AP without warranty card / papers would you?

[Harry_S]

Have been offered an AP 26331 with box only.
This is from a reputable dealer and the price is around 10% below market value to reflect no papers. It’s a 2020 so fairly new but just wondering why would you not keep the warranty card if you were the original owner?
I am tempted as prefer the older chronograph as it has the AP logo, but at the same time wary as it has no papers would this be a deal breaker?
I am just thinking of the future if I ever want to trade or move on 🤔
Keen to hear fellow AP owners opinions.

[mickyd329]

For me personally, I would never buy a pre-owned watch without box and papers.

[messikens]

Buy the seller... I assume you're comfortable buying from that person and it's not fake?

It's a bit weird that it would include box but no card, usually I'd expect it the other way around from people that may not be "in the know". I guess you can always get it authenticated from the store.

That said, 10% off without card is a bit low, may be some room to negotiate

[VogelPhoenix]

Hm. I really like being able to register the watches online, which just requires the warranty number, but not the card itself. I can see someone losing the card, but the original owner can always look up the warranty number for their registered watches online. The only reason not to provide the warranty number is a "safe" sale, i.e., flipping the watch and withholding the warranty number so that AP doesn't see the change of ownership.

[Drixonite]

Originally Posted by Harry_S

Have been offered an AP 26331 with box only.
This is from a reputable dealer and the price is around 10% below market value to reflect no papers. It’s a 2020 so fairly new but just wondering why would you not keep the warranty card if you were the original owner?
I am tempted as prefer the older chronograph as it has the AP logo, but at the same time wary as it has no papers would this be a deal breaker?
I am just thinking of the future if I ever want to trade or move on 🤔
Keen to hear fellow AP owners opinions.

These are pretty easy to misplace. You can always have it authenticated with by AP, they will validate it (but can't provide a 100% guarantee that it's 100% original parts). But it will be meaningful documentation, I've heard it costs $1.5-2k.

[Willyjo]

Nope. Maybe w 30% discount


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sigma089]

No. Not because I care very much for either, but because imo the risk of buying a stolen item is significantly higher w/o proper documentation. I'm not too concerned about fakes, most are pretty easy to spot if you know what to look for.

It's different for vintage pieces of course, but I wouldn't buy a modern watch w/o box & papers. Neo-vintage I'm fine with service papers.

I read somewhere around here, that prior to entering mainland China a lot of overseas buyers get rid of box and papers due to scrutiny by authorities there. Might have misunderstood, though. Regardless, I wouldn't want to buy a watch that was smuggled into China (or somewhere else for that matter) in the past either.

YMMV.

[dauster]

10% is what 3.5k or 4k - would not do that rather get a full set - 25-30 discount now we are talking

[EEpro]

No way. 10%? Aka next months market price.

[trackingtime]

depends on the price honestly.

it should be 20-25% off the current market price

[trackingtime]

Originally Posted by Harry_S

Have been offered an AP 26331 with box only.
This is from a reputable dealer and the price is around 10% below market value to reflect no papers. It’s a 2020 so fairly new but just wondering why would you not keep the warranty card if you were the original owner?
I am tempted as prefer the older chronograph as it has the AP logo, but at the same time wary as it has no papers would this be a deal breaker?
I am just thinking of the future if I ever want to trade or move on 🤔
Keen to hear fellow AP owners opinions.

you will be surprised.
some owners just don't care about those. just throw it out.

[AshAP]

Since your main reservation is future resale the reality is that this watch will always be a harder sell and therefore worth less. As has been said above there are people who don’t even keep the box but that makes the watch incomplete for the next owner.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GW44]

Originally Posted by trackingtime

depends on the price honestly.

it should be 20-25% off the current market price

Agreed. I always work on -25 to -30% for anything sans papers and box (easy to fix this aspect really) that is an attractive model worth taking a risk on. For me it asks more questions than it is sometimes able to answer if those essentials are AWOL.

[gregouille]

I would buy without papers only if:
- it’s a vintage piece (condition is what matters)
- the price is much lower compare to full set (at least 20% lower)