Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

I've been trying to acquire a decent set of high quality jewels for some time so that I wouldn't have to wait for weeks for delivery of single jewels. So, yesterday I found an interesting offer on eBay for $700 but felt it to be too expensive, especially comparing it to similar sold items. The offer was for 2000+ jewels and as you can see in the pictures a few extra bottles with what looks like hundreds of jewels, so I suspected that some or perhaps even many of the jewels might be cheap unbranded Indian jewels. For this reason I made the seller an offer of $350 and was counter offered $600. At that point I really felt that I needed to know a whole lot more about what I was buying and sent the seller a friendly message, and here is what followed (I think you'll find it pretty hilarious, at least I did):

------------------------------------------------
VWatchie:

Thank you for your counter offer! Before I consider your offer I need to know that all 2000+ jewels are genuine Seitz/Swiss jewels? The reason I need to ask this is that 5000 jewels can be bought for as little as USD $50 from India, and I see that some of the bottles in your box contain hundreds of jewels that perhaps may not be Seitz/Swiss? Also, these boxes come up from time to time on eBay and have sold for quite a bit less (not so many jewels, but genuine Seitz jewels) Thank you and kind regards!

VWatchie:

Hello again!

I did some research and believe I found a couple of the bottles in your set. You can see them here: https://www.cousinsuk.com/category/jewels-pallet-endstone-jewel-holes They are just approx. $5 each and I would expect from India. Anyway, I could very well be wrong, but if I'm right I'm afraid your set might be overpriced. Again, I might be wrong so I shall wait for your reply before I make up my mind about your counter offer. Kind regards.

anticxander (seller):

No, I can not confirm that all of them are Seitz ... of course. Actually you can see that some envelopes are german RF and the unbranded ones I have no idea what they are. On the other side if I knew for sure all 2000 pieces were Seitz, you can rest assured I would have asked way more than $699.

This is not the first set I sell on ebay (with similar volume and similar variety) for this amount of money, so I'm not really interested in any opinions about how high/low the price is. If you think/know you can find it cheaper, go ahead and buy it somewhere else.

Cheers!

anticxander (seller):

As I said before, I'm not interested in price opinions, so please stop..
If you did this 'research' I'm sure you've also found the entire Seitz set of 540 pieces https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/jewel-set-seitz sold on cousins for £1,495.00

VWatchie:

Thanks for your quick reply!

OK, I understand, so would you agree it to be fair to assume that the unbranded jewels are cheap Indian jewels? How many jewels are in the set if you subtract the unbranded jewels? Searching for sold similar items here on eBay I think your asking price is fair if you could guarantee 2000+ Swiss/German jewels.

Oh, just noticed you retracted your offer. Anyway, thank you for your time and good luck with your sale!

anticxander (seller):

Although I don't like to repeat myself, I will do it once (just for you): I have no idea what brand(s) those jewels are, so I can not say they are indian ... more than that I've never bought things from India (I only buy and collect from renowned watchmakers countries like Germany, Switzerland, France).

Yeah I've retracted the offer and also blocked you, because (apart of the fact I don't really have time to waste) I don't need customers like yourself.

Best regards and good luck finding whatever you're looking for!

------------------------------------------------

This "friendly conversation" aroused my curiosity, so I checked out his other offerings and found this amazing "ETA Unitas 6498 Military Wristwatch" on offering for just USD $799. Now, promise not to start any fights over it! After all, the seller has 100 % positive feedback, so I'm sure it must be a steal.

  • Haha 1
Posted

I've just looked at the other watch stock and tools he has for sale. Talk about over priced. He has cheap unbranded watch buttons some look used for $100.  I think I would have told him to stuff those jewels where the sun don't shine.  

  • Haha 1
Posted (edited)
50 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

I think I would have told him to stuff those jewels where the sun don't shine.

Yep, I think that would have been the perfect location to store those precious items! ?

It just amazes me that people with this level of aggressiveness and prices get anything sold.

Oh, and I must mention that I'm in awe of the hands on that military wristwatch for just $799 that he has on sale. The match with the dial is just a dream come true. Perfection!

Edited by VWatchie

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Thanks for this post MikePilk, I just came across a similar problem with an Omega 1022.  The problem I had was the seconds pinion spring was bent out of shape and did not even engage with the wheel properly, so the seconds hand was not moving at all. (no power loss though :) I removed the automatic module so I could access the spring and work on it. Once I bent it back close to the right shape, I experienced the same problem you reported about power loss.  Many tweaks later, and the seconds hand is moving properly again, with amplitude back to good numbers again. Cheers
    • After cleaning up the pivots, I made bushes on the lathe. At this point I've pressed in 6 bushes (3 sets) and the wheels turn smooth. What I can also tell you, is that I'm not looking forward to final assembly. Getting the pivots aligned seems to get exponentially more difficult with each wheel that is added.
    • Islands are interesting places to live depending upon their size and other factors. This is a bigger island and it has a bridge to get there at least on one end. It's also big enough that you don't have to go someplace else to get things typically. It can be a problem if you get a job in Seattle though. Yes I've known of people who commuted from the island to Seattle for a job and I don't quite remember how many hours it took but it took a long time. So basically islands are nice if you don't have to leave very often.
    • Thanks @JohnR725! Everything you say makes a lot of sense and is encouraging to read.
    • isn't it nice to have a decent case open or when the case doesn't want to be opened? In the case of a Rolex watch that supposed to pass specific water resistant testing you probably do need to tighten the back down. But they shouldn't be tightened so much that they risk stripping the threads out. Then the other problem that comes up is the gaskets can start to disintegrate and then getting the back off can be quite a challenge unless you have a really good tool and perhaps some penetrating oil to loosen things up. Yes really nice case marking. When I was in school we were taught to mark the cases and  the American watch and clockmakers Institute even had a? So if you joined at one time they would give you an identification number. They were explaining or giving an example of if the watches ever found in you have a unique number they can perhaps figure out the history of the watch or identify the body it's attached to for instance not that that probably comes up that often. So you got a unique number and even made a special metal stamp that you can purchase. It wasn't a super big aggressive stamp but still it left a mark in the back of the case. Then I heard from people at work on Rolex watches they were using a felt pen indelible but later on they decided that was bad because apparently the ink could release  chemicals although it seems like once it's dry that shouldn't be an issue. Then of course today was nice is you can keep computer records sealed have to mark anything at all I personally find it's best to leave no reference behind that you were even there. Especially when you have a beautiful watch that has no markings at all and now it has your scribbling all over it not good typically if there is a typical and watch repair?  a lot of minor repairs you don't need to do a complete servicing. But beyond a certain point you're going to have to take apart a lot of stuff you're going to disrupt the lubrication even if it looks perfect right now and yes you might as well just go ahead the service the whole thing. also in a watch like this where a lot of things seem to be going on the complete service would be better then you'll know exactly where you stand versus dealing with unknown mysteries for prior repair.
×
×
  • Create New...