Recommended Good Value / Vintage - New Deals On EBAY & other Auctions

[Nepomuceño]

Not a recommendation but some extreme radium burn that is being sold for $200

 

[Pianotuna]

JwRosenthal

First we have @Shabbaz wearing a submariner on the streets for all the world to see with open toed sandals (and apparently white socks) and now mm935 gambling on horrific pics- this group is throwing caution to the wind these days!

Lots of European men wearing socks with open-toed sandals particularly in the autumn months, (and I don’t think it’s much of a ‘look’ tbh) but adding a submariner of any persuasion definitely seems a step too far!

 

[Passover]

JwRosenthal

First we have @Shabbaz wearing a submariner on the streets for all the world to see with open toed sandals (and apparently white socks)

Missed that picture, would anyone be so kind to repost it here? Thank you!

 

[JwRosenthal]

Passover

Missed that picture, would anyone be so kind to repost it here? Thank you!

It was a reference from the -Rolex gets you murdered in the street- doom scrolling thread. And it was my whimsical imagination assuming the open toed sandals in his life of living dangerously - although he hasn’t refuted it yet

 

[Nupero]

Pianotuna

Lots of European men wearing socks with open-toed sandals particularly in the autumn months, (and I don’t think it’s much of a ‘look’ tbh) but adding a submariner of any persuasion definitely seems a step too far!

Ah, European fashion sense...

.
.
... carry on!

 

[JwRosenthal]

Nupero

Ah, European fashion sense...

.
.
... carry on!

American fashion sense

 

[Pianotuna]

Nupero

Ah, European fashion sense...

.
.
... carry on!

Sure. Nice if you’re as fit as those two young fellas

but,

 

[Pianotuna]

To help get this thread back on track…
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-OLD...p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

Seller in Brazil. I’ve dealt with him, He ships promptly with DHL I think, at least he did with me in Australia and I received my Pierce in 14 days. This Eterna looks extra good and I know there’s a few fans here. Not cheap but this looks extra sharp

 

[Mafkees]

I love my minty Eternas but I think this is extremely overpriced.

 

[Pianotuna]

Mafkees

I love my minty Eternas but I think this is extremely overpriced.

Fair call. If you’re familiar with them I’ll happily bow to superior knowledge but casting my mind back through the many Eternas that have been posted here I don’t readily recall one quite as pristine as this, and with the original strap, factory caseback sticker and box to boot.

 

[JwRosenthal]

Pianotuna

Fair call. If you’re familiar with them I’ll happily bow to superior knowledge but casting my mind back through the many Eternas that have been posted here I don’t readily recall one quite as pristine as this, and with the original strap, factory caseback sticker and box to boot.

I agree with this. We can say $600 is overpriced compared to a well worn but clean one, but in this case you are paying a 40% premium for condition- and to many it’s all about condition and worth the premium. I have overpaid by twice or more for pristine examples of common watches. Never regretted it.

As an example, I paid $350 for a decent but well worn 666- this was fair market at the time. It was an honest example and had good bones but clearly needed a clean up and wasn’t perfect. (Bracelet I already had)

I then found a pristine example, near flawless for $850. At the time this was way above the top of the market where very nice examples were hovering around $600. But finding one this clean was near impossible- so I bit the bullet.


Absolutely no regrets and it’s worth a bit more than I paid now apparently.

Edited: Oct 30, 2021

 

[Pianotuna]

Pretty much my thoughts @JwRosenthal. I hummed and hawed recently over a perfect NOS Longines gold cased hummer with box, strap, QC sticker and all which would have been a mirror of the one I have in SS. priced on the high end (meaning it was about 1/3 what ppl pay for tired Speedies) but I dithered too long and safe to say it’ll be a long time before it or another one comes up again. This Eterna is at a premium no question, but remove the $300 service it doesn’t need from the price …

 

[JwRosenthal]

I think in our cynical bargain hunting brains we forget how few truly exceptional pieces we actually see- I mean truly exceptional. We see clean, we see cool, we see diamonds in the rough or great potential- but exceptional examples are indeed rarities for vintage watches. Sometimes we can’t rationalize exceptional. Sure if it’s not your style or you really don’t need another of that type then it’s a moot point, but if the watch checks all your boxes and it’s spectacular, the premium is worth more than the regret one will feel for passing on it over what is essentially the cost of dinner in many cases.

Another example of not living with regret:
I have a problem with Zodiac Seawolfs, I always hunted for the bargain, have a decent parts stash and watch the market pretty regularly. I know the variants, can spot a Franken or redial- they are great bargain divers (well, we’re bargains not long ago) with lots to love.
This thing popped up on eBay


MkIV dial and hands in a MKIII case & bezel which makes it a transitional model, original bracelet, stunning crack free bezel and most likely never saw a polishing wheel. Seller was asking $750 for it which then was almost double what a regular Seawolf would have fetched. As these were my thing I said no- it’s way overpriced, I know what these things are worth and that seller is insane…but it’s a rare model, and impeccable, with the bracelet….I lasted about 20 minutes obsessing over the photos and just bought it. Not only do I not regret it, but I haven’t seen another like it since. I wouldn’t sell it for thrice what I paid.

Edited: Oct 30, 2021

 

[Pianotuna]

JwRosenthal

I have a problem with Zodiac Seawolfs,

well, that’s one way of putting it …

 

[wagudc]

JwRosenthal

MkIV dial and hands in a MKIII case & bezel which makes it a transitional model, original bracelet, stunning crack free bezel and most likely never saw a polishing wheel. Seller was asking $750 for it which then was almost double what a regular Seawolf would have fetched. As these were my thing I said no- it’s way overpriced, I know what these things are worth and that seller is insane…but it’s a rare model, and impeccable, with the bracelet….I lasted about 20 minutes obsessing over the photos and just bought it. Not only do I not regret it, but I haven’t seen another like it since. I wouldn’t sell it for thrice what I paid.

Wow, that is lovely! Well worth the cost. I like the Seawolfs, but the plated bezels end up looking like crap. That one is so nice!

 

[OllieOnTheRocks]

JwRosenthal

I think in our cynical bargain hunting brains we forget how few truly exceptional pieces we actually see- I mean truly exceptional. We see clean, we see cool, we see diamonds in the rough or great potential- but exceptional examples are indeed rarities for vintage watches. Sometimes we can’t rationalize exceptional. Sure if it’s not your style or you really don’t need another of that type then it’s a moot point, but if the watch checks all your boxes and it’s spectacular, the premium is worth more than the regret one will feel for passing on it over what is essentially the cost of dinner in many cases.

Another example of not living with regret:
I have a problem with Zodiac Seawolfs, I always hunted for the bargain, have a decent parts stash and watch the market pretty regularly. I know the variants, can spot a Franken or redial- they are great bargain divers (well, we’re bargains not long ago) with lots to love.
This thing popped up on eBay


MkIV dial and hands in a MKIII case & bezel which makes it a transitional model, original bracelet, stunning crack free bezel and most likely never saw a polishing wheel. Seller was asking $750 for it which then was almost double what a regular Seawolf would have fetched. As these were my thing I said no- it’s way overpriced, I know what these things are worth and that seller is insane…but it’s a rare model, and impeccable, with the bracelet….I lasted about 20 minutes obsessing over the photos and just bought it. Not only do I not regret it, but I haven’t seen another like it since. I wouldn’t sell it for thrice what I paid.

I've always had the philosophy that the "right" thing is worth more than its logical value to the someone who will regret losing it. The benefits and joy will be worth so much more than the value, and especially if it's going to be with you for the long term. Property, watches, art, if it's "just right" in 5 years time the extra money spent will just be a drop in the ocean. Sometimes buying things with only your emotional brain can be a disaster but if it's 'just right' it's absolutely necessary.

 

[JwRosenthal]

OllieOnTheRocks

I've always had the philosophy that the "right" thing is worth more than its logical value to the someone who will regret losing it. The benefits and joy will be worth so much more than the value, and especially if it's going to be with you for the long term. Property, watches, art, if it's "just right" in 5 years time the extra money spent will just be a drop in the ocean. Sometimes buying things with only your emotional brain can be a disaster but if it's 'just right' it's absolutely necessary.

This^. Of course if the seller was asking $3k for that Zodiac, I wouldn’t have even lingered on the listing. It was just within the realm of being unreasonable, but not insane.
Last week I saw a plain Jane metal bezeled Seawolf listed as “NOS” with a box and papers (note I didn’t say with original box and papers - you can’t verify that as they weren’t serialed) that was clearly well worn (bezel was brassy on the edges) and had been polished up for sale- it had over 40 bidders and went upwards of $1.4K…that’s an example of emotional bidding and a complete lack of understanding what they were bidding on.
If you are going to bid with emotion, at least be educated on what you are buying.

 

[Mafkees]

Pianotuna

Fair call. If you’re familiar with them I’ll happily bow to superior knowledge but casting my mind back through the many Eternas that have been posted here I don’t readily recall one quite as pristine as this, and with the original strap, factory caseback sticker and box to boot.

You make a solid point. This piece is in exceptional condition and that explains a premium, to an extent. I personally might be prepared to pay 1,5-2x the market value of a decent Kontiki or Centenaire for an astonishing example, but then we're talking about a watch that is relatively rare to begin with and that's practically a unicorn to hunt for in pristine condition; it's not 'just' a basic model in pristine condition.

It's a numbers game: mathematically speaking, the odds of finding a pristine Kontiki are found by multiplying the odds of finding a Kontiki and the odds of any given Kontiki in existence being pristine. I suppose those odds get lower depending on how rare the watch is.

I apologize for the wall of text. Take a picture of my unicorn

JwRosenthal

I think in our cynical bargain hunting brains we forget how few truly exceptional pieces we actually see- I mean truly exceptional. We see clean, we see cool, we see diamonds in the rough or great potential- but exceptional examples are indeed rarities for vintage watches. Sometimes we can’t rationalize exceptional. Sure if it’s not your style or you really don’t need another of that type then it’s a moot point, but if the watch checks all your boxes and it’s spectacular, the premium is worth more than the regret one will feel for passing on it over what is essentially the cost of dinner in many cases.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. There's a bunch of stuff on my wish list that I'd happily splurge on, given the chance.

JwRosenthal

I have a problem with Zodiac Seawolfs

JwRosenthal

Last week I saw a plain Jane metal bezeled Seawolf listed as “NOS” with a box and papers (note I didn’t say with original box and papers - you can’t verify that as they weren’t serialed) that was clearly well worn (bezel was brassy on the edges) and had been polished up for sale- it had over 40 bidders and went upwards of $1.4K…that’s an example of emotional bidding and a complete lack of understanding what they were bidding on.
If you are going to bid with emotion, at least be educated on what you are buying.

Ah! I've owned one in the past and it was a great watch. I bought it here on OF, by the way. I still regret selling it because I haven't seen any like it since.
I'm no SeaWolf expert but I haven't seen an affordable one in decent condition for years.

 

[Mafkees]

Anyway ... back to bargains. This is not pristine but certainly nice enough, and the seller takes offers. It'd be a great buy at €175-200.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ETERNA-MAT...o-/154670410530?&_trksid=p2056016.m2518.l4276

 

[wagudc]

The prices for modern Certinas on Jomashop are ridiculous. Want an Automatic Watch from a respectable brand with an ETA movement for the price of a cheaper quartz Seiko?

https://www.jomashop.com/certina-wa...|Unisex&movement=Automatic&sort=price_asc|ASC