I want to say first, this is not an ad to sell these watches, strictly looking for brick and mortar retail shops to sell them through, so please don't message to inquire. I do not own them personally.

I'm normally in the $5-10k range of watches (IWC & Omega) so this is a bit out of my scope, but a good friend is looking to sell a Patek and an A. Lange & Sohne, either consignment or ideally outright, and in the LA area preferably. There are a couple of shops I've dealt with in BH purely as a buyer that we may visit, but can anyone suggest specific shops who regularly handle these brands, and do they buy outright or consignment?

 

No first-hand experience, but I'm sure that Wannabuyawatch must buy watches.

FWIW, I have to imagine that any cash offer you get from a brick and mortar retail store is going to be really low. Unless he needs the funds immediately, or doesn't care, he would probably do a lot better with an auction house or by consigning it with a high end dealer.

 

Dan is correct, and I would go further and say that any store and even any website will want to pay significantly less than they will sell the watches for. However, depending on the model, prices offered can actually be crazy high and more than one could sell the pieces for on, for example, this board (for some specific really desirable items). I would also say that virtually any reseller would buy watches at what they see as the right price. So at the very least you have WBAW, and several shops in BH. Which to sell to/through is likely a case by case scenario.

 

Thank you both, yes WBAW and Second Time Around are the spots I've dealt with personally. I considered auctions but their fees can be also be high so I assumed a direct sale would be best for my friend's pieces. Something we didn't consider was working with a dealer with no shop, just clients. I've watched youtube channels of a few of these guys so maybe I should do some digging there. They always seem to be NY based.
Appreciate any and all opinions, thanks!

 

There are a couple of dealers I can think of locally that may be interested in these. I can PM you if you'd like. There is also Renaissance Antiques in Solvang who may be good to contact as they tend to have more than a few Patek watches come through their display cases. When I spoke with them in person some time back they mentioned a list of clientele they keep for any unique watches that never even come into the brick and mortar shop, just selling by word of mouth. Never executed a transaction with them though so I couldn't 100% recommend but they were pretty great to interact with.

 

OCWatchGuy is fantastic to deal with. Pretty sure they have a physical store (maybe by appointment only).

 

There's also Bob's Watches in Newport Beach. They specialize in Rolex, but also buy Omega. Would call first---and expect that you might get lowballed.