How I describe condition
Vintage watches are described in a private language that flatters the seller. “Excellent for its age” means nothing. So here are the words I use, what each one commits me to, and what I will never write.
The case
UnpolishedOriginal bevels and edges, hallmarks crisp. Scratches and dings are present and photographed — that is what unpolished means.
Lightly polishedBevels still readable, lugs slightly softened. The usual state of a watch that has been worn for sixty years and serviced along the way.
PolishedBevels rounded and some case shape lost. It affects value and the price says so.
RefinishedReshaped, replated or laser-welded. I do not buy these knowingly; if one turns out to be, it is stated at the top of the listing.
The dial
The dial decides most of what a vintage watch is worth, and it is the easiest part to fake. Every dial here is photographed straight on and at 220% under the same light.
OriginalFactory print and finish. No restoration of any kind, anywhere on the dial.
Even patinaUniform warming of the surface or the indices, named by colour — cream, honey or oxblood.
TropicalBlack turned brown through years of sunlight. Sought after, and priced accordingly rather than sold as a defect.
SpiderFine craquelure in the lacquer. Stable unless I say otherwise.
MarkedSpecific damage — spotting, a scratch, water staining. Located by clock position and photographed close.
RestoredRepainted or reprinted. A redial is worth a fraction of an original and it goes in the title, not buried in the description.
Hands, lume and movement
HandsOriginal, period-correct replacement, or replaced. One of the three on every listing, never left unsaid.
LumeOriginal, partially lost, or relumed — and whether it matches the dial, because mismatched lume is the commonest tell of a mixed watch.
RateSeconds per day measured over fourteen days of wear, with amplitude. Measured, not estimated, and not the figure off the timing machine on day one.
ServiceMonth, year, and by whom. Where a third party did the work the receipt is scanned into the listing; where I did it myself, it says so and there is no receipt to show.
MatchingWhether calibre, case reference and serial are consistent with each other and with the stated year. A watch assembled from three others is not sold as one watch.
Words I do not useMint. New old stock. Museum quality. Investment grade. Rare, unless a production figure follows it. Survivor. Honest — of a watch, rather than of a description. Every one of them asks you to trust me, and the point of this page is that you should not have to.
If I have described something wrongly
I am one person with a loupe, not a laboratory, and on a sixty-year-old watch I can be wrong. Take anything you buy to a watchmaker of your choosing. If they find something I did not disclose, send it back and I refund everything including both directions of shipping — beyond the fourteen days, for as long as it takes to get an appointment.
Shipping, returns and payment