After reading your last comment I think a distinction needs to be made here so you’re not confused by what people are trying to communicate with the word ‘correct’.
When those fellow OF experts above have mentioned ‘originality above all else’, I believe that they are,
in most cases, talking about ensuring the correct aesthetic aspects of the watch (dial, case, hands, crown, lume etc etc) and the correct movement stay intact. I don’t think there are many on the forum that believe that retaining a rotting gasket or a broken mainspring actually adds to its correctness, if they did they wouldn't be advising us to get every new vintage purchase we’re considering wearing serviced immediately. Also, it’s probably close to impossible to figure out if a gasket or mainspring was the original the watch shipped with.
That being said, when people come on the forum and they are looking to sell a highly valuable watch but are not interested in wearing it or owning it, they are told, in no uncertain terms, to not touch it. As its original state, disintegrating gasket, broken mainspring and all will actually improve its value for a serious collector.
