Reply With QuoteI would get them to service it first, maybe offer to pay 1/2. That way you can confirm the authenticity and fix whatever issue the watch has.Originally Posted by TheTigerUK
I have been offered a Rolex Sub on its bracelet, I don't know which one even though I saw it in the metal 18 months ago, it was bought from Goldsmiths back in 2013 by the current owner and it has been worn every day since, for work, for best and everything in between.
The paper work and box has been lost and its never been serviced from new, about a month ago it stopped and then when picking it up again a day later it started to run, so needs a service at least.
Would you buy it and what would you think its worth ?
No photo's as I only received the phone call a short while ago.
I would get them to service it first, maybe offer to pay 1/2. That way you can confirm the authenticity and fix whatever issue the watch has.
John - there’s no way your wife will believe this is a £20 watch - so I’d say no
Maybe the battery needs changing
C24 has a 2013 Sub Date for £11.5k from a dealer.
Allow £1k for a Rolex Service, which will give you warranty as if you'd bought it from a dealer.
The offer you make your friend will depend on how good a friend he is
If you pay well less than retail than sure, why not.
Paying over retail, especially for a used watch is bonkers. That is, if you intend to wear and enjoy it and not buy it as an investment.
Also llow 1K for a proper RSC service, which will 99.9% sort the issue.
Would I have to tell her Paul as they all look the same !! :)
Thanks, he is not a friend he is a guy that owns a business I used last year and when I saw his watch we chatted for a while about watches.C24 has a 2013 Sub Date for £11.5k from a dealer.
Allow £1k for a Rolex Service, which will give you warranty as if you'd bought it from a dealer.
The offer you make your friend will depend on how good a friend he is
He has offered it me for £5000.
Why?
Are you competent enough to check and confirm if it’s genuine or not and are you able to perform checks to confirm it’s not stolen etc.
Based on the content in this thread so far, I would run like hell…
As has been mentioned, offer to pay half of a service because if it's all above board, a veritable bargain
Depends how battered it is and how fussy the buyer is. Sounds like its had a lot of wrist time. I appreciate at the end of the day, its a cheap Sub.
Can I just ask why you guys are quoting around £1k for a service? Is this to allow for extra parts/work?
Forget the pay half for service comments - that discussion will get the owner thinking to do it himself and we all know how sparkly they are when they come back. What's the worst it could cost and factor that in. If a proper thing, five grand, plus a service, minus the other bits - GREAT buy!
Agree the price but tell him you are popping it in for an authenticity check first, at your expense - if he will let you do that without paying first,that's a cracking result.
Playing devils advocate…..
Very good deal if all is well however……
How sure are you it’s genuine/not stolen/insurance claimed…..?
How much knowledge do you have to ascertain the above?
Why would he sell it you and not Watchfinder (other dealers are available)
If he doesn’t know about Watchfinder, why wouldn’t you tell him?
If genuine, at £5k I would bite his hand off.
So do I understand this correctly? You guys would all buy this thing no matter what the condition? There’s only so much that refinishing can rectify.
I must be in the minority.
I did say to him that if I was in his shoes I would take it back to Goldsmiths, have it serviced even if it cost £1000/£1500 and then he would be able to sell it for about the normal price less something for box/papers which would be more than the £5000 he offered it to me for because as I said to him at £5K I was screwing him somewhat.
Plus I can't just reach into my back pocket for £5K
+1. But get him to have it serviced by Rolex and to include the service papers. Offer to pay for the service and even then 5K + service costs seems a bargain for a then cocha watch. (2yr warranty from R).
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
I’m reminded of the facebook and gumtree ads: “IPhone 12, has cracked screen, but doesn’t affect operation and is an easy fix”
Mmmmmmm………
This is rather whiffy.
Superfake?
Stolen?
Happy to examine it if you can get it to me and want some basic worries addressing.
No I wouldn’t
It’s under-priced if genuine. It could be a fake, and I certainly don’t have the expertise to spot one. No receipt I guess?
If it had been to RSC and had the service papers then sure, as long as the condition was right.
D
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Thanks Haywood.
I am leaning towards genuine, he isent a watch guy as such but wanted a Rolex.
If was him I very much doubt I would have it serviced by Rolex and then offer it for £5K, would anyone else ? as by then I would think the AD or Rolex would tell him the serviced price ?
I will see if he will let me borrow it but I doubt he will as I was only a customer of his who showed interest in his watch (and car).
Beware. The baddies are now routinely reproducing the most convincing copies of EPOS till receipts from main agents.
Easy also to get hold of a genuine service card and apply its number spuriously to an appropriately matching Superfake. So you have a Rolex service card that appears to support the POS presented to you as real…..
Only today I learned of someone in the trade who this week lost £17,500 buying a Superfake 116500.
Last edited by Haywood_Milton; 15th September 2022 at 18:31.
£1k to service a watch. The world HAS gone mad.
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Unless it's gone up a lot in 6 months it doesn't cost that. My SD 16600 was £600, though that would be "plus any parts and additional work needed"
Why not ask where he bought it? If he's not a watch guy then highly likely it was from a dealer of some sort and they can confirm it he bought it there.
But yes, the only way to be sure its genuine unless you're an expert with a good eye for detail is to send it for service
Regarding the authenticity of a service card, I know that a phone call to RSC will confirm that the watch has just been serviced. It should also come back in the new style service case.
Villains are creative though :(
D
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Exactly. You would thus call Rolex and all the details would match their records….leaving you happily holding what is in fact a Superfake.
Goldsmith 2013
You know vastly more than me Haywood
In this circumstance, would expect the serial numbers on the card and the case to match?
D
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Is this date or nd version?
Back in 2015 a 114060 cost £5k, could he just be wanting what he paid for it back?
Goldsmiths quoted me £600-650 for service & refinish of 34DJ as considering the one on SC.
Without taking the back off you cannot guarantee just on looks the fakes are that good.
I have spent a few hours examining fakes that have beaten the trade at a national conference & it opened my eyes!
I wouldn't no but ALWAYS buy the seller. Always.
Cheap today is an easy way to be expensive tomorrow. Buy right or buy twice.
Last edited by wileeeeeey; 16th September 2022 at 20:40.
Can you still walk in to St James's and hand a watch over the counter? Presumably if you tell him you'll take him out in London for some food and a few beers but first you have to go into St James's together and get them to quote for the service, they'll nip out the back and check it's legit and give you a quote and you can pay for it there and then and arrange the service in your name?
"A man of little significance"
Can he send you some pictures?
They stopped doing same day quotes when I was there back in July. I read somewhere on TZ that they did, but the lady at the counter blatantly denied they ever offered such a service in recent years. My quote was a 4/52 turnaround.
Take Haywood up on his kind offer if you can get the watch and you live in the NW and it’s convenient, failing that take it to Stephen Hale to examine it or take into Rolex to get a link fitted to the bracelet.
For me it’s all about how much you know and trust the guy in question , if it’s genuine and not beat to hell it’s cheap and even if it is £800-£1k it’ll be mint after a RSC Service .
This morning I went to have a look at the Sub.
Even though it has been worn regular I personally wouldent have it refinished because it looks worn but not knackered and I would wear it so it wouldent be a safe queen like so many Rolex, needs a service obviously and the clasp needs looking at.
I could have walked out with it for £5K but I have advised him to go back to Goldsmiths, get it serviced and then sell for the going rate with a service and service paper work, he is going to give it some thought but he said he dident fancy all the messing about but I did say to him all the messing about could be worth a few grand.
My gut feeling is that its 100% kosher but....................
No, I wouldn't buy it.
It might be proper or it could be a good fake or even a rubbish one or it could be stolen.
Whatever it is, it isn't working, so I'd be a hard 'thanks, but no thanks'.
Finally, unless this bloke is a neanderthal (which seems unlikely if he runs a business), how long would it take to type 'Used Rolex Sub' into Google and see the going rate?
I smell a trawler fleet...
M
PS I was typing this as the last post was added, but I don't know enough (anything) about Subs to comment on the watch in the pictures (although it looks pretty beaten up to me).
Last edited by snowman; 17th September 2022 at 11:57.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Would expect a sub date sold in 2013 from goldsmiths to be a 116610
Big red flag
Well I think I may have been able to walk off with it, after chatting about serviced prices he started to back off a little from the £5K offer, perhaps would have been different if I had been waving the cash in his face.
It’s a 16610, iirc these had finished by about 2011. IMHO one of Rolex’s very best. Even if it’s genuine it is pretty beaten up, and there is still the issue of being certain the seller has title.
If you bought it, it went to Rolex, and it wasn’t fake or stolen, it would need a £600 service, and they would want a crown, and a new clasp at the very least. With its hard life, I wouldn’t be surprised with new glass too. At least £1000, at least.
Would I?
If I was clear it was genuine, and the seller had title, I think I would. The issue is the moment you say:
“ I just want it checked by a Rolex expert”
“ I need the serial number so I can check whether it is lost or stolen”
Your relationship is broken. So I would leave it
Dave
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Last edited by helidoc; 17th September 2022 at 12:52.
Here's my 2008 Z series 16610 bought new by me from an Edinburgh AD.
While of course it's very difficult to judge things just from images, the one under consideration appears to have fatter fonts on the bezel insert, the crown guards are shaped slightly differently and while mine doesn't have an engraved rehaut, the OP's seems to be quite prominently engraved. All of which could be due to model variations over time and its hard life.
It could still be a good deal, but there may be better ones out there. Best of luck.
Looking on the first image you can see the letter M followed by what looks like a 3 and you can see a 6. There is another 3 and possibly a 2 (reflection from Swiss Made adds a level of doubt tbf). This looks like a M Series Watch predating random serial numbers which would be 2007 or 2008 I believe.
OP did the seller say he bought it new or used from Goldsmiths? As others have said by 2013 the ceramic bezel version had been out a year or so.
If it’s real and there’s provenance to go with it, it is a good buy. Would I be prepared to gamble with £5K? Probably not.
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I have a sub from 2010 and it’s the ceramic one so if he bought it in 2013 it must have been kicking round in goldsmiths for a while
All he said was he bought it in 2013 I assumed new but I dident ask if it was new or used, he did say a couple of times that he had been told that being 2013 it was a little rare/special but he or I dident know why.
Are those paint spots on the glass or something bad on the dial? Could be dandruff
I looked, the dial is totally clear.Are those paint spots on the glass or something bad on the dial? Could be dandruff
It looks like an M serial John, which would mean a production date of 2007/8, anything after 2011 means it should have a random serial.
If and I do mean if I was to buy it Duncan it would be coming to you for a service.
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