Brand new to the hobby help with first major watch purchase please!

People keep saying "buy the seller." But that's helpful advice only if you know what a good seller looks like.

Appreciate all the great advice, everyone! I am definitely working on cooling my jets. HA! I am glad I found this forum as it seems infinitely more friendly and helpful than other places I was looking. I am going to keep my eyes peeled here and jump on the right watch when I need to.

This is a very good point and unfortunately online it's very difficult. One thing I still always look for is if the seller also has a "brick and mortar" shop. Now after some years I'm experienced enough buying from one that doesn't, but I think it's a good start for someone getting their feet wet. Search engine is a friend here... look at the seller's contact information... is it a business address? Is that business address actually a watch shop?

I think there's more incentive towards an honest transaction from a seller who knows that someone can walk into their shop door and meet them face to face if there's an issue... regardless of location.

@gramboda I'd echo all the advice given here, and add my personal experience buying several watches from Japan both online and in person. Japan has a strong culture of respect for well made mechanical things and collecting, so there are a lot of great finds! But it's not cheaper in the long run although I find the condition tends to be better for the money.

However you do have to factor as already said, importation costs/taxes AND very importantly understand this IS NOT the seller's obligation in any way shape or form. Honestly they aren't even obligated to know or advise you... would you be able to tell someone in Tokyo what they pay in taxes if they buy something from you? Probably not... so this will all fall squarely on your shoulders as the buyer.

The other advice I would give is since you're being patient as others also recommend 😉 why not make it a mission visiting as many second hand watch shops you can because who knows maybe you come across one, they aren't super rare. Then you can actually handle it, see if it's something you really want to commit too... you'd be (very!) surprised how different a watch can often be in the metal vs. reading specs and looking at pictures. I don't know where you live or if you travel much, but this makes for some fun excursions especially in boring places! 😀

Best of luck!

@gramboda We're in a similar position, hunting for similar watches. The wallet is willing, but the mind is overwhelmed!

I found it helpful to pore over the forums here related to the ref in question - you'll find past transactions, discussions of fakes, and evaluations of different used watches' conditions, all of which are very helpful in developing a frame of reference (Reddit is great for this as well, regardless of whether or not you would wish to purchase there).

I'm still hesitant to pull the trigger on anything, but I feel much more confident than I did before in my ability to spot a dog of a deal. Maybe tell yourself you will not buy anything for x-amount of time, and will instead just commit to trawling listings and developing said frame of reference.

I'm glad I let some of my early targets slide, and have discovered a sense of calm and patience from seeing new Seamasters pop up on Chrono and Ebay every day. My hesistance has allowed a couple of deals to slip through my fingers that I wish I would have acted on, but I know I'll see something similar come floating my way again if I give it time.

All that said, if you really like the new Seamasters, maybe just cut out the hassle and save for one. $2k is still a lot of money, so it should go toward something you will truly love, instead of something you'll merely settle for. I'm targeting an earlier Seamaster because I specifically like things about them that have since changed, but damn do I wish I could just save a little longer and buy one new, cutting out all the stress.