My dad has asked me to sell his watch for which he has had 40 years or so. He cant remember how much it cost and how he came about it. Looking at the internet it seems most activity comes from the USA regarding this model. I'm wary of selling to the septics due to shipping problems and tax liabilities.
This is the watch;
www.crazywatches.pl/memosail-valjoux-7737-regatta-chronograph-1970
Any ideas of a rough value or who to see to sell. I cant imaging much over £150 or even if that but would be a little something for an item that doesn't get used.
Thanks.
|
We took a load of stuff to a local auction house a few years back including some old but good watches. They had a watch and jewellery specialist chap who helped us sort the wheat from the chaff. They did really quite well. Might be there's some similar set up near you?
I've an old Tag watch which I was wearing in Italy over the weekend and it clearly was in need of a battery. While in Florence yesterday it stopped. This was inconvenient as I have a hatred of people peering at their phones while walking and don't intend to join them in their monk-like stoop walking while contemplating a screen.
Anyway, I happened upon a properly traditional jewellers ( not one of the comedians on the Ponte Vecchio I hasten to add ) and nervously suggested that they might replace the battery for me while a coffee was taken and the bill mentally prepared for, but to my delight, they very charmingly did it for me straight away, including a mini clean up and charged me a quite acceptable €6.
This was just over 24 hours ago and it still seems to be going so presumably it will be ok.
|
|
6€? Last time I enquired in Wokingham the jeweller wanted ten quid! I took the watch (a mere Casio) home, ordered a battery online for £1.50 and fitted it myself.
|
I see one went on Ebay in the USA for the equivalent of £187 last year.Its aimed at the sailing fraternityso I would take it to a specialist watch dealer or auction house ( somewhere near sailing areas such as Cowes or Portsmouth ) and ask for a valuation and stick it into auction with a fixed reserve.
I would also find or call a local sailing club and ask to advertise it on their notice board.
Nothing ventured , nothing gained.......
|
|
I let Timpsons loose on my Breitling and they did a good job for £6 with a free replacement for life. It may well not now be water resistant to 200 metres but I don't go there!
|
|
£500 dollars on e bay a year ago. 4 offers and no sale, if I understand the system/symbology!
|
Timpsons...Breitling...
...I think I'm going to be sick. I hope Big Steve used his very best hammer on it - the special one he keeps for Sundays.
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Tue 29 Apr 14 at 20:36
|
My Longines is currently with Swatch group (UK Concessionaires) for only it's second full service in the 13½ years I've owned it.
The cost is eye watering (£140) but it will come back with a properly fitted and tested waterproof seal and a two year guarantee.
In the meantime, I'm using my £10 Aldi watch :-)
|
I'm sticking with my £35 Sekonda. Light as it's mostly titanium, and the first battery is still working 18 months later.
As long as the waterproofing stays good enough to carry on doing the washing up - that'll do me.
|
Well yesterday morning, by PO special delivery I had my Longines watch back from its maker's service (Swatch group).
It arrived in a specially designed transit case - the same one I received by me, at no cost, to send the watch, postage paid, by special delivery to the repair depôt.
The watch has been fully serviced, all metal parts cleaned and polished. I think that the glass, or plastic, face cover has also been polished as it is scratch free. A full service kit has been fitted.
This included a new watch face, new steel hands, a new winder, a new glass sealing ring and a new back sealing ring. How do I know? All these replaced parts were returned to me in a little plastic bag!
The cost of the service was £140 and the handling charge, to cover sending & receiving by special delivery was £12. Total £152.00. I think in today's world that is good value and good service.
My watch looks just as though it was new, so much so that my wife is now agitating for her identical, but lady's sized, version to have the same treatment. (No chance yet-a-while)
Yes it £ terms it's expensive; yes, I could have bought a good spec. Japanese brand for the same money or less, but the Longines cost £600 new and it is elegant and very understated which suits me, as I hate bling.
The satisfaction I feel is worth the money to me.
|
>Timpsons...Breitling...
>...I think I'm going to be sick.
£118 for a new battery and service for Mrs K's Breitling a couple of months ago. It does get used underwater though. The watch goes back to the factory and takes 4 to 5 weeks. All the seals are replaced, the calibration is checked and it's pressure tested. It's £180 for a full service which includes polishing the bracelet and case.
Nearly £400 for a full service for my mechanical.
www.breitling.com/en/service/
|
|
How does it compare with my £4.99 Casio for accuracy? :-)
|
>How does it compare with my £4.99 Casio for accuracy? :-)
Mrs K's is as accurate as your £4.99 Casio, mine is probably much less accurate, +/- 1 sec per day I think.
But if my only requirement was cheap and functional I'd still be wiping my 'arris with newspaper ;-)
|
But if my only requirement was cheap and functional I'd still be wiping my 'arris with newspaper ;-)
Curious: What function does a watch have other than to tell the time accurately? To be honest have even given up on the Casio and just use my phone.
Watches are so last century. ;-)
|
Well, let's consider the one interest we all have in common. We can all, can't we (damn, forgot all the Kia owners; OK chaps, you can sit down now) appreciate pieces of machinery as more than mere A-to-B transportation.
Peter's A8, for example, was something he enjoyed, as we did at second hand, as a machine that was a pleasure just to own and use, even if it didn't get him to work any earlier. I doubt Ted's Jowett was chosen mainly for its utility value. And yes, I like my cars to be nice to use as much as I like them to just get me there.
Likewise the other things I use every day. A Clairefontaine notebook is nicer to write in, even during a dull meeting, than a bit of Niceday recycled crap from the stationery cupboard. The shoes we occasionally discuss don't protect my feet from stones any better than a pair of Clarks cheapies, but wearing them makes me feel better.
And yes, I have a moderately expensive watch - not in the Breitling league, pricewise, but a nice mechanical movement that I can inspect through a glass back and interact with when I wind it up. The case is big, not for macho show but because it needs to be to contain the movement, but I have big hands and I like the way it fills the back of my wrist. None if this is necessary, but it's a beautiful thing that does its job well. Precisely two people have made unsolicited comments on it in the six years I've had it, from which I deduce that it's not flashy, but I get tremendous pleasure from it. That's why.
|
I'm glad you enjoy the ownership of your watch WdB
I suppose I just feel that once something superior to its predecessor has been invented it seems perverse not to use the more efficient machine. Mechanical watch movements to me belong in the past
An antique watch or clock is certainly nice to own as an antique and part of history (I've got a lot of old clocks and a few pocket watches ) but I would not want to buy a modern mechanical watch anymore than I would want to buy a replica 1950s Jaguar . That's just a personal thing.
|
Nice post WdB. Right there with you.
(particularly the notebook).
|
>> How does it compare with my £4.99 Casio for accuracy? :-)
>>
What, like this, you mean?
tinyurl.com/qzs8fap
How do you buy it for ££4.99?
|
|
Be sick - it might cheer you up! Cheap does NOT mean incompetent, any more than expensive means quality! They do iPhone screen replacements too.
Last edited by: Meldrew on Wed 30 Apr 14 at 06:30
|
I expect they'd service the airbags in my Mercedes if I asked them to. That's my problem with Timpsons.
The windbag MD John Timpson goes on and on about his 'upside-down management' and how he's happy to let anyone in his shops make a decision on what they can do and what to charge for it, apparently without checking first whether they're competent or qualified to attempt it. What this means is that Timpsons will do anything - badly.
You now have a £2,000 (I'm guessing) watch that could be wrecked by an over-sensitive tap in a public gents because someone who had almost enough tools, materials and expertise for the job had a go. That, to me, is the perfect example of false economy.
If I was in an unfamiliar town and broke a shoelace, I might - might - go to Timpsons for a replacement. But I wouldn't ask them to install it for me.
|
|
Keep guessing, if that suits you.
|
We, my wife and I, bought our watches just before we left for Spain. We went to a nice old, very long established, old fashioned jeweller in Haverfordwest (Bisley Munt for those who know North Pembrokeshire's county town).
We browsed men and women's watches separately and made our choices independently.
When it came to settling up, we found that we had chosen identical Longines models, hers in a women's size and mine in a men's size.
They look understated, feel good on our wrists and are worn with a sense of satisfaction that we have items of a decent quality
Both had extensive wet use in Spain!
|
n but d if you want control over what this sells for and wish to get as near "retail" as possible I'd give this a go on Ebay. If you want to ensure it doesn't go too cheap try a buy-it-now with best offer and set the price about where you expect it to be.... say the £150 in your first post. Alternatively if you have a slight thought it might make much more have it as a 7 day auction finishing Sunday evening and start it at a backstop price just under what you'd hope to get... perhaps starting at £125. Don't start at 99p with a reserve... people hate reserves.
Remember to put a postage price that allows for special delivery as it will be properly insured.
If it is as interesting as it appears even if you get the pricing wrong you'll get a feel from the messages that will come your way.
Put it in both sailing and collectors watch areas. That'll only cost you a couple of pounds at most and you'll be in control of it at all times.
You could try a specialist collectibles auction but the fees will be double and you need to think the buyer will also have to pay almost 20% purchase commission so may actually bid lower than they would on EBay. There is also a good possibility at a normal auction it will only be seen and bid on by trade buyers who will obviously want to factor in a large profit.
|
I have a feeling this could be worth materially more than £150. It's unusual, it has a proper chronograph movement, and it's vintage.
Does it tick? What condition are the case, dial and hands in?
|
There's a history of them selling for 250-300 dollars and similarly just under 300 euros.... dealers often ask up to 800 dollars but probably never got anywhere near that. I see another where a guy was asking 570 dollars privately but no idea what it actually fetched.
The highest price I can see is this one listed at 1200 dollars in Canada on Ebay...
www.ebay.com/itm/CHRONOGRAPH-REGATTA-MEMOSAIL-41MM-SS-CASE-JUST-OVERHAULED-/231099594429?pt=Wristwatches
It has received 3 offers but of course only the seller can see what these were.
As n but d noticed most of the interest is in the USA and I too would be wary of selling on Ebay to a US buyer... not saying never just be wary.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Wed 30 Apr 14 at 10:46
|
Sailing watch valuation - Runfer D'Hills
