Buying a pre-owned Cartier Santos

With my budget, I almost always go used for higher-end pieces and then polish it up if needed. Just make sure that you are buying from someone reputable. 

Have you considered an earlier vintage santos? got this bad boy for £2.5k ish. Less of a scratch magnet than the modern refs.

I’m also planning this as my next purchase. I’m going to go straight to the AD and get a fresh one from the back. 
 

I want to enjoy the glorious scratch-free bezel for a few minutes at least! Before the inevitable… 

What if you could get one for 1.5k less with a few scratches, and forget the whole AD, glass of champagne and smille experience.

Recently bagged a green dial Seamaster 300 from the AD, and Omega gave me a phenomenal buying experience. Truly brilliant, however I forgo all that if someone told me I could get for 1.5k less immediately 

I have the medium and it’s a stunning watch. Yes, its bezel surface will scratch. For the minimal spread on new vs used, I’d buy new. You may be able to get a couple hundred off depending on AD. Try it on and wear it a bit. The bracelet, while innovative isn’t for everyone as finding the right fit was a challenge to me. Sometimes it’s sharp and digs into my wrist, other times too loose.  The beauty of it is it looks great on leather too.

No! All the scratches must be mine. Only I’m allowed to scratch away £6k of my money 😂😩

In all seriousness, 1.5k is a lot of money and if you’re happy to adopt a few scratches then go for it! I personally would only want to buy from new if I know the watch is one I’ll keep forever. 
If it was a piece I planned to enjoy for a while and move on then I don’t mind getting a used one. 

With watches at that price point I am happy to take the discount and use the money I saved up buy another watch at a lower price point. 

That way you have two watches that you will feel great about.  

I had the same concern when I was looking for a Santos. Every photo I saw seemed to show bezel scratches unless the watch was brand new. I also had an issue with the size. I initially wanted the blue dial version, which is only available in the Large size, and I was worried it would be too big for my 17cm wrist. The nearest Cartier AD is over 1,000KM away from me, so I didn't have the luxury of being able to compare sizes. One of the members of our local watch enthusiast group happened to bring his new WSSA0037 to a get together, so I had a chance to see it and try it on. I fell in love with it the moment I tried it on, and decided that the size was great for me, and the ADLC bezel would address the issue with scratches. I also decided that I preferred the black dial version over the blue, so I immediately ordered one for myself, and am very glad I did.  I've had mine for over 10 months, and it still looks brand new. It's part of my regular rotation, so it doesn't see daily wear, although I did wear it pretty much every day for the first few weeks after I bought it. At the time I purchased mine, there were no bargains to be had by buying pre-owned. That has since changed, but the savings aren't huge. The Medium version has been around longer, so there are probably better deals on the pre-owned market, but you have to consider the fact that you'll probably be able to get a discount from the AD (I got about 12% off).  I would normally suggest buying pre-owned when there are substantial savings, but in situations where the savings are marginal, I prefer the peace of mind that comes from buying a brand new watch in pristine condition from an authorized dealer.

Looking just now on Chrono24, best new price is $6295. Best used price is $5900. At that difference, I’d go new. 

https://chrono24.app/cartier/santos-de-cartier-medium--id26290305.htm?SETLANG=en_GB&SETCURR=GBP

Spotted this 3yr old example on Chrono24, pre-owned with minimal scratches 

Do you think I could walk into a Cartier Authorised Dealer and ask for a discount?

.... or should am I more likely to get one from a Cartier Boutique