118€ ::rimshot::
 
AC4A9D34-849F-493E-AAEA-29CE2BA0B1FD.jpeg
pnwyankee
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I have been looking for a nice example of the Longines Heritage Conquest and the leading candidate so far is a dealer on Chrono24 who is in Italy and whose ads are written in Italian, an additional problem as I don't speak Italian.
Great price and apparently brand new.
I am new to collecting watches and this thread has made me wary of chrono24, am I being overly paranoid?
 
X350 XJR
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Dan S Dan S
Correct ... and noted on page 4, before the thread took a turn. 😁

Oops, I guess I got tired of reading. 😬
 
jsducote
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pnwyankee pnwyankee
I am new to collecting watches and this thread has made me wary of chrono24, am I being overly paranoid?
FWIW, there's a difference between paranoid and appropriately cautious. The only way to tell the difference might be to start talking to this individual and get a sense of him as a seller. Just because the ads are in Italian doesn't mean he's not conversational in English. Nobody is forcing you to do a deal, so remember that you can always walk away. Consider the cost of escrow and/or PayPal as a bit of insurance. And nobody likes to pay noob tax, but at least you're not in the Paul Newman end of the pool.
 
pnwyankee
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jsducote jsducote
FWIW, there's a difference between paranoid and appropriately cautious. The only way to tell the difference might be to start talking to this individual and get a sense of him as a seller. Just because the ads are in Italian doesn't mean he's not conversational in English. Nobody is forcing you to do a deal, so remember that you can always walk away. Consider the cost of escrow and/or PayPal as a bit of insurance. And nobody likes to pay noob tax, but at least you're not in the Paul Newman end of the pool.
Thanks for the response, very helpful
 
WatchShopping
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CameronD CameronD
IMG_2077.JPG


I have purchased three watches via Chrono24. The first was new from a US dealer, it was a Mühle-Glashütte SAR, the second was also a U.S. based company, a Cartier, for my wife. The third was for a used MeisterSinger from a gentlemen in Australia.

The only troublesome deal was the Cariter that was sold from watchshopping.com (via Chrono 24) - real pain-in-the-ass company with snarky emails and shipping way past the supposed ship date. I would never buy a watch from watchshopping.com again.

The MeisterSinger deal was ok - not great. There is a scratch on the crystal that I missed in the photos. (I can buff it out). Seller was fair about it.

My experience with Chrono 24 is generally positive. I would only buy new from a US or Canadian dealer (I am based in the states) and I'll never buy a used watch via them again. One thing I noticed was, I bought all three watches on a weekend and it took quite a while for payments to be posted for the seller to be able to ship the watch.

Like others have said, buy the seller.

Please see my message. Looking forward to chat about your experience and about anything else that we can improve upon. Thank you!
 
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