This looks like an awesome forum and I hope to get more involved. I am looking to make my first luxury watch purchase and have narrowed my search down to a Rolex Submariner or the Omega Seamaster Professional. The Rolex is a little more than I want to spend right now but will revisit in the future.

That being said I have been looking for a gently pre-owned 2531.80, 2220.80, or 212.30.41.20.03.001. I am new to this so my first question is what should I be looking for? Is Box and papers the best way? Is it really safe to buy from the forums as someone has suggested?

I was going through the awards offers available on my Amex and there was on offer for a $450 statement credit on a $1500 purchase from Gray and Sons in Miami. They have a watch that fits the bill but at $3300 seems very high. I contacted them and they are willing to reduce to $2950 so with the statement credit that's $2500. Is that reasonable? I haven't spoken to them yet so I am not sure what the watch comes with other than there 1 year warranty (I would think that Amex would extend that out another year as is their practice but will check since its pre-owned). Are they a reputable dealer (the affiliation with Amex makes me think so but figured this forum might be a great place to pass the smell test).

Thanks!

 

The price depends on how old it is and condition. If you do a search on chrono 24 and a sold search on ebay, you should have an idea of what you should be paying. You should also get it looked over if you buy a watch which will cost a bit of money. I wouldn't worry about box and papers unless it is fairly new. I think you can trust the sellers on here. Try kringkily on here, his reputation is as good as it gets.
Good luck with your search

 

I've got the same offer, plus if you sign up for their email list you get a coupon for $200 off your first purchase.

That said, like any brick-and-mortar dealer, their prices are so high that even that $650 off would still land you paying a bit too much for almost anything they have in stock.

As above, check out sellers on the forum - use the Forum Search to run their names, and you should be able to figure out who's worth doing business with.

 

Maybe I am just having issues finding them. Thanks for the recommendation to reach to out kringkily. I did and he is looking into a ceramic Seamaster Pro for me.

 

I don't think the 200 works if they already took 350 off the price they have advertised. It would work out to be less than what I have found here for a ceramic but not sure which way to go...first time doing any of this has me a bit wary

 

You've probably already looked at these, but if not, why not consider something like a 2254.50, 2255.80 or another from that line? In my opinion, the dial and sword hands look much better than the current iterations, and I believe the 1120 movement is pretty much bulletproof. A pretty good example should be within your budget.

 

I (personally) would stay on the 1120 side of things - movementwise ... that way ANY watchrepairman will be able to service it even 50 years down the road ... in fact the 1120 is a ETA 2892-A2 - and it doesnt get much better than that ...

I had 2 coaxials (sold both) - and while nothing wrong with them, they did not run any better than the 1120ies I have and there was always this "what-if-it stops working right now" thing going on in my head ... then you need to send it off to Omega and pay what they want to charge you.

I live "anus-orbis" if you get my drift, and sending it off to O would mean to pay 2-3 times what I would for a decent watchmaker working on an 1120 and also quite some time longer out in the pits.
cheers,
Al

 

Purchased a new 212.30.41.20.03.001 from a seller on OF. Should have it midweek. Thanks for the info!

 

Arrived Tuesday. Couldn't be happier with my transaction with Kringkily. Thanks to OF for the referral!