I bought a watch last week. Not a cheap watch, at least I don't think so, over £150Watch was delivered on time, no box, no warrantyn but I expected this, it was a vintage classic. Even so, one would have expected it to be serviceable??

It arrived on Monday. It was keeping perfect time, just about to the second in fact, dial and crystal were perfect, chronograph functions also functioned perfectly, so I was feeling quite content.

Yesterday morning, I got caught out in a shower, just a few seconds, before I got back into the house, and it was just a few seconds. I thought nothing of it. A couple of hours later, I glanced at the watch, and saw that there was a mist under the crystal, and two or three small droplets of water also!!!

I whipped off the case back, put the open case in a petri dish and put a vented cover on top, and then put it in a dish containing pellets of moisture absorbing crystals, and put it on a radiator. I refastened the caseback this morning, put it in the freezer for half an hour, and no condensation. Ther are no signs of rust on the movement.

I have contacted the main service agent, and an independent, and have got a price for a full service and re-seal from both.

I have also contacted the original seller, and explained the circumstances, and asked that given the fact that I had only been wearing the watch for 4 days, he might wish to meet the service costs 50/50 with me. I also told him that he was in no way at fault, and that because he probably had no way of knowing that the seals were gone (and in a big way) I could not hold him responsible.

Now, this is what really bugs me, quite apart from the fact that he has not offered to share the cost, he hasn't even bothered to apologise, and not even answered my PM. I know he has been on the forum since I sent it to him. Standards are seriously dropping!!