There are a number of gold watches on eBay with inscriptions at the back of the case - retirement, love gift, etc. How do you deal with this situation?
I leave them alone, always. They are part of the history of the watch. To me, it's kind of like redialling the watch. You can have it done, but you are probably not going to be happy with the result. gatorcpa
A GOOD jeweler can polish these off, a BAD one can easily ruin a case. Best to leave them for someone else if you either don't have a good jeweler or don't like the inscription.
This is a deal breaker for me. I'm sure others may consider the watch if it’s the right piece, the right condition and at the right price for the possibility of finding a donor for a back case - I just don’t have the patience for this... or at least for now, I have not seen a watch with an inscription with all the other right attributes.
Sometime these really add to history, when it was presented , where it was sold, what company, how many years of service, love of parents to their child. But it really depends on the watch. I am much more tolerant of really old one from 20s-40s
In the UK it seems to knock the value by 25-40% from what I've seen in my short period of searching (although I've now found for now!).
Unless it's a watch I really want I'll pass on inscriptions. I have a good gold guy that can match the alloy and fill the inscription, then redo the caseback to look like it was never there - but it ain't cheap. There's always another identical watch coming soon so patience is key.