DimewatchCondition
Four grades, and none of them mean flawless
Everything here is around forty years old. Anyone calling a watch this age mint hasn't looked at it closely.
Excellent
No wear at arm's length. Crisp case lines, plating intact, clean dial. Rare.
Honest wear
Light surface scratches up close, edges slightly softened, plating sound. The default.
Character
Visible scratches and dings, plating wear on high points, possible dial ageing. Fully functional.
Project
Needs service, has a known fault, or has replaced parts. Sold as-is, disclosed in the first line.
Always stated
What we tell you every time
These five are on every watch page, even when the answer makes the watch look worse.
- Whether it runs, and how long we wore it to find out.
- How many seconds a day it gains or loses — but only if we actually timed it. If we didn't, we say so.
- Service history, including when the answer is that we don't know. For most vintage watches, that is the honest answer.
- Any part we know has been replaced: crown, crystal, strap, bracelet.
- Whether the bracelet has stretched.
What we never claim
Four things you won't read here
“Just serviced” without a receipt. If there is one, we show it.
“All original” unless we've actually checked every part.
Water resistant. No forty-year-old seal is trustworthy. Don't swim in it.
Accuracy figures we didn't measure ourselves.
We're dealers, not watchmakers. Anything that needs work goes to a third-party repairer, and we say so on the watch's page.