About a month ago, I came across a rather rare rose gold Nomos Tangente with an attractive "mocha" brown dial on eBay. It had no box and papers (I usually prefer B&P), but since it was a rare piece, I was willing to go for it. It had a BIN price, so I made an offer, and eventually the watch arrived safely. I loved the watch right away, and it sat so well on my wrist.



When I tried to register the watch with Nomos, there was a long period of 8 days before they replied to tell me that the watch had previously been reported stolen from a retailer several years ago! I was taken aback, and emailed the seller.

The seller (a dealer) seemed equally surprised, and said that he had bought it from a pawnshop in 2014. He had in fact bought a new crown for the watch in early 2015, and had given Nomos the serial number, and they had supplied him the crown without any comment. He showed me the email correspondence to confirm this.

By then I was pretty freaked out. I really liked the watch, but there was no way I could countenance having a stolen watch. The seller quite rightly agreed to refund me the money. I told Nomos of my plans, reported the incident to ebay, and sent the watch back right away, and got my money back today when the watch reached the seller. To his credit, the seller was quite apologetic, and very willing to refund me (thank goodness for ebay buyer protection!).

I was wondering though what due diligence a watch dealer has to do whenever they sell a pre-owned watch - I had assumed they'd check with the companies if the watch has been reported stolen?

All in all, a somewhat freaky experience, and I guess I was lucky in not having a difficult seller. I really miss the watch though, sigh! Loved that warm combination of RG and brown. Well, I guess the hunt continues...

 

bummer! it is a cool looking watch!

 

Glad it turned out OK for you. Would not have thought this likely to be discovered, but apparently NOMOS watch this type of thing where other companies do not for whatever reason.

 

thats a real shame. hopefully isn't sold on to another.. let us know what you replace it with

 

Wow, that sucks. Glad you came out whole. Hopefully a similar one with a clean history will pop up soon.

 

Curious why this would mean "no more Nomos"?

 

Because it's gone. Bummer story.

 

Thanks S and everyone else for that note of consolation. I hope that with increasing ability for watch owners to register their watches online, watch companies will keep track of who owns what. It probably comes at a cost though to maintain such records.

Girard-Perregaux is another one that keeps such records. After the Nomos debacle, I was eyeing an uncommon 4945 on the 'bay, and since it didn't come with B&P, this time I checked with GP and they were able to assure me that it had not been reported stolen.

For the record, I shoud state that the serial number was #526. So if anyone sees this watch back on the market, well buyer (and seller) beware!

Oh, it just means there's no longer a Nomos in my collection.

I'd love to buy another one - I found my brief 10 day ownership of the Tangente to be a very enjoyable one - and I'd definitely consider getting another Tangente, especially the special edition dials (like this one)

 

Okay - thought you had sworn off the brand because of this experience. As a Nomos owner and fan, I do think another should be in your future.

 

That was a sweet watch. What a pity.

Get back in the saddle Nigel. Don't let it drag you down too long.

 

Well, I applaud you for taking the morally superior decision. I fear many others would have just kept the watch. I'm sure you'll be able to cash in those karma points some day. Glad to hear you got reimbursed.

 

buy the seller not the watch, was it a eastern european piece?

 

Yes it was, from Sofia. Honestly I hesitated a bit before putting in the bid, but decided to roll the dice given that it was an uncommon piece. Luckily it worked out OK, and I didn't have any issues with the seller. He acknowledged the issue and swiftly offered a refund, which helped allay my anxieties.

 

Oh man. This is a beauty! Sad to see it go - hopefully it goes back to its originjal owner somehow...

 

That is exactly my thought. The good point is the seriousness of every protagonists in this sad case!
If each brand would create a stolen watches record it will limit the selling and increase the probability to get back the watch to the owner.
I like very much Nomos and their nice collection (especially the 38mm diameter which is perfect size!)
Good luck to @NT931 for the hunting!!

 

UPDATE: A happy ending! I thought I'd have to wait a long time, but I found another Mocca Tangente for sale, thanks to a very helpful person on the German Nomos forum. This time I made sure it came with box and papers. It's finally back on my wrist!

 

Congratulations! Great buy...in the end

 

The Certina DS-3 has a registration and you will notice a few stolen on there

http://www.watchlinks.net/ds3swe.htm