What decides the price
- Brand and reference. The model number, usually inside the case back or between the lugs, tells a buyer exactly what it is.
- The dial and hands. Original, even with a little patina, is worth more than a later replacement or a repaint.
- The case. Sharp edges are worth more than a case that has been polished round.
- The movement. Does it run, and does it keep time? When was it last serviced?
- Box, papers and receipts. They prove where a watch has been and add to its value.
Watches people look for
The Omega Speedmaster was declared flight-qualified by NASA on 1 March 1965 and went to the moon on Apollo 11 in 1969. Older Omega Seamasters and Constellations are wanted too. Early Seiko automatics, Rolex sports and dress models, and the first digital watches, such as Casio G-Shocks, have their own following. A simple quartz watch is worth less, but a whole drawer of them can still be worth something together.
Where you can sell it
- A watch dealer or jeweller. Quick, often after a look under a loupe.
- At auction. For important references and watches with a known history.
- A marketplace. The widest audience, but fakes make buyers wary, and you carry the risk.
- Unseend. One estimate, paid in your own currency, from anywhere. Expensive watches are always judged by hand, by a person.
How it works with us
Photograph the dial straight on, the case back, the clasp and any papers. You get an estimate; within the EU we send a free, insured label, and from outside the EU we agree the price first and arrange the customs papers. We check the watch when it arrives. If it is as described we pay; if something is different we talk it through or send it back free. Like every buyer of used goods, we record purchases as the law requires; that information is kept safely and never shared.
Before you send it
- Do not polish the case or the bracelet.
- Do not open the back.
- Keep extra links, the box and any receipts together with the watch.