My name is David Adison. I am a watchmaker by trade, or is it a watch repairer now, no, sorry I think we are called watch technicians, well the new breed are anyway.
I studied Horology (watch making) at Hackney College in Bethnal Green, London and at my time there I learned various skills such as watch repairing-Quartz and mechanical, clock repairing and restoration, technical drawing and even maths.
I sat and passed all my British Horological Institute exams which consisted of the theory of watch and clock repairs, a practical exam in which I had to hand make various watch and clock parts out of blocks of brass and steel and finally a technical drawing exam.
I therefore became a C.M.B.H.I (Craft Member of the British Horological Institute). Why am I telling you this? It’s not that I like blowing my own trumpet, it’s because the advice I am going to give you is not an opinion, and it is solid professional advice. I’m not going to make it so technical you don’t understand what I am talking about.
I have been buying, repairing and selling second hand watches for twenty one years now and I am going to guide you through what to do and look out for when buying a watch in easy to understand steps and actions, which will stop some dodgy dealer selling you a watch that looks in good condition but in actual fact is unrepairable.
Before I continue I am aiming this blog at the hobbyist or enthusiast who has an interest in watches and may have some tools. When you go out looking for a watch to buy, please take two things, an eye glass and a case knife.
Right all that said lets set the scenario:
You want to buy a watch, you’ve got CASH in your pocket (not a card) because what ever happens you are NOT paying the price on the ticket and you can’t barter with a card.
You are looking round the stalls at an antiques market and you spot a gold coloured Gents watch, round in appearance and on a leather strap. It may look like a real gold watch but, if it’s not in a cabinet with the more expensive watches and jewellery items it probably is gold plated. The quickest way to check this is turn it over, if the case back is steel it is gold plated and although there are many expensive gold plated watches put it down because we are after a nice gold watch for you to keep or sell.
Ok, you’ve turned the watch over and the back is gold colour. (It goes without saying that you have looked at the price ticket and its well in your price range, if it’s not put it down). Now get your eye glass out and look for a hall mark. This is a little row of stamped images like a lion or a shield and a small engraved box with a number in it, if the number is 375 it is 9 carat gold, if it says 750 it's 18 carat gold. Don’t worry if you can’t see anything because most of the time the hall mark is on the inside of the case back.
There are many types of case back, they are either round or shaped. If the back is round and has about eight little square grooves all equally spaced around the edges, it is a screw down back. If the case back is not round, maybe rectangular or “cushion shaped” it will be a snap on back.
Look with your eye glass at the condition of the glass. Is it made of glass or plastic? How do you tell? There are a few quick ways. One is to look closely at a scratch with your eye glass, if the edges of the scratch itself are rough its glass, if they are smooth it’s plastic. Another way is to tap the glass on your tooth because it makes a distinctive noise compared to plastic (this way might be classed as a bit grim, you don’t know where the watch has been and some people watching may think you’re a complete Looney). I only tell you this because the scratches on plastic glasses can be polished out, they can’t on real glass.
Look closely at the actual dial of the watch. Most people mistake marks on the dial for marks on the glass so when the glass is changes the marks are still there. I will not go in to names on dials because there are so many of them but basically if it says Timex don’t bother, walk away.
Personally if I see any watch with I.W.C or International Watch Company written on the dial, unless it’s a complete lump of rust, I will buy it because not a lot of people know that I.W.C watches are top quality and can fetch big money.
Now to the button (winder or crown) check the condition of the grooves on it, they are normally very worn and so the button will need replacing, don’t worry it’s a piece of cake to do. Try to wind the watch up, if it winds for a bit then stops that’s o.k. it means the watch has been going and the Mainspring is not broken. If it constantly keeps winding it means the Mainspring is broken, again not a big problem. just to confuse you, if the watch is automatic it will constantly keep winding so look for "automatic" written on the dial.
Pull the button out in to the hand set position and turn it to make sure the hands are turning freely and the hand turning mechanism is not rusted or broken. Push the button back in. Put the watch to your ear, if it’s ticking great, if it isn’t you need to see inside.
Never just open a watch, always ask the trader if you can do it, or even better ask him to do it, then if anything happens it’s his fault and you won’t have to pay for it. If you’re confident enough to open it yourself look for a small cut out around the side of the watch with your eye glass. The cut out is normally found at the opposite side it the button but it can be anywhere. If it’s next to one of the case lugs (the four legs of the watch that the strap fits on) be very,very careful, if you lever against the case lugs they can break off and that’s big problems.
Open your case knife, put it in to the cut out, then gently push and turn slightly, a gold case should open quite easily. If it’s proving difficult to open be warned, if the back should suddenly open, the knife can slip right across the movement and cause major damage. Or on the other hand, you could slip across the actual case back before it opens putting a massive scratch in it. If the dealer sees you do this you may have to purchase it.
Ok, the back is off the watch. Hold the watch by the sides of the case. Don’t touch the movement. If the watch is working you should only see one major part moving, this is called the balance wheel and it is a wheel attached a staff with very fine pivots. There is also a circular spring that sits directly on top of the balance wheel which makes it swing back and forth. Hold the watch in a few different positions (like have the button of the watch facing up,then down etc)to make sure the balance swings freely and does not stop.
I can’t tell you how to spot any other faults with out getting too technical. If the balance wheel does not swing it could be a few different things, there maybe dirt blocking it so it will need to be cleaned or the balance staff may be broken, and this can be expensive.
Right, you’ve found a watch that is working and you like it, put the case back on, have another look around it with your eye glass for wear on the case. A traders’ favourite is to stick the price ticket over any big dents or scratches so look out for that one.
As for making an offer that’s down to you, I can’t really tell you how to go about it, all I can say is if you would be happy paying the price on the ticket, offer about one third less, the dealer will probably say no but should come back with a lower price, you say no and hopefully you both can meet in the middle.
I hope this advice was helpful to you, good watch hunting.
Top ten most expensive watches in the world:
1. Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon- Price: $1.49 million
2. Vacheron Constantin Tour de l'Ile- Price: $1.4 million
3. Hublot One Million $ Black Caviar Bang- Price: $1 million
4. Louis Moinet Magistralis- Price: $868,000
5. Blancpain 1735, Grande Complication- Price: $800,000
6. Breguet pocket watch 1907BA/12- Price: $734,000
7. Audemars Piguet Grande Complication- Price: $526,000
8. Ulysse Nardin Genghis Khan watch -Price: $490,000
9. Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Westminster- Price: $334,000
10. Girard-Perregaux Opera Three watch- Price: $316,000
These next watches are all very high quality brands with one thing in common, they all have had cheap copies made, mostly with Japanese movements.
Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Breguet, Breitling, Cartier, Omega,Rado, Chopard, Vacheron Constantin, I.W.C., Patek Philippe,
Jaeger LeCoultre and Mont Blank are to name just a few.
David.
Thursday, 11 June 2009
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