Warning about eBay pocket watch description

WW1 Silver Goliath Patent 8-Day Patent Military 17J Omega Hi-Grade Watch 191

A seller is currently offering a pocket watch on eBay with the above description. Anybody who follows OmegaForums will probably be aware of the errors in this description – but the following comments are offered for the benefit of any newcomers who might be attracted by the description.

The watch advertised is one of many thousands of this type that were made (from 1984) by this manufacturer.

1. There was NO patent associated with this watch. When patents were relevant (in the case of Swiss watches a ‘brevet’) they would have been marked on the watch – this watch carries no brevet and none was applied.

2. The watch was not associated with any military order. Whilst it was of course possible for an owner to take his watch with him on military duties, that would not usually be sufficient for it to be described as a ‘military watch’ (any more than if he took a pen or other personal item with him).

3. Furthermore, this watch dated before WWI – of course it would still have existed when WWI later took place, but the watch was not a WWI watch (any more than it was a WWII watch!).

4. The watch is not silver. The case is made of the nickel alloy argentan (also containing copper and zinc) – which is sometimes known as ‘German Silver’ or even ‘silveroid’ (which the seller uses later in the description) – but this merely means that it has a silver colour: there is NO silver content.

There are other errors in the description – but the above are the key points.

A problem with false descriptions is that they are often assumed to be correct and are repeated – and can cause confusion. As always, ‘caveat emptor’ – buyer beware.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/27379897...5Hvk/aOKeCktk7JOwRYOoZwA==|tkp:Bk9SR9as3vuMYQ