Hello, I wanted to extend my gratitude to the wonderful OF members who helped me vet a candidate for my first ever vintage watch about a month ago. Thank you! Here's my story of buying the watch, and what happened next. Preparations The watch was up for auction in a Swedish auction house Kaplans (here's the auction page https://www.kaplans.se/en/auktioner/3727/vara/1635483). I really liked the watch. It's clean, utilitarian yet elegant. It has an interesting concentric dial of delicate champagne colour, sprinkled with rose gold Arabic numerals. Reminiscent of Walter Gropius' principles of Bauhaus production. The watched likely had a replacement crown. And a scratch in the crystal. Not a deal-breaker for a 55 year old watch. But definitely worth to ask for extra photos of the watch, the movement, and inside of case back. So I called the auction house to explain my case. They initially responded that they don't usually provide additional photos: watches are auctioned as is. However, the customer support specialist was friendly to point out that they had at the time of the phone call an employee photographing final auction items. She offered to reach out to this individual to ask for supplementary photos of the watch I was interested in. After getting the extra photos I was reassured by @OMEGuy that the case, movement, and the case back belonged together. I thought to myself, that will try to bid for this watch. And set myself an upper limit to how much I will bid. Auction Day When the auction day arrived it was rather exciting to watch the whole process play out. The item I was interested in was 12th in the row. This allowed me a brief opportunity to observe how others were bidding. In hindsight I would add that it seldom seems to serve a purpose to bid in advance. It's much more advantageous to wait until the last few seconds to call the price. I had configured an auto-bidder to call to price. The price rose to the level of my self-imposed limit. There were two interested bidders in addition to me. I thought that I will manually call the price by one increment, and then be done with it. The others didn't follow suit. I got the watch! Payment When arranging for payment I realised that in addition to the auction house commission and a 'hammer fee', which I knew about in advance, I would have to pay extra for a certificate of market value. I wasn't sure whether it's useful or not, if I ever decided to sell the watch. I was sceptical, but went for it anyway. I also bought a presentation box for an insignificant extra sum to protect the watch, just a bit extra, while in transit. Unboxing I asked the auction house to deliver the watch overseas from Sweden to Estonia. DHL delivered the watch in a week. Just in case I recoded the unboxing. I noticed instantly, that the watch's second hand wasn't running properly, skipping seconds and even minutes before moving. I had planned to send the watch to service at the local watch repair shop, but now it was clear. It's an immediate priority to execute fast. But first I reached out to the auction house that very same day, thanking them of the service, but also notifying them of the watch's unexpected condition. It wasn't mentioned in the auction item description that the watch had trouble keeping time. The auction house was very quick to respond, acknowledging their responsibility, and offering that I can send the watch back, and they will refund me, less minor costs. Or, that they can inspect the watch at their watch service of preference to determine the scope of repairs. If I would determine the scope of repairs to be unacceptable, they would list the watch again on their auction, this time me as the seller. They would offer favourable conditions to list the item. I thought about their offer. But decided, that since the watch movement is still somewhat moving, there might be reasonable hope to get it serviced without the service costs surmounting the purchase cost of the watch. Inspection I used a local watch enthusiasts group on Facebook to enquire about recommended watch services in Estonia. I contacted Kellahunt (https://kellahunt.ee/), and we instantly established a great rapport. I told him that this is my first vintage mechanical watch, and he was very open to walk me through in detail what different stages of services entail. He did a flash inspection of the watch, and he tested the watch with a timegrapher overnight. We discussed options over the telephone. He suggested to test the watch with a timegrapher one more time to test for the watch's power reserve. We discussed options over the telephone, and I decided on the preferred course of action. All-in-all, the watch is in a reasonably good condition. It just needed service, and a few parts replaced. Service The watch is currently in service, waiting its turn. Parts have been ordered. I now have to wait 4-6 weeks, depending on the delivery speed of parts, until the service can be completed. I'm very excited to get my watch back from service and begin to wear it. Thank you OF for educating a new amateur to appreciate the wonderful world of vintage watches. I've been reading the forum articles since last autumn. I did try to keep calm, and follow the advice of senior members. I will likely focus on bringing my new SM600 to its original glory, before joining the buyers rank again. I just can't shake the black gilt Omega Suverän 2400-7, or 2400-3, from my mind. Best, Rait
What a great post, I'm happy you're happy and I'm looking forward to you getting your freshly serviced Omega on the wrist. Please buy some more watches so you can continue your excellent graphical posting style
Hi Really enjoyed this post, a great story and info. Looking forward to the pics once the watch is returned. Regards Chris
Great post and story. Great to hear a persons excitement in word. Treat it to a nice strap, and believe me the better strap is worth the extra few dollars. Wasted a heap on cheap straps before I realised this