Fascinating, isn’t it? How lighting (not talking photoshop here) can completely change how a watch presents in photos. My wife spotted this Bulova in an antique shop on Christmas Eve. The owner was naturally hoping to get holiday prices for it, so we decided to come back after the holidays when there would be room for negotiation. So I snapped a few pics and off we went. Looking at the photos at home later on I was thinking “Dang, I don’t remember the gold fill being so worn “. But we went back a few days later to try again anyway. This is my snapshot in the shop. Dang, the case is all brassed out on the left side... And this is at home in better conditions Of course, when I could see the watch in-hand again I could tell that it was in great shape. It’s a whole different game though when you buy online from crappy photos and you are thinking (hoping?) that the watch will be better in person then it is in the photos. Or when yellow gold appears to be white gold... the list is long. What are your “I took a chance on crappy photos” stories?
I have many but I've lost 80% of my pictures last year. Terrible. This one was a great gamble. But I only have the after picture
Not a huge risk, I guess, since it was on eBay and I could have returned it if it had turned out to be fake. But the photos were pretty bad and the listing also had the wrong reference number IIRC. Turned out to be a totally legit 16000 with a nice dial.
Like Shabbaz, many of my photos are not available, but here’s one I am particularly happy with as it’s an incredibly rare model which I had been hunting for years- and got it cheaply.
Original pix My picture: showing a NICELY name, a Breitling trademarked name. and a Breitling(not mine) A pleasant surprise, I just knew I couldn't go wrong with a black/copper dialed(hoping no repaint!) chrono with custom white painted tips on the hands and rectangular pushers even if it was a generic/no-name with chrome case. A movt shot showed a venus 170. I guessed early 1940's since the snail track started at 400 and the cal170 was first produced in 1942. So, I took a chance.
This is my best one. The colour seemed to be off in the auction pic and I wasn't sure if it was genuine. Luckily it was the pink gold case and the yellow bracelet that was throwing things off. Just a buff of the crystal needed and a new crown, couldn't find a pink gold one at the time though.