# Am I Wrong To Automatically Avoid Sellers From India And Singapore Whe



## whatmeworry (Aug 28, 2010)

Genuine question, just this morning I've seen a lovely Constellation and a gorgeous Longines but the fact that both are in Singapore puts me off.


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## Timez Own (Oct 19, 2013)

It is your money, go with your gut


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## kevkojak (May 14, 2009)

If they look original, snap them up without any worry.

I often avoid India, Ukraine and a lot of the Eastern Bloc as the watches are usually franken's.

Nothing wrong with the work they do - some of the dial restorations are superb in fact - it's just that they don't do 'factory original' very well.

When you've seen a rare 1950's Pie-Pan dial connie re-done with a bright pink dial, you'll know what I mean. :wallbash:


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## Will Fly (Apr 10, 2012)

I generally only bother with the UK and occasionally Europe. I've heard some horror stories from friends who've bought from Italy and Greece. The Eastern Europe countries are interesting. I've bought bog standard Poljots from Bulgaria and got decent watches for good prices. As Kev said, they can do some excellent, if occasionally eccentric, work. One speciality at the moment is the fabrication of "transition watches" - where lugs are soldered on to a small pocket watch casing to convert to a wristwatch.

As far as Asia is concerned, you can avoid repaint and refurb jobs if you don't trust them, but be aware that there are people in the UK, with connections in Asia, who get job lots of Indian repaints sent to them and then sell them over here. Fave-Leuba is a make that often appears on the UK market because they were sold in India in their thousands.


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## whatmeworry (Aug 28, 2010)

Thanks guys, I guess my concern is that my lack of knowledge in the area (vintage watches) will get me bitten.


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## AVO (Nov 18, 2012)

I have this one. It's the only watch left over from the cheap vintages I began with. It was cheap and I got it from a guy who did the flea markets. It's actually a nice little watch, but I stopped even looking at stuff like this ages ago.


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## Will Fly (Apr 10, 2012)

That's s nice little watch indeed - is this the one with the twin barrel?


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## Beeks (Sep 28, 2013)

I've condensed all my searches down to Europe only, bought a job lot of watches from India, they were practically falling apart


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## Wetdog (Nov 22, 2013)

AVO said:


> I have this one. It's the only watch left over from the cheap vintages I began with. It was cheap and I got it from a guy who did the flea markets. It's actually a nice little watch, but I stopped even looking at stuff like this ages ago.


I really like that watch Avo


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## frstag (Feb 14, 2008)

Just my 2p worth - outside eu you can get stung with import duty and charges; makes a bargain seem much less attractive........


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## Pontros (Apr 26, 2014)

I think all geographical generalisations are dangerous but generally I've seen a lot if frankens from India and the Philippines (my interest is in Seiko). Singapore seems to have lots of factory new watches for good prices even including customs charges. The least water damaged/messed with seiko and citizen divers I've ever had we're not from Europe or the states but from Hong Kong. YMMV...


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## scottswatches (Sep 22, 2009)

Singapore is generally very good, but you will probably get the customs charges. I've bought a watch from Italy recently and am waiting to see what it is like. I paid a price assuming the worst, so it can't be too bad (seller has 100% feedback, takes returns, so I am not chancing too much).

I have had some nice watches from India too, but I am always careful to read and then re read the advert. I walk away from many.

At a recent collectors fair in Spain there were fakes and re dials being passed off as 100% genuine. Always buy the seller before the watch!


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## artistmike (May 13, 2006)

You have to remember that Singapore is an extremely wealthy place these days and there are some great watch dealers out there, I have bought a couple of Omegas from there with no problems at all... Like anyone, it's a question of buying the seller and on Ebay you'll find a couple of really good ones if you look around....


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## On My Watch (Mar 14, 2011)

I've bought from orrery much all over the world & one thing I have noticed is; it does not matter where you buy from, what matters is who you are dealing with. I have had good transactions overall and none that have gone badly. I buy the seller before I but the watch. I get to know them as much as I can, check the comments on their other transactions and ask as many questions as I can. I can't say I have bought anything from India yet but if I were to, it would be because I thought the deal was legitimate. Like anywhere else.


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## scottswatches (Sep 22, 2009)

the watch from Italy arrived a little late, but the seller had written to me beforehand and explained about a national holiday. It was exactly as described, so five stars to them!

I now have two cheaper watches coming from Romania and India, so i'll wait and see the outcome on those. As pretty much everyone has said, buy the seller first and the item second.


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## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

I only buy and sell in the UK, and in the past few years the vast majority of my collection has come from the highly trustworthy RLT sales department  . This is just my personal preference, of course.


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## Rotundus (May 7, 2012)

scottswatches said:


> the watch from Italy arrived a little late, but the seller had written to me beforehand and explained about a national holiday. It was exactly as described, so five stars to them!
> 
> I now have two cheaper watches coming from Romania and India, so i'll wait and see the outcome on those. As pretty much everyone has said, buy the seller first and the item second.


Every Tuesday, Thursday and last last Friday of a month with a vowel in it ! :yes:


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## Bambi68 (May 12, 2014)

I recently received two watches I purchased from India, a hmt military watch (supposedly) crown was loose tried to tighten and snapped the shaft, watch now u/s.

And a seiko 5 it looks like a seiko but the auto movement is very noisy, and I thought seiko 5's had the crown at the 4 o'clock position.

I am suspect as to the authenticity of the watches. So for my mind I won't be buying from India for a while.


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## Bambi68 (May 12, 2014)

AVO said:


> I have this one. It's the only watch left over from the cheap vintages I began with. It was cheap and I got it from a guy who did the flea markets. It's actually a nice little watch, but I stopped even looking at stuff like this ages ago.


Nice looking watch there, that's what I am buying now. I buy on looks


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## Cubby (Mar 10, 2014)

scottswatches said:


> the watch from Italy arrived a little late, but the seller had written to me beforehand and explained about a national holiday. It was exactly as described, so five stars to them!
> 
> I now have two cheaper watches coming from Romania and India, so i'll wait and see the outcome on those. As pretty much everyone has said, buy the seller first and the item second.


Hi, I have not purchased from East Europe, but I have purchased from India (Mumbi). The watch was a citizen automatic which worked just long enough for me to give him good feedback. After contacting the seller I returned the watch back to him for repair. I have never seen the watch since. By the way, the watch had been extensively refurbished that I doubt that it looked anything like the original model.

A lesson learned.


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## mardibum (Jun 3, 2014)

No expert but I will stick with uk only and 100% feedback when buying from the bay.


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## bids (Jun 20, 2014)

Ooh glad you posted this, im new to vintage watches as well, nearly bought a few from mumbai aswell, think ill stay away and buy uk only


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## DJH584 (Apr 10, 2013)

Weeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllll. I've taken a bit of a low risk punt and ordered two used HMT's from a seller in India at Â£10.00 each inc P&P.

Will let you know what they're like when they get here...........possibly sometime next month.

Regards

David


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## Pontros (Apr 26, 2014)

Hope they turn out OK - I'd feel better about buying an Indian Made watch from India than anywhere else TBH, though with HMTs it is worth researching what the original dials look like...


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## Timez Own (Oct 19, 2013)

Over the last few months I have bought several items from different sellers posting from India. I remembered this thread so thought I'd share my experiences.

All were good, I got what I paid for in good time and EVERY single purchase was incredibly well packed (I think they could have been thrown out of the plane and hit the ground without damage!).

I would have no more worries buying from India than anywhere else, TBH I am more concerned about a package due from American seller as it appears it will be going through a repackaging company first and the tracking number I have been given is useless.


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## mrbarry (Dec 20, 2014)

My purchases from India have been questionable.

Arrived quickly and well packaged, but they always claim 'recent professional service'. I'd question that!!

2 of them need a tap to get then running and one stops after half hour, the other looses an hour a day. Opening then they are dirty to the naked eye!

Any one see guy Martin in India? I'll never buy from India again. 'That'll do' isn't good enough for me.

New purchases might be ok, but used I'll avoid like the plague.


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## PDXWatchCollector (Nov 15, 2013)

Timez Own said:


> Over the last few months I have bought several items from different sellers posting from India. I remembered this thread so thought I'd share my experiences.
> 
> All were good, I got what I paid for in good time and EVERY single purchase was incredibly well packed (I think they could have been thrown out of the plane and hit the ground without damage!).
> 
> I would have no more worries buying from India than anywhere else, TBH I am more concerned about a package due from American seller as it appears it will be going through a repackaging company first and the tracking number I have been given is useless.


As to orders from the US, just be aware that sometime late last year, the US Post Office began enforcing what was always their stated policy, which was that except for the most expensive shipping options, "international" tracking only works for shipments to Canada (!!!)

So if you see a US seller send you a tracking number, I would simply view it as validation that the item has been sent and that the seller was provided with a unique tracking number from USPS ... other than that, it's going to be useless, but not due to any fault on the seller's part.

As to buying from around the world, I would just comment that I've had great buys from India, Thailand, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, etc, etc. and I've had terrible experiences from within the US and from Europe, so as ever, gross over-generalizations do nobody any good ...

That said, when dealing with Asia (India and South Korea in particular, in my experience) DO be wary of re-dials ... even when they're well done, you generally have to read the fine print AND combine that info with your knowledge/gut feel ... if it looks wrong, it probably is ...

Which leads me to my final suggestion -- if you're not really comfortable with your knowledge level about a particular watch or brand, e-bay's probably not the place to be shopping until you've garnered some of that knowledge ... and you'll STILL get burned occasionally. :wallbash:


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## DJH584 (Apr 10, 2013)

I haven't got pictures of the other two I purchased from India, but this is one I have recently ordered:










Looking closely at the picture it does appear to be a repainted dial but for Â£10.49 I'm not complaining.


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## Will Fly (Apr 10, 2012)

I've never bought from India. but I have bought new, Chinese watch components - movements, cases, dials, hands, etc. - from Hong Kong, and always had excellent service with good communication and prompt (and often free) delivery.

For the price, they've been good value - not superbly engineered, I'll grant you, but serviceable.


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

A serviced item from India seeems to mean anything from a real service to a dunk in WD40 and a rub over with a paraffin rag - but there are often strange items you can't find anywhere else :fear: ( and in watches as well :lol: )


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