Bought polished watch, was assured it wasn’t.

[erdetgasxd]

Hi guys!

Im looking for some expert advice on an unfortunate situation with my recent watch purchase from a different grey market dealer. I would really appreciate any advice you have

Back in June i bought a 15407ST 2017 mint. As soon as i get the watch i notice it feels off, it feels sharp on the bracelet and the case corners feel soft and rounded. I ask the seller a day after if its been polished, and he gets super offended and says absolutely not. I compare it to my retail 15500ST which is super different and smooth on the bracelet and sharp on the case corners.

So i ask again and he gets angry again and says i can get a refund if i want, to which i say i want the watch, so he then suggests i take it into AP. I then try AP boutiques but they cant help, so i send it in to AP and sure enough its been completely polished by a third party, so much that the screws are protruding and even the movement is damaged. He offers to pay for service but i argue the watch has lost value as its already been polished poorly, then to be repolished by AP, would be the same as 2-3 regular polishes, and AP recommends a max of 3 in the lifetime of a watch. He disagrees. I demand either a 15% refund or a full refund in return for the watch. It should also be noted i have yet to receive the box and bill of sale.

So my question is would you say the watch would lose value being first poorly polished then properly by AP? And would i be in the right to request to cancel the sale?

Sorry for the long post i appreciate it very much!


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[agsstructures]

I would press for a refund, especially because the seller said it was unpolished. That’s an expensive piece and I would find a cleaner example once you receive your funds back.

[SoylentGreenChi]

Sorry to hear this. Get a full refund. Shouldn’t be a problem since the seller already offered this. Good luck!

[thekman]

No question I would get a refund. I am assuming a 15407ST was a huge purchase and is a grail level watch to many. I can't imagine you enjoying that with the screws protruding as you say.

[rmagoo57]

Sounds like you didn’t see the watch (or good pics) first. Too bad for you.

[michaelodonnell123]

You say the watch feels off, he then offers you a refund and you say no, you want to keep it. That makes no sense to me.

[just1time]

Get a refund.Find another watch.

[macrowatch]

I’ve been in your shoes before. Always hard to navigate secondary market.

My personal opinion, probably more wrong than right to ask for refund now since it’s been too long since sale. You declined refund. If you took to AP say in July or even August to inspect and then ask for refund then, probably still okay.

You can get new bezel, new case, new bracelet instead of polish for about 5k EUR. That shouldn’t hurt resale since it’s basically all brand new, now used polishes down the road. I’d do that and just enjoy the watch.

[Andad]

Originally Posted by erdetgasxd

Hi guys!

Im looking for some expert advice on an unfortunate situation with my recent watch purchase from a different grey market dealer. I would really appreciate any advice you have

Back in June i bought a 15407ST 2017 mint. As soon as i get the watch i notice it feels off, it feels sharp on the bracelet and the case corners feel soft and rounded. I ask the seller a day after if its been polished, and he gets super offended and says absolutely not. I compare it to my retail 15500ST which is super different and smooth on the bracelet and sharp on the case corners.

So i ask again and he gets angry again and says I can get a refund if i want, to which i say i want the watch, so he then suggests i take it into AP. I then try AP boutiques but they cant help, so i send it in to AP and sure enough its been completely polished by a third party, so much that the screws are protruding and even the movement is damaged. He offers to pay for service but i argue the watch has lost value as its already been polished poorly, then to be repolished by AP, would be the same as 2-3 regular polishes, and AP recommends a max of 3 in the lifetime of a watch. He disagrees. I demand either a 15% refund or a full refund in return for the watch. It should also be noted i have yet to receive the box and bill of sale.

So my question is would you say the watch would lose value being first poorly polished then properly by AP? And would i be in the right to request to cancel the sale?

Sorry for the long post i appreciate it very much!


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Did you miss this part???

[gregouille]

I would walk away for 2 reasons:
- The items doesn’t match what you bought
- A watch that has been overpolished looks bad and decreases in value…

[AshAP]

I’d ask for a refund if it’s as bad as you say especially with the apparent damage to the movement. Sure a few months have gone by but dealing with Swiss watchmakers is always slow so the seller should hide behind that. My main concern would be why someone has used a 3rd party to polish it rather than AP on a watch that rare.


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[supernova]

Edit as misread OP.

The seller offered a full refund so would you not take that then if your not happy?

A bad polish is detrimental to an AP, any pics?


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[VogelPhoenix]

Originally Posted by erdetgasxd

Hi guys!

Im looking for some expert advice on an unfortunate situation with my recent watch purchase from a different grey market dealer. I would really appreciate any advice you have

Back in June i bought a 15407ST 2017 mint. As soon as i get the watch i notice it feels off, it feels sharp on the bracelet and the case corners feel soft and rounded. I ask the seller a day after if its been polished, and he gets super offended and says absolutely not. I compare it to my retail 15500ST which is super different and smooth on the bracelet and sharp on the case corners.

So i ask again and he gets angry again and says i can get a refund if i want, to which i say i want the watch, so he then suggests i take it into AP. I then try AP boutiques but they cant help, so i send it in to AP and sure enough its been completely polished by a third party, so much that the screws are protruding and even the movement is damaged. He offers to pay for service but i argue the watch has lost value as its already been polished poorly, then to be repolished by AP, would be the same as 2-3 regular polishes, and AP recommends a max of 3 in the lifetime of a watch. He disagrees. I demand either a 15% refund or a full refund in return for the watch. It should also be noted i have yet to receive the box and bill of sale.

So my question is would you say the watch would lose value being first poorly polished then properly by AP? And would i be in the right to request to cancel the sale?

Pictures would help. This is not a cheap watch - unless you got an outstanding deal (>> 15% off the current going rate), I would 100% go for a refund and then search for an unpolished specimen.

[erdetgasxd]

Originally Posted by VogelPhoenix

Pictures would help. This is not a cheap watch - unless you got an outstanding deal (>> 15% off the current going rate), I would 100% go for a refund and then search for an unpolished specimen.

imgur com/a/eWTZ7Bu

Here are some pictures comparing the case corner vs my 15500st.

But yeah I didn’t get a good deal, paid a little over what it was worth back then, 220k USD.


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[VogelPhoenix]

Originally Posted by erdetgasxd

www.imgur.com/a/eWTZ7Bu

"Light polish for retail" is the common phrase on some Facebook group that shall go unnamed.

If cash refund is off the table, an exchange for an actual unpolished specimen is probably the next best solution.

[APWhale]

Originally Posted by VogelPhoenix

"Light polish for retail" is the common phrase on some Facebook group that shall go unnamed.

If cash refund is off the table, an exchange for an actual unpolished specimen is probably the next best solution.

"Detail for retail"

[erdetgasxd]

The refund was offered 3 days after i bought it, and as i had no knowledge if it was actually polished, only an intuition, i wanted to see if it was actually polished or not first. The seller has a now said refund is off the table as it has dropped in value. However he believes its worth the same so we came to an agreement that he will sell the watch and buy a new one. Pretty scummy though that he will sell it on knowing its been polished poorly and movement is damaged.


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[l_chissle]

Originally Posted by erdetgasxd

The refund was offered 3 days after i bought it, and as i had no knowledge if it was actually polished, only an intuition, i wanted to see if it was actually polished or not first. The seller has a now said refund is off the table as it has dropped in value. However he believes its worth the same so we came to an agreement that he will sell the watch and buy a new one. Pretty scummy though that he will sell it on knowing its been polished poorly and movement is damaged.


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I don't think that's your problem that he misrepresented and now prices have dropped. Had he been honest, he wouldn't have put himself in that situation. It takes time for AP to validate whether it has been polished. He should refund you.

From the pictures, it is very clearly polished and for him to advertise otherwise is a complete misrepresentation

[seadubs]

Its definitely his problem the prices dropped - the seller offered him a refund when prices were high but IMO now its not his responsibility 5 months later. If prices were higher I bet the buyer wouldn't necessarily feel the same.

I think the suggestion another member had of getting a new bezel, case and bracelet isn't the worst idea. He was OK paying $220k for the piece - another $5-$10k wont hurt. Perhaps the grey dealer will cover this expense, or part of it.

Good luck OP, hopefully you end up with a clean piece in the end. Its a spectacular piece!

[Arnozerosix]

Originally Posted by seadubs

Its definitely his problem the prices dropped - the seller offered him a refund when prices were high but IMO now its not his responsibility 5 months later. If prices were higher I bet the buyer wouldn't necessarily feel the same.

I think the suggestion another member had of getting a new bezel, case and bracelet isn't the worst idea. He was OK paying $220k for the piece - another $5-$10k wont hurt. Perhaps the grey dealer will cover this expense, or part of it.

Good luck OP, hopefully you end up with a clean piece in the end. Its a spectacular piece!

[macrowatch]

Originally Posted by erdetgasxd

The refund was offered 3 days after i bought it, and as i had no knowledge if it was actually polished, only an intuition, i wanted to see if it was actually polished or not first. The seller has a now said refund is off the table as it has dropped in value. However he believes its worth the same so we came to an agreement that he will sell the watch and buy a new one. Pretty scummy though that he will sell it on knowing its been polished poorly and movement is damaged.


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Looks like this is a pretty good outcome all things considered.

Secondary market is quite scary for AP in terms of stated conditions/provenance/service history.

[Willyjo]

Refund ASAP


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[tcpx]

Yikes.. That is definitely a bad polish job.

The bezel is easy enough to be replaced but not sure how costly it would be to replace the case or if you’d be satisfied if AP were to just polish over the bad job to “sharpen the edges” again

[Armis]

Irrespective of the polished case issue, how can a movement be damaged by a polishing? Or was the watch manhandled violently during the process?

In any case, I would think a damaged movement multiplies the lost value of the watch too. I’m sorry this all happened to you, and hope you will soon be able to resolve to your satisfaction.

[PL4444]

Originally Posted by Armis

Irrespective of the polished case issue, how can a movement be damaged by a polishing? Or was the watch manhandled violently during the process?

In any case, I would think a damaged movement multiplies the lost value of the watch too. I’m sorry this all happened to you, and hope you will soon be able to resolve to your satisfaction.

Plenty of ways for things to go wrong if you're removing the movement for case polishing. And safe to assume a person who does polishing of this low quality will equally screw up the movement as well.

[macrowatch]

Originally Posted by Armis

Irrespective of the polished case issue, how can a movement be damaged by a polishing? Or was the watch manhandled violently during the process?

In any case, I would think a damaged movement multiplies the lost value of the watch too. I’m sorry this all happened to you, and hope you will soon be able to resolve to your satisfaction.

My understanding is to attempt to properly polish you need to remove the case to get the angle right. SC always charges partial service pressure retest for example when polish is involved.

Maybe they literally dropped the whole movement?!? Lol.

[Jeffreylucky1]

Originally Posted by Armis

Irrespective of the polished case issue, how can a movement be damaged by a polishing? Or was the watch manhandled violently during the process?

In any case, I would think a damaged movement multiplies the lost value of the watch too. I’m sorry this all happened to you, and hope you will soon be able to resolve to your satisfaction.

Sometimes the movement is not removed for polishing as it should be and the heat generated during polishing will damage the movement. This is fairly common when a third party polishes the watch and doesn't want to take the time to do it correctly.

[l_chissle]

refund if you can get it

[HMHM]

I am deeply sorry for your trouble OP, but it is situation like yours that make me absolutely loathe grey market dealers. If the watch is advertised as unpolished, it should be UNPOLISHED. No ifs and buts. The fact the dealer is able to justify his behaviour and lies is totally appalling. 15407ST is worth an absolute fortune and it should be perfect before it even changes hands.

I suggest your get a full refund and move on or else report the dealer to consumer affairs for fraud. You paid top dollar for a watch, you deserve a top notch watch, not one that was poorly polished and damaged.

[AshAP]

I can’t see the image showing the poor polishing


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