So I've picked up my first 3 Omegas on ebay, and have sourced my vintage Hamiltons there and on etsy in the past. I'm not (yet) in the inner-circle of Omega collectors, where beautiful examples are brought to your doorstep daily for first refusal at bargain prices (that's how I like to imagine it anyway). But I obviously check out the sales forum here all the time. Where else do you guys and gals find watches? Online retailers? Brick and mortar shops? I gather I'm not the only New Jerseyan on this forum; any good local joints to check out? Thanks! Adam
Ebay, Ebay and Ebay. I would say 80% of the watches I have chosen to keep are from there. Perhaps 10% are from collector friends and another 10% from non-ebay auctions, watch dealers and online fora like this one. At any given time there are perhaps 10,000 omegas listed for sale on Ebay - both vintage and modern so the variety is certainly there. Only a small fraction though are worthy of consideration - I would say significantly less than 1% - so knowledge is paramount. And a bit of luck since once in a rare while, a nice watch with a BIN will come up at an odd time and you have to be ready to jump on it.
No denying eBay is a great source if you've done your homework. However, the absolute best deals I've gotten recently are from gold scrappers. I drop my business card with my personal cell number on the back, and if they run into a gold watch they call. While they'll make their small percentage simply scrapping it, if they can make more selling it outright to me they'll be happy to do it. Of course, cash is king in this type of transaction. Also, if you have Goodwill or other thrift stores in your area an occasional visit could be worthwhile. You won't find bargains every day. You might not even get a single watch in 6 months. Still worth it to try.
+1 Of my Omega watches - 13x are from eBay and 1x from Bonanza (which seems to contain a lot that are already on eBay). Of my Seiko watches it's only slightly more varied - one came from a Seiko & Citizen Watch Forum seller, another was my only in person purchase, from a Gun show/Militaria fair and all the rest from eBay. Of the other makes I have only bought three from fellow watch forum members and have moved on two of those. My mantra too. Be prepared. Be logged in when you're searching (every second counts). And have funds readily available - PayPal/credit cards. If you don't have the cash available be prepared to beg and plead with family members & even ex-girlfriends. (It has worked, twice). Being Stateside don't you have hundreds of Pawn Brokers brimming over with quality watches? That's how it's portrayed three times a day on our TV.
..... and rob Peter to pay Paul if necessary in some of our cases. Yeah, just like every time you watch Texas Hold'em somebody catches the inside straight on the river to beat 2 pair.
Unfortunately, the kinds of watches that end up in pawn shops are rarely the kind we seek. Quartz Rolex knockoffs with imitation diamond bezels are treasured by few in these parts.
Thanks. I certainly have been keeping my eye on ebay, with a number of saved searches, but I need to keep learning here in order to quickly sort through the rubbish.
I've actually been to the Las Vegas Pawn Stars shop. They have a lot of vintage watches, mostly Rolexes of varying age and quality. Most are poor redials for which they post a price of 2 to 3 times retail. They won't get that from me. Probably 90% of my purchased have been from eBay. I've gotten a couple from internet shops and from the fora. Best buy was at a small jewelers that specializes in $1 quartz watch batteries. They had a case with some vintage Omegas and I picked up a 14K pie-pan for well under market. gatorcpa
Ebay is my primary source as well. Secondary is watch fora sales boards, especially foreign ones. Yes, I wire large amounts of money to furriners in countries that have an appalling reputation for watch hanky-panky. I've gotten most of my really rare, top quality pieces that way, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart. To the usual risks, you add language barrier, dodgy national postal services, customs and very little recourse if anything goes wrong. More than once I thought I'd lost the whole bundle. The most important thing is a little back and forth to 1) assess whether the vendor really is a vintage watch guy or just some scammer pretending to be and 2) let him know that you have connections with the collecting community in that country and could make noise if things went wrong. Still risky as heck, but that is the nature of the addiction. Third source is dealers - I hate to pay the markup, but sometimes they just happen to have the watch I need. Sad, really - there must be a 12-step program for this....
This may just be a uk thing, but of the ten watches i bought in 2012 1 came from this forum, 4 came from ebay but five came from watch fairs. The upside is around 200 stalls with a huge range of watches all brands, prices and conditions. The downside is, most of them know exactly what their watches are worth and sell at the ebay price less fees and less a small discount, so no amazing bargains. Further plus points include removing the uncertainty, and the fact they trade, so an unwanted watch in your collection can help you score a win. also, instant gratification = priceless. and finally, you have to remember they only take cash...
I don't doubt there are many watches out there that can be had in shows, fairs and flea markets but the question for me is how will my time be best spent and it ebay is still the best bet in this respect. Also I don't know how many high grade vintage omegas can be had in these settings and at this point, I am trying to be more and more selective about what I pursue.
Anyone ever go to "Specialist Watch/Clock" auctions? I thought this 105.003 went for a very reasonable price last month; considering it was Bonhams . http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/198...lse&page_anchor=q1_1=speedmaster&m1=1&b1=list Someone was there and told me it had it's 7912 bracelet and #6 endlinks. On the flipside I'd have been disappointed, as the seller, that Bonhams didn't even list the 7912/#6's and only had one photo on the internet. Before buyers premium the hammer price was GBP 2,000 and there would have been sellers fees to come off of that too.
