Advice Needed

[fwhawk]

I am in the process of buying a Patek from a private seller. He sent pictures of the 19 year old watch and said that based upon his discussion with a Patek service expert it did not need a service. He offered a three-step process for the sale. He would send the watch to me for inspection. Once I had looked the piece over, I would send him the money. Once he received the money, he would send me the Certificate of Origin. I did not negotiate off of his initial price.

The watch arrived a few days ago, and I took it to a watchmaker from a Patek AD. He took the back off and verified authenticity. He then told me the watch was "dry" and in need of a service. I called the seller back and shared what I had been told with him. Then I asked if he would shave $300 off the price to help me with the cost of the service. He agreed, but has since made it pretty clear that he thinks I was out of bounds. He feels we had a "handshake" deal that I asked to change at the last minute.

My reputation is important to me so I thought I would ask you all for your thoughts.

[AshAP]

Is $300 worth it to fall out with someone? I would honour the deal and remain friends and use the experience as a lesson learned. Alternatively walk away from the deal altogether, if you want the watch then pay what was agreed, after all it’s a 19 year old watch and isn’t being sold as new.


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[MCMartiny]

Well, if the seller claimed that his "expert" verified that the watch did not need service but your AD believes it does then I think some kind of reduction is warranted - and the $300 you have proposed seems very reasonable as it is far from the full cost of a service.

Assuming your seller is honest then this might just be his "expert" and your AD having slightly different opinions for when a watch needs service. His guy might just have put the watch on a time machine and determined that it had OK amplitude whereas your AD took the back off and inspected the movement and found it in need of lubrication. I would take the opinion of the AD over an "expert". Do you know when the watch was last serviced?

[Aquaman]

Hello,

I don't think you have done anything wrong, I would have got it checked out also

And I probably would have asked him to halves on a Service

[JorgeCCW]

I wouldn’t even consider the deal , specially with all the shadiness that’s is around the vintage world , I would deal with someone you trust. New watches are a little easier but still I will always buy the seller first

Good luck


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[ts3]

You had a deal on the basis that the watch does not need any service. Nothing wrong w asking the seller for a share in the service cost to save that deal if his and your expert disagree.

On the other hand I also agree that 300 shouldn't be a reason to fall out w the seller and not get the watch if everything else was as expected. The seller actually showed quite a bit of trust shipping you a Patek w/o receiving any cash beforehand. If you have second thoughts given the unexpected service costs I would walk away altogether and don't see why your reputation would suffer. If you decide to keep it I would try to make sure the seller has the promised Certificate of Origin before paying if you haven't got a pic yet.

FWIW I get pieces that are 10+ years old serviced most of the time if there is no service history.

[WatchLurv]

It's $300 bucks. Would you really walk away from such a deal? :-) I know I could live without the $300 granted the unmeasured "happiness" I would have with the new acquisition.

[jon_jon]

If you take a 19 year old watch to several watchmakers, you will likely get several different opinions, ranging from the watch appears to be in great shape to the watch needs a service.

Purchasing a 19 year old Patek from a private seller always carries with it some risks. There are reports here of people relatively new to Patek purchasing a watch from a large reseller or an AD and later finding out the watch needs a full service. The follow-up discussion usually entails having the seller service the watch locally vs the new owners assuming that it would be sent to Patek for servicing. Usually an unhappy purchaser who have not clarified the warranty servicing issue with a seller in case a watch does not keep time accurately or needs some repair.

As someone mentioned above, when you purchase a 19 year old Patek, most experienced Patek owners will assume the watch needs a service. Unless you are purchasing a never worn safe queen and looking at it as an investment piece rather than to wear it, it is prudent to consider the cost of the service and the time for the service when making the purchase.

[fwhawk]

Thanks for all the responses so far. I want to say that I trust the seller here. He is a straight shooter with integrity, and I believe that describes me as well.

I'm just trying to figure out if I was wrong in asking for some financial help with the cost of the service that was recommended to me. As some of you have pointed out, it is only $300, and that is a good point.

[AK797]

Originally Posted by fwhawk

Thanks for all the responses so far. I want to say that I trust the seller here. He is a straight shooter with integrity, and I believe that describes me as well.

I'm just trying to figure out if I was wrong in asking for some financial help with the cost of the service that was recommended to me. As some of you have pointed out, it is only $300, and that is a good point.

No I don't think you are wrong to ask for a bit off the service cost and as he agreed he thought the same. The fact that he's not standing by what he said is what would worry me, why agree then?

[Lgear080]

I’m confused about where the $300 number came from... my last Patek service was $2800.
The number sounds arbitrary as if you just wanted a discount. If the service was warranted the seller should have taken the watch back, gotten a full Patek service and resold the watch.

[sensui]

I think service is up to the buyer and has nothing to do with the seller with watches that has no history. He didn't lie to you.... There's just no real way to tell if it needs service without measuring/opening. The watch is represented accurately and service fees should be handled by buyer if buyer chooses to service... Price of ownership.

[Fat_ninja]

It’s $300

[Wimbledon]

Originally Posted by fwhawk

I am in the process of buying a Patek from a private seller. He sent pictures of the 19 year old watch and said that based upon his discussion with a Patek service expert it did not need a service. He offered a three-step process for the sale. He would send the watch to me for inspection. Once I had looked the piece over, I would send him the money. Once he received the money, he would send me the Certificate of Origin. I did not negotiate off of his initial price.

The watch arrived a few days ago, and I took it to a watchmaker from a Patek AD. He took the back off and verified authenticity. He then told me the watch was "dry" and in need of a service. I called the seller back and shared what I had been told with him. Then I asked if he would shave $300 off the price to help me with the cost of the service. He agreed, but has since made it pretty clear that he thinks I was out of bounds. He feels we had a "handshake" deal that I asked to change at the last minute.

My reputation is important to me so I thought I would ask you all for your thoughts.

Let the $300 go. In the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a deal.

[Pateks]

I think I spent $300 on lunch with the family the other day. Move on. Let it got.

[1688]

If $300 is a deal breaker then I assume you have not had any experience in purchasing and maintaining Patek watches. First, to quantify the $300 relative to the watch price ... is it 10% of the watch value or less than 5%? Anything less than 5%, I would go ahead with the purchase knowing that after sending the watch for maintenance, I will have a pristine time piece. If the $300 is over 10% of the watch value then it may not be worth keeping the watch since you will need periodic maintenance in the future and the cost of maintenance is approaching 10% of watch value which is considered very high..especially knowing that Patek service generally runs at least $900 for a mechanical manual wound watch.