Basket of snakes
I have bought plenty of vintage watches online. I have made mistakes. Lessons have been learned, etc...
One lesson, on eBay at least, is to see what the seller's reputation is scored. The seller of this vintage "Seiko" has a satisfaction rating of 100%. With over 500 sales this person has delivered the goods, so to speak. Looking at what they sell, however, it appears to be mostly things other than watches. People have been satisfied with their vintage t-shirts.
Another lesson is to gravitate towards listings where the movement is shown. A clean movement, even one that needs servicing, is the goal. Another reason for seeing the movement is to determine what it is in case you need to source parts. Most Schild or Sellita movements are easy to find parts for if necessary.
Usually, a seller that won't show the movement is either hiding something, or lacks the knowledge or tools to let you see. Experienced watch sellers always show movements.
This seller had the ability to show the movement and clearly did not want to hide anything. But, that movement tells you that this watch is not a vintage Seiko. This seller does not know what they are looking at or this photo would never have been part of the listing.
Now, maybe one of you thinks that in the 1960's Seiko outsourced one-jewel pin pallets to a Swiss movement maker. The burden is on you to show me where they ever did that. My theory is that this is a Buler that has been cleverly painted.
Caveat emptor, buying vintage online is a basket of snakes.
Restitutor Orbis. Aristocrat of beauty. Autocrat of time. (Trying to perfect trolling over at theescapementroom.com)
At least it's spelt 'rite'😆😆
Was this one of the sellers based in India?
Was this one of the sellers based in India?
No, right here in the US of A.
Nice ... about as legit as the SNK mods I see advertised as vintage.
I went through a stage of wanting a vintage Strela, as old as I could possibly get. I was fascinated by the old Venus movement they had acquired for the watches.
But the more research I did the more pit falls I found. I had to educate myself on all the various give-aways in the movement that indicated its age, if it had been altered to appear older than it was, if the movement had been poorly restored. It was an absolute minefield and took so much time that in the end I was like...
...and that I had better things to do with my life. If I decide I want a Strela or other vintage piece in the future I will follow your advice and buy the seller.
(....and pester you for your opinion 😁👍)
I've said this before, and I will say it again: Someone really needs to do a Seiko movment book, not me though.
Seiko Swiss Made One1Jewel Unadjusted - seems legit
Seiko Swiss Made One1Jewel Unadjusted - seems legit
That's got to be a Buler, right? Here is the dial:
That's got to be a Buler, right? Here is the dial:
Classic pin-pallet - I’m running, why aren’t you following!?
No, right here in the US of A.
Scammers the lot of them 🤣
That's got to be a Buler, right? Here is the dial:
I had one very similar to the one pictured. I can’t remember the movement number exactly and I can’t have a look at my folder of sold watches, which would have a picture of the movement, I’m at work.
But from memory it was a 76- - something movement inside that watch originally.
Hey if it still runs and keeps decent time, what’s to complain about. So long as you got the watch for $10 🤣