Important – Please Read

 

Especially if you are new to watch collecting. Sydney Watches Pty Ltd is a licensed second-hand dealer. We buy and sell preowned watches. Yes, many of them are in like-new condition, and some even still unwrapped, but technically and legally, they are all second-hand goods. If you are an existing customer or a long-time subscriber, you already know how proud I am of what I do. Finding fine preowned stock at the right price is extremely difficult. My service to watch collectors is highly valued, and over the past 30 years, I’ve sold more than 10,000 high-grade preowned watches. That is actually a conservative estimate. The bottom line is simple: I know what I’m doing, I’ve been doing it for decades, and I’m happy to continue selling second-hand watches. All watches offered are 100% genuine. Selling replicas or fake watches is illegal in Australia—and even if it weren’t, I would never sell fakes.   A common question: How old is the watch? Before I answer, let me make one important point: to me, age is almost irrelevant. What truly matters is condition. A five-year-old watch in unworn, like-new condition is worth more than a one-year-old watch that has been heavily worn. However, to a novice collector—or especially to a first-time buyer—this may not be obvious. It’s natural to focus on age: the newer, the better. Most buyers are happy to learn otherwise, and after a bit of “education” and a few examples, their focus shifts to condition. However, some buyers remain fixated on age, and age only. If that’s you, you’ll be better off buying a brand-new watch from an authorised dealer. Nothing beats a brand-new watch.   Determining the age of a preowned watch The only reliable and legally valid way to determine the age of a preowned watch is by referring to the date of sale recorded on the warranty card—filled in by the manufacturer or authorised dealer. In reality, watches on the preowned market typically fall into one of three categories: Watch only – no warranty card or receipt/invoice (“no papers”). Watch with warranty card – but no date of sale recorded (“open papers”). Watch with warranty card and date of sale recorded (“with papers”). Here is an example open papers warranty and one showing the actual date of sale:

In the first two cases, it’s not possible to determine the exact age of the watch. Instead, I provide an estimate based on several factors. In such cases, we usually refer to the watch as being manufactured within a certain period—often a span of 5–10 years or a decade—rather than in a specific year.   1. Should you buy a watch with no papers? That’s entirely up to you. Often, a watch without papers is cheaper than an identical model with papers. Booklets, warranty cards, invoices, and valuations are often stored separately from the watch—and sometimes they’re simply lost, discarded, or “safely stored” and never found again. For most buyers, papers are far less important than overall condition. 2. Watches with open papers Watches with open papers (no date of sale recorded) are less common today than they were 10 or 20 years ago, but many are still in circulation. In the past, authorised dealers were often willing to leave the date blank at the customer’s request. I’ve seen open papers from Rolex, Omega, IWC and Cartier—you name it—and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

3. Watches with papers and factory warranty A common question: How much of the manufacturer’s warranty is left? For example: if Omega offers a 5-year warranty on a new watch, and the watch is now 2 years old, is it still covered for another 3 years? The honest answer: I don’t know—and I don’t care. Remember, I am a second-hand dealer. I provide my own 1-year warranty on all watches I sell. I don’t represent Omega, and I can’t guarantee whether they will honour their international warranty obligation in cases of transferred ownership. If they do—fantastic. If they don’t—then perhaps you should buy a brand-new watch directly from Omega instead of a preowned one.

In conclusion, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. New watches: full price, full factory warranty. Preowned watches: savings, one-year dealer warranty.