Sponsored Post written by watch industry retail veteran Tom Pozsgay from WP Diamonds.

With many years of experience buying and selling watches in the back pocket, I get inquiries often regarding the state of the pre-owned watch business. One of the most commonly asked questions is “How has it changed?” As with many things, a true-life story illustrates the answer best.

Having been involved in the pre-owned watch market for over thirty years, I have witnessed the many changes that have come with the buying and selling of high end, pre-owned watches. I always smile when thinking back to how naïve and innocent we all were in this new industry, when it emerged in the 1980’s. Then, buying and selling used watches was a new phenomenon… people would look and say, “you actually buy used watches?”

What we did not realize at the time was that better quality luxury watches already had a ready-made market. Unfortunately, buying was quite tricky. There were no metrics or history of what watches would actually sell for. The auction market was just waking up to the fact that the public was interested in purchasing luxury timepieces.

Once, a customer came in with an old Rolex, model number 6062, and during inspection we discovered the dial was muddled and had spots on it. What was even more interesting was that instead of numbers, it had stars. There was a moon phase, a day of the week, the month, and a date indicator. We never saw a Rolex quite like this before. After taking the watch to an older watchmaker we worked with, he authenticated it as a genuine Rolex. Made in the 1950s, and never a big seller, he looked at the movement and confirmed it was made of 100% Rolex parts. Ok, this was a genuine Rolex. The big question was, “How much do we offer the gentleman for this watch?” To answer, we pondered how much we thought it could sell it for. The dial was spotted and muddled, and probably few people would look at the watch. Back then, the Rolex President was all the rage, followed by the steel and gold models. So after going back to the watchmaker for an estimate on what a cleaning and oiling would cost, as well as his opinion on what the watch could sell for, $5,000 became the estimated sale price. We offered $4,000 for the watch, which the gentleman agreed to. That was how we bought and sold watches thirty years ago. Today, the same Rolex 6062 with a star dial auctions at over $200,000… how the market has changed!

Recently, a customer submitted an old Rolex model 6350 from 1954 for an evaluation. It immediately caught my eye as soon as I saw it, since it had “Explorer” on the dial. This model is highly desirable in the collectors’ market, but much depends on the condition of the watch and whether everything matches. Questions remained: were all the parts genuine Rolex, or was it cobbled together (or, as I like to call it, a “Frankensteined watch”), what condition was the case in, what condition was the movement in, and was the dial refinished? A very wide range was given for the client’s watch, covering best to worst-case scenarios. We explained the reasons for the wide range, and he agreed to send in the watch for further evaluation. To our great surprise, the watch was in very good shape and with all the correct parts, including a genuine dial that had not been re-lumed. The only downside was that it did not have the honeycomb dial, which would make it even more collectible. We contacted the customer and offered him the top part of the range. The customer was extremely pleased, telling us that he had taken the watch to a few shops in his area, all of who quoted prices at least 50% lower than the low end of our range. Needless to say, after he sold us the watch and we overhauled the movement with an authorized Rolex watchmaker, we resold the watch quickly.

To this day, the explosion of the digital age, and the sheer amount of information on the net truly amazes me. At WP Diamonds, our watch department extensively researches each and every watch offered to us, thereby assuring our clients receive a fair value for their timepiece. We constantly examine the worldwide market of “what’s hot,” as well as what is falling out of favor. After receiving an inquiry from a customer selling their timepiece, we immediately research what the item is selling for, what the auction prices are bringing etc. We then estimate a value, and if the customer accepts it, we send a pre-paid shipping label, fully insuring the watch they send. Once we receive the watch, our team assesses condition and repairs, if needed. After the watch is authenticated in person, an offer is determined, and a team member calls the client directly to discuss the breakdown of the offer in detail. If accepted, WP Diamonds sends payment immediately via wire transfer or an overnight check.

Thirty years ago, we were flying by the seat of our pants. The market was in its infancy, without provenance for comparison. Price determination today is based on facts, condition, and comparable sales values, protecting the consumer with a methodical and research-based approach.