Movement pictures in sale ads

SkunkPrince · Dec 10, 2022

I am working towards getting up a set of watches I want to sell. One thing that bothers me is the "fetish", if you will, of seeing movement pictures.

I get it for a random watch you don't know the history of. All of mine have been serviced and anything untoward has been taken care of. Some of these I bought new and rarely worn, so there's nothing to see. One of them, a Hamilton Langdon, is in a "cld" case... and you can't just randomly open one of those. You have to replace the seals every time.

I have one unserviced Seamaster that I asked my watchmaker to open up, take pictures, and comment on the movement condition, and I thought that reasonable.

For watches I have had serviced and then they sat in the box, does it really matter?

Mind you, I get it when you might not know the person. I would hope being a forum member for quite a while would be helpful.

Curious what your thoughts are.

WestCoastTime · Dec 10, 2022

Depends entirely on the priorities of the individual buyer. If your objective is to attract the interest of the broadest possible audience of prospective buyers, then including movement photos would be advantageous.

Your perspectives & feelings are valid, but you're not the buyer...

cristos71 · Dec 10, 2022

I think a photo of a clean movement will enhance a sales post and certainly aid a speedy sale. And I mean clean both in the sense that the movement has just been serviced, or that the movement looks clean, i.e. it still has its original finish and has not been stripped of colour due to heavy handedness with cleaning chemicals, or has corroded and rusting parts.

Dan S · Dec 10, 2022

Why don't you try selling them without movement photos and see how it goes? Then you will know how much you are trusted by prospective buyers. 😁

I've sold quite a few watches on the forum and have good feedback, but I almost always show movement photos, unless there is a really good reason not to do so. If you don't show photos of the movement, expect to get a lot of requests.

Dan S · Dec 10, 2022

cristos71
I think a photo of a clean movement will enhance a sales post and certainly aid a speedy sale. And I mean clean both in the sense that the movement has just been serviced, or that the movement looks clean, i.e. it still has its original finish and has not been stripped of colour due to heavy handedness with cleaning chemicals, or has corroded and rusting parts.

And that the movement is correct for the reference, and that it's not missing parts. etc.

X350 XJR · Dec 10, 2022

Vintage, photos yes.

Modern, not so much.

JwRosenthal · Dec 10, 2022

I’ve never taken movement photos of anything I have sold. I have assured buyers that they do have a movement in them, and they have confirmed that they do indeed have a movement- seems to have worked so far.

Dan S · Dec 10, 2022

JwRosenthal
I’ve never taken movement photos of anything I have sold. I have assured buyers that they do have a movement in them, and they have confirmed that they do indeed have a movement- seems to have worked so far.

Apparently you are trusted, James. 👍

SkunkPrince · Dec 10, 2022

I think the thing that most bothers me... it's rarely I am confident to open a watch and feel good about doing it. The prices on what I have to sell are not all that high. For example, that Hamilton Langdon I would price about $350. I am not willing to spend $50 for someone to see the movement, because those rare! seals *must* be replaced when it's opened. I'm not selling any high-dollar watches, none of them are above $1000. But when someone says "no movement pics, no sale", I don't want to let that sale go. I guess I'll have to.

JwRosenthal · Dec 10, 2022

SkunkPrince
I think the thing that most bothers me... it's a rarely I am confident to open a watch and feel good about doing it The prices on what I have to sell are not all that high. For example, that Hamilton Langdon I would price about $350. I am not willing to spend $50 for someone to see the movement, because those rare! seals *must* be replaced when it's opened. I'm not selling any high-dollar watches, none of them are above $1000. But when someone says "no movement pics, no sale", I don't want to let that sale go. I guess I'll have to.

I think Dan (if I can speak for Dan) is talking primarily about high dollar, high collectibility watches where details like serial numbers to case vintage are important. In the case of “lower value” watches like the ones I play with and occasionally sell, it’s a different audience. We are all just happy if they are on time twice a day.

But, if I had a buyer where a movement shot is a make or break and I’m not comfortable opening the watch, then they should move along. Someone else will buy it.

JwRosenthal · Dec 10, 2022

Dan S
Apparently you are trusted, James. 👍

I guess us bargain hunters aren’t setting the bar very high

SkunkPrince · Dec 10, 2022

JwRosenthal
I think Dan (if I can speak for Dan) is talking primarily about high dollar, high collectibility watches where details like serial numbers to case vintage are important.

I assure you that I did not open up the trilogy Railmaster I sold. 😁

140dave · Dec 10, 2022

SkunkPrince
The prices on what I have to sell are not all that high. For example, that Hamilton Langdon I would price about $350. I am not willing to spend $50 for someone to see the movement, because those rare! seals *must* be replaced when it's opened. I'm not selling any high-dollar watches, none of them are above $1000. But when someone says "no movement pics, no sale", I don't want to let that sale go. I guess I'll have to.

I think you have it right and just need to meld the answers together. $350 watch, I don’t need to see the movement. $3500+ I want to see it on a vintage watch. Modern I don’t need to see it if I trust the seller.

For future ask your watchmaker to take a movement picture on completion of service. File it, and use it when you sell and let ‘em know it hasn’t been open since last service. That’s good enough for me as a buyer with most sellers.

SkunkPrince · Dec 10, 2022

140dave
For future ask your watchmaker to take a movement picture on completion of service. File it, and use it when you sell and let ‘em know it hasn’t been open since last service. That’s good enough for me as a buyer with most sellers.

Perhaps. I have a good relation with this watchmaker and he would likely do it for free if I deliver and pick up at his convenience, but I feel bad having to ask him to begin with.

ghce · Dec 10, 2022

140dave
For future ask your watchmaker to take a movement picture on completion of service. File it, and use it when you sell and let ‘em know it hasn’t been open since last service. That’s good enough for me as a buyer with most sellers.

That's what I do with all watches that are difficult for me to open, ie mono cased split stemmed or so damn tight case backs that I fear I will damage it opening it.

Movement pictures in sale ads

SkunkPrince

WestCoastTime

cristos71

Dan S

Dan S

X350 XJR

JwRosenthal

Dan S

SkunkPrince

JwRosenthal

JwRosenthal

SkunkPrince

140dave

SkunkPrince

ghce

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