Used/vintage watches from eBay via India
Hi there. Keen to hear WC opinion on watches like this one from eBay - Citizen auto with 8200A movement from who knows when. The rear of the case is difficult to read. The seller has hundreds of Seikos, Citizens etc. $40 delivered is pretty appealing
I've even seen some Oris watches and oddities like Ricoh. Are these legit? They seem quite cheap, seller has a good rep, thousands of transactions etc. I know I'm not going to get a rarity there, but would be keen to get an older watch and practice servicing on it, as well as enjoy the 70s vibe.
Just worried about non-original parts, hands etc, cases polished to buggery, etc...I don't want to buy an old watch just for it to be a frankenmonster, but maybe I'm expecting too much for the money. I'm also curious about where on earth the seller gets so many old watches from 🤷♀️
Thoughts appreciated 👍
Wealthy industrialist, philanthropist, and uhh....bicyclist.
I know they might look very tempting to you,
I know we don't know each other, but I take it you are just recently becoming interested in Vintage Watches 😀. Congratulations! Being interested and asking questions is step number one, you did well in opening this post, we are all here to help 👍.
Japanese Vintage Watches are not my main field in the Hobby but I do know a fake dial and caseback when I see one. It becomes a reflex or second nature.
Here are the photos from the e-bay listing you linked above:
Because of lack of space I will continue in the next comment...
... Notice the very poor quality CITIZEN printing on the dial. If my observant habits serve me right, I venture out and say that Citizen never produced a printed Eagle 7 logo with a two tone faded dial with a matt cardboard looking appearance; the Eagle was always applied on the dial. The dials were most of the time eggshell glossy or Sunburst. The engraving on the caseback is botched as well. Grainy lines, large font and deep uneven etching. That is not a genuine Citizen dial nor Caseback.
The case might be genuine as there are similar examples out there but, all its curves have been very and over excessively polished out. The movement is period correct, nevertheless we do not know if only the rotor is genuine and the rest can be a rudimentary local clone.
I would very much stay away from it as there are many beautiful examples of the Citizen Eagles 7 out there for not much more money, genuine pieces; something you can wear happily with pride 💪💯.
... Notice the very poor quality CITIZEN printing on the dial. If my observant habits serve me right, I venture out and say that Citizen never produced a printed Eagle 7 logo with a two tone faded dial with a matt cardboard looking appearance; the Eagle was always applied on the dial. The dials were most of the time eggshell glossy or Sunburst. The engraving on the caseback is botched as well. Grainy lines, large font and deep uneven etching. That is not a genuine Citizen dial nor Caseback.
The case might be genuine as there are similar examples out there but, all its curves have been very and over excessively polished out. The movement is period correct, nevertheless we do not know if only the rotor is genuine and the rest can be a rudimentary local clone.
I would very much stay away from it as there are many beautiful examples of the Citizen Eagles 7 out there for not much more money, genuine pieces; something you can wear happily with pride 💪💯.
NIce one, thanks for the detailed advice!
I bought a Seiko and Fortis watch from one of these eBay sellers and the prices were similar to the ones you've mentioned. The picture and the ones they sent were different. After a full inspection of the watch, I can confirm these vintage watches from India are 100% fake. DO NOT buy from these sellers. Fake reviews also. Good luck with your watch journey🤙🏽
An important point leanred from personal experience: Many watches worn regularly in places like India, Japan and similar areas of high humidity and temperature often have movements that show damage/corrosion from moisture exposure. Water resistance is not permanent in wristwatches; the seals need regular replacing.....Wear it 10 years in high humidity, monsoon environments without servicing and you are asking for trouble.
That's why I rarely, if ever, buy watches from these areas of the globe unlesss a view of the movement proves they are corrosion free.
P.S. The Citizen movement in your picture is exactly such an example...!
Definitely stay away. I unfortunately had the experience of buying a couple of these kind of watches, actually from sellers inside Germany in ebay.de who until that point had 100% positive feedback. I really doubt they have a single original component on them. Both with a 17juwel unknown handwinding movement. I did not pay a fortune on them at least. Had similar price, and actually the have a power reserve of more than a day and an accuracy of less than a minute per day.
I am considering them as work benches if I want to practice my watch fixing/modding skills one day, and why not give them to my daughter as a first watch to start experiencing the notion of winding a watch. The have fancy colors. Supposed to be Oris😂😂😂
Thanks for the feedback all, I appreciate it. I did have my doubts about things like the cases - many different models seemingly sharing the same case, all polished within an inch of their lives. The dials which were all flat with no or few applied features, the sheer quantity of old watches, and so on.
Appreciate the tips about what to look for, will stay away from this seller 👍
Ah, the Bombay Special line. Redialed Frankens with labels such as Oris, HMT, Citizen, Seiko and others that are anything but. Run far, run fast.
Be wary of sellers in Bulgaria, Thailand, Albania, India, Pakistan.