Hello everyone,

I recently bought a watch from auction which was catalogued as a Universal Geneve, upon receiving the watch I have found that it is in fact a redial.

Do I have a leg to stand with regards to returning the watch for a refund as in theory it has been miscatalogued?

Many thanks

 

Is it a Universal Geneve with a redial or something else altogether?

 

Can you share the auction's description of the watch?

 

Description
GENTLEMENS UNIVERSAL GENEVE WRISTWATCH REF. 1929346 CIRCA 1950s, circular black dial with hour markers and Arabic numerals, subsidiary dial at 6 and patina hands, 33mm stainless steel case with a UG crown and screw down case back, inside is a manually wound cal. 1200 movement, on a black leather strap, watch is currently running.

 

No mention of the dial being original or not refinished in the listing so you’re likely out of luck. No harm in reaching out to the auction house to see if they would accept a return but the chances of them agreeing are slim.

 

It is up to the buyer to do his due diligence on auction pieces, very often the descriptions are wrong. Since no mention was made of a redial you are left with the purchase. Buying at auction can be a good deal, but there are many, many pitfalls.

 

Thank you.

 

Thank you.

 

I've had one unfortunate experience with an auction house, whereby there was undisclosed (or, perhaps problematically disclosed) caseback damage.

They agreed to waive their buyer's fees (20%). That would be my guess at best outcomes for you. Not as good as a full refund, but worth a try nonetheless.

 

There are a few good threads on the forum about this issue. A dial could still be “original” and redialed at the same time, because the dial itself is original, just not the paint.

 

Thanks everyone! I’ll have a read through the forum

 

A quick search tells me this watch was auctioned by Sterling Vault in the UK. They are generally pretty good, and might cut you some slack - however, they've adopted that odious ebay seller tactic of adding

*** Please view images carefully as they are part of the description, for further info on condition please contact us ***

to the end of the description. In other words, they might say that their single, dark and overly artsy / processed image, should tell you all you need to know about its originality

 

Reading the description and the disclaimer, there is no claim anywhere that the watch is in completely "original" condition, and as far as I can see, no implication that it is so.

Sorry, but in my opinion, anything you get back from this will be ex gratia rather than of right.