I would like to hear how other people feel about, does the watch come with the "box" i can understand an older Rolex with no box. However, i was looking at an older Day Date. I noticed that there are watch sites out there that had a lot of Day Dates. None came with boxes. My first thought was, how many pawn shops had the watch been in before it ended up on line? This last Rolex GMT II i bought the first of the year from a well known dealer. I found a 2015 still under warranty. Box, paper work, hang tag and warranty card in MINT condition, wow, what a find at least for me. Would i buy an older Rolex without a box? probably, yes if i know the dealer. But A Day Date i would think the new owner would just put the box away not knowing that it will bring more money when the day comes for a trade in or just selling the watch out right.
The box is completely irrelevant. You can buy them all day long on ebay. Most folks don't use the box after purchase so they tossed them. They are also fairly cheaply made (back in the day) so they degraded quickly and were discarded. It is a fairly recent phenomenon for pedestrian watches to sell with a box as a value added proposition (same with the long since expired warrant papers as well) so it is a somewhat new thing to save all these things in the event of a sale. If you have 50 watches in your collection and have all those boxes, that's like half a room devoted to just empty boxes!! Highly unlikely that you have the packaging your kitchen knives, phone, microwave, etc came in. Or even the boxes jewelry came it unless used for storage. That said, I'm 2/3 for buying a used watch with all the trimmings, though who can really say if the box, booklets, and even warranty papers are genuine or original to the watch versus just created or sourced later. Watches bought new in the past few years are much more likely to have all the accessories because A) they are likely still under the original manufacturer warranty, B) folks know that stuff adds to the sale price so they retain them, and C) they are probably better built these days.
Fits in a closet. I'm of the opinion that a with a modern Rolex, the box is irrelevant, not having it is not a deal breaker but the papers, those I want. Especially if it is a piece I think I might move on. And with that being said my speedy is the only watch that's 100% safe...for sentimental reasons. Like it or not there is a premium on the paperwork. In some cases it can increase the value of the watch by up to 20%.
As said before, many people who buy watches aren’t nutters like us. I got the “ do you really need all these boxes “ a few days ago whilst Mrs Standy was looking for something.
I've picked up several nice watches, new and used, with some pretty swanky packaging. If it isn't good enough to be gutted and used for a parts or straps box it goes straight into the recycling bin. Draws less attention from the spousal unit as well...
To me boxes are only useful if and when you sell the watch plus I store the warranty and books securely in them. Other than that it’s clutter really.
All things considered I like to have the box and all associated ephemera, it's part of its history. But if it is incomplete I still might buy the watch, it all depends. Some of the fancy, rare wood boxes are not easy to replace.
In my opinion box and papers are really worth only if you plan to sell the watch in the future, not if you buy it to keep it.
Personally I will buy a watch if its a rare one and been looking for it for a long time even if it has no box or paper but will in the future have fun re-finding a complete set from the era of the watch to make it a complete kit. (or as close as possible)