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Where do we buy our broken watches?

JoeJBP
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JoeJBP Watch Enthusiast

JoeJBP

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I'm sure that we all use eBay, but where else does everyone get their watches to repair from? 

It seems to me that the Internet has left the vintage watch world behind, though perhaps there are some websites that aren't so easy to find but have those gems that we are all looking for. 

I will kick things off with this one http://www.millsys-watch.co.uk

i haven't bought from here but they have a watches for projects section and the prices seem ok. 

 

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anilv Distinguished Member

anilv

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When I used to travel to India, I would search out the smaller roadside watch shops and ask them if they had any old watches for sale. They would readily pull out their 'stash' and I would select and buy what interested me.

After a while I got a bit wiser and I would just put a price on whatever he pulled out...e.g. I'll give you 10bucks for the lot and start bargaining from there. I had to throw away a lot of junk tho'. India has some pretty cool watch bands which I believe are made locally...but the ones I picked up were usually too small..(not many big size people in India).

I used to go to Bombay quite often and the dude who drove us atiund soon caught on to my interest and pretty soon he was bringing in watches for me. Those that he brought in were usually better in the sense that he'd probably gotten them from a friend or relative and it looked like it had spent a tone in a drawer after it had stopped working. A bit more expensive than the junk from the shops but still cheap..

MostlyCitizen and Seikos but a good mix of Swiss watches as well.

Another thing I do is whenever I'm in a foreign city I walk a lot and keep my eyes open. Areas around the wet market  (in South east Asia at least) usually have someone repairing watches and they usually have used watches. I was in Krabi Thailand a few years ago and I happened upon a roadside watch repair stall. I asked him if he had any watches for sale but he only had some quartz junk. He did call his friend and he came by a few minutes later. After finding out what I was looking for he left and came back an hour later with some swiss watches including a nice steel omega and a rado diaster and a few Mido watches. Price was cheap....not dirt cheap but quite acceptable.

Flea markets are ok but stay away from watch vendors as they know their stuff. Head for those guys who have a bit of everything...

Weirdest buy was a mantle clock which I spotted in a nursing home run by the Catholic Church. I was in a cabinet with a lot of stuff for sale. I asked the nun and she she didn't know how much to price it. I ended up giving her MYR100 (around. USD30 at the time) and she got a shock!..could probably have gotten it wayy cheaper but treated it as a  donation..

Main thing is keep your eyes open, bargains are still out there!

Anil

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szbalogh Super WRT Addict

szbalogh

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Once i ordered from this site: http://www.speedtimerkollektion.com/

I think they are in Spain, the shipping was fast. Mostly Seiko parts but i ordered an old Seagull ST-6 movement for parts. They are also on the bay with the same name.

Indian sellers on e-bay also selling watch movement lots. Since the shipping is free this might be a good source for spare parts. 

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JoeJBP Watch Enthusiast

JoeJBP

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Yes I've ordered from Speedtimerkollektion too. They have lots of Japanese movements and spares. Very good service as well. 

Anilv, buying from someone in person has to be the best way, traveling and finding those sorts of sellers must be great. 

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anilv Distinguished Member

anilv

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Yeah..but when you meet someone personally it gets hard to drive a bargain.

Example...USD10 for a mix bag of fixer uppers may seem a bit steep, but when you step back and think about it, that USD10 could probably feed his family for a month. 1 or 2 bucks seem pretty insignificant.

Anilv

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WileyDave WRT Addict

WileyDave

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On ‎5‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 4:01 PM, HorologicalHobby said:

I'd love a location in the states. Often shipping costs from Europe are more than the cost of a watch!

Found some decent deals on US Goodwill.com, its auction type site, but lately some plain watches are going for

above what you'd pay on the bay. e.g. http://www.shopgoodwill.com/auctions/Seiko-Mens-17-Jewel-Automatic-Watch-7005-7089-30271842.html

last count this was at $37 usd, probably can get on bay for ~$15-20, one of the members on this site suggested they were "shilling" to push up prices, which in this case, I am inclined to agree.

Here is an example of a more desirable watch http://www.shopgoodwill.com/auctions/OMEGA-Constellation-Automatic-24j-Mens-Watch-30394555.html but is it worth +$500? My pockets are not that deep!

Sometimes you'll find a good auto or quartz chrono for cheap, because the selling store just doesn't know what they have, they don't do research, just takes a lot of time to search. Since Goodwill is a non profit, I claim purchases as donation on my taxes. I am not endorsing this site, like anything you must use your best judgement.

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