I almost pulled the trigger on a Chronomètre Bleu a couple of years ago but just couldn't justify the $30k price tag. Now I'm not seeing any under $170k!

What explains the crazy jump? Am seriously regretting that decision right now.

I'm curious if any of my counterpart Collective members have experienced wanting to like and own a "coveted" or esteemed brand but never warming up to it.

I have tried on more Cartier than I can recall and even gifted my daughter one (she is pleased). Try as I might, I realize they are not for me. Any Santos, Ballon Bleu, Pasha, Roadster... damn. Historic brand, stellar engineering, craftsmanship, classic designs, handsome, two-tone, rectangular, vintage looks ... doesn't matter. I know Fed worked for them and has great things to say and I suspect many enjoy their Cartier pieces.

Just for kicks, has anyone experienced similar "Meh, me no like," feelings about a premium brand? I suspect the Crown engenders similar feelings too, although that I kinda get with the hype, "scarcity," AD games, etc.

I’m on the hunt for one of my grails: a 16520 Daytona Zenith white dial, ideally from the late ’90’s. It’s a GOAT watch for me and represents an incredible time in my life so I’m locked in on this being a watch I want.

This watch isn't impossible to find....there are listings in a few places so I have options and am in no hurry to find the right deal. However....

I found the below listing from Maximiliano at MVV watches. I know he comes highly recommended on the Rolex Forums site and posts watches for sale often. Many recommend his MVV site for vintage watches, too. So, I believe he has solid credentials.

His watch is a new old stock ’99 16520, white dial, A-serial (right in the wheelhouse) and looks incredible. Feels like it would be tough to top this one. Trouble is, it’s $38,000….way above typical secondary prices of high $20’s/low $30k but that’s clearly the new old stock value talking.

What do you think about this?

FWIW, once I find this grail watch, I’m going to wear it, not baby it, and pass it it to one of my kids someday. Given that, should I just be hunting a solid version of the 16520 in the high $20s range? Is this new old stock premium outrageous? Or is it worth it b/c they’re so hard to come by in this condition?

WWYD?

Appreciate any insights!

https://www.mvvwatches.com/watches-2/p/1999-rolex-zenith-daytona-ref-16520-white-dial-new-old-stock-box-and-papers

In the interest of sharing watch content, John Buckley (from legendary Rolex Buckley Dial fame, obviously) has been doing daily live streams from his Tuscany Rose social media platforms on TikTok, YouTube & Facebook and I've really enjoyed them. There's not much to it, he goes live for exactly 1 hour every morning 7am-8am EST and just reacts/answers questions and comments from people. A lot of it can be nonsense but I find fantastic nuggets of wisdom and advice on every stream. Most of it is him complaining about the industry but I find that interesting, too.

He's a delightfully charming & sometimes ornery guy but a 100% straight-shooter about the industry, 47th St, vintage vs. modern, etc. Leans heavy to Rolex but comments on other stuff, too.

He's also a fan of Fed (I know because I asked him!) so thought I would share his stream if anyone is interested in hearing from one of the legends. Maybe Fed has some stories too.

Link to the Tuscany Rose youtube page if you're interested:

https://www.youtube.com/@tuscanyrosemedia/featured

Hey FTW community! Very excited to be here. I'm pretty new to the "lifestyle" but am really getting addicted to learning as much as I can about watches and horology in general. I inherited an 80's sub from my father and it set me on the path. I'm partial to watches that are tough daily drivers (I always forget to check my wrist before getting in the shower) and have added a couple of beautiful but fairly inexpensive watches to my my drawer (Oris, Rado) and am really happy with them. I drool over the daily listings in the dealer market and feel like I need to expand my horizons a bit from dive/tool watches. Any recommendations on something a bit dressier/less divey that will be a good next addition? Ideally my budget would be $5k-$6k. I've been browsing German traditional houses and love the aesthetic but am totally open to suggestions. Thanks so much!

Local AD told me today they were informed by Rolex that no more orders accepted for the Pepsi GMT-Master II Reference 126710BLRO.

Might be old news to many of you as I have read this multiple times, but today was the first comment from an AD.

Still on the Rolex website though.

Compliments of the FTW Marketplace:

The Jules came in near mint condition and doesn't look like an 11 year old watch. The strap was either swapped out, or the watch was barely ever worn. Pictures cannot adequately capture the depth of the sunburst on the white-gold dial--it's stunning to look at.

The Overseas was my grail, 'nuff said. I'm done for a while, guys. I'll be strictly window shopping while cheering on the watches that you score here and elsewhere. I've said it before and will say it again: the watches I have picked up here, I hadn't previously envisioned as being 'attainable' in the sense of getting back outstanding value for the dollar. It has been truly eye-opening to have access to the inventory listed here at their price levels.

Thank you, Fed, for doing this. I'm all in.

Stephen

What level of service should I expect from a reputable dealer in terms of servicing a watch prior to putting it up for sale? Many watches have a few nicks, scratches, wear on straps etc. That's part of the deal. However, I'm wondering if it's fair to expect a full service and regulation prior to sale?

Most interested in Patek, VC, Breguet - in the >10k$ range.

Thoughts?

Many thanks!

A major advantage of this group is involvement of professional dealer in helping members.

I wonder if there could ever be a paid service for a professional dealer such as Fed to review members' watches to help facilitate trade so as to avoid the risk of doing so on our own and also to avoid the detrimental 30-50% haircut we have to endure to trade our watch safely to a dealer. It would probably involve sending the watches in the proposed trade to the dealer for evaluation of the pieces. The dealer could recommend a cash difference for the trade after verifying their providence. If it turns out the trade is no good for one of the members after hearing the recommended trade value, then at least both would end up with an appraisal.

Maybe stupid or far fetched or too much work but I thought it could be an interesting and unique option for the community.

I have a watch listed on C24 and have been in communication with a buyer. He’s really wanting to do the transaction off the c24 platform to avoid hundreds in sales tax and it would also reduce the fee I incur as the seller. Any risks or guidance anyone could provide would be helpful.

Hey guys,

Reverso Tribute Moon is one of my favourites but I never saw it in person or talked to anyone who had any experience with it.

Anyone here willing to share? :)

Best,

D

I think it may be handy for all members to chime in on who they use for service as well as some other details. Please only chime in if you have had first hand experience with the service provider. Please include details such as what you had serviced and if you would recommend or not.

Chronosky Miami- Great indy service center for entry level to mid level watches. I would say from Movado to Breguet. These are your guys, fair prices, and while wait times are not short (1-4 months depending on the piece) this is kind of standard now a days, if not quite a bit shorter than normal.

Swiss Watch Repair Co on Madision Ave in NY- Alkis is a true master watchmaker. Top notch work for all the best brands. Lange, AP, Patek etc... Prices are high and wait times are long (sometimes over a year) but the work is truly top notch and he can accomplish almost anything. Highly recommended for your special watch projects.

Over at my friend's house who's wearing this - had to take a picture to share with the gang.

This one's for you, sopanada! (Had to start a new discussion to include another picture)

I got audited a few years ago, maybe this will help somebody. I had bought a couple of watch from overseas, one person-to-person deal, another from a dealer's own website. Since they were international, I expected to pay import customs duties (this was before the additional Trump tariffs). And of course, no sales tax. They got held up on arrival at customs clearance, as usual. The P2P one took a week, waiting on paperwork from the seller to calculate customs before UPS invoiced me to release it. Dealer one was experienced and got released quicker, DHL paid the customs on my behalf and invoiced me after delivery for the reimbursement plus service fee. 2 years later, I get a notice from the STATE Treasury Department at the local level, not the IRS at the federal level, saying I owe a ton of back taxes on the watches.

Sales tax applies on everything you buy for your own use. Most of the time, the store collects it and pays the state government. And if it wasn't collected (out-of-state and international purchases), the buyer is still technically responsible for it on like an honor system, some states call it a Use or Consumption or Stamp Tax, that you're supposed to file per year of import (could be a line item in your regular taxes, or a separate form for later filing). Uncollected tax is kind of "don't ask, don't tell". Except these international purchases had a paper trail because of the customs import process, documenting the value of what I bought. Dunno if I just go unlucky with the spot-check lottery, or if the Feds are narcing on everyone to the states now. (though something similar happen a decade earlier to a friend importing handbags. some "pre-loved" ones got confiscated/destroyed for lack of CITES tags, others passed thru after paying customs, paper trail lead to sales tax scenario like mine. only difference was her packages were wrapped tight like bricks of powder and got pulled for inspection, initially made me think it only happened to her because she got busted at something, always assumed I'd be ok since mine are documented and not deliberately dodging anything)

So I owed the unpaid sales tax, the interest on all the unpaid days, and a penalty. The penalty is meant to be punitive to really discourage noncompliance, so the total owed was almost double the amount of simply the unpaid tax. I pled ignorance, first offence, etc and negotiated most of the penalty portion away. But the negotiated settlement also has a deadline, missing it means the interest continues to accumulate.

International deals will have different combinations of collected/uncollected State sales/use tax, Federal customs, Federal Trump tariffs. The big platforms like C24 and Ebay already collect tax (and I've seen some ebay listings that will add in customs and/or tariffs too, but not sure I trust their calculations of item origin vs seller origin). But, for example, the folks that won M.A.D. raffles might have exposed liability. Since I already used my Plea Ignorance card, I need to be more mindful in the future.

I wonder if buying something DDP ('Deliver Duties Paid' by seller already, instead of the usual DAP 'Deliver At Place' and buyer pays duties), which may skip the import delay, would mean less or different paper trail. Or just buy domestic, hellooo sweet marketplace!

What was the first mechanical watch you every bought.

Mine was a Rotary Automatic, that looked just like a cartier. Bought it on amazon for $200 it has a 2824.

The first luxury watch I bought was an IWC Vintage Collection Ingenieur! Still regret selling it.

Hey folks - my first post. Newbie to the Forum.

I've heard many people say that watches aren't an investment. It occurs to me that this isn't always the case. Had you established early relationships with makers like Roger Smith, Shapiro, Voutilainen, and the like, you would have done quite well.

So my thought is to choose some young indie watchmakers that I think will have bright futures, get on their waitlists and commission watches. My early research shows that the game is to make a deposit, pay along the way, and expect a 3-5 year time horizon before receiving the watches.

I'm sure I'm not the first to consider this. Would appreciate your thoughts!

Cheers, JA

Hello,

Watch Insurance - how do you approach it? - does it make sense?

thanks for sharing...

Looking for a Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding Pink Rose Gold Blue Dial 4500V/110R-B705 or 4520V

Chrono24 Hong Kong based companies seem to have a lot of very cheap deals lately. Is it simply unwise to buy from them under any circumstance? A deal too good to be true likely is? Is it 15% tarrifs to the US for the swiss watches they sell?

Here's an example: Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph

$20,465

https://www.chrono24.com/vacheronconstantin/overseas-chronograph--id40464630.htm?SETLANG=en_US&SETCURR=USD

What do you make of this company? They do have a website: https://share.google/QCHzgAoTFacXHruQN

Why are Hong Kong watches so cheap lately? Or have they always been and I've not noticed before?

Thx for any advice or guidance