Resources · guides
The guides, sorted by the question you came with.
Ten guides, written by one dealer who buys, sells, and inspects these watches by hand. They are ordered here by the question a reader is actually asking, not by the date they were written: what is it worth, how do I sell it, how do I know it is real, and what do the papers add.
- Four questions, ten guides, no prices
- Each guide ends with the next step, usually the appraisal form
- Written from the bench, not from other websites
Who this page is for
One parent for every guide on the site.
This page is for anyone who has a luxury watch in hand, or in a drawer, and a question about it. The resources page lists the guides as tiles. This page is the index: it groups them by the question they answer so you can read one guide instead of five.
Three of the guides are the long hand-built ones: the Rolex serial lookup, how to spot a fake, and the condition ladder. Seven are newer and narrower: how to sell, how an offer is built, which photos to send, what box and papers add, how to read a Rolex reference, whether to polish, and what to do with an inherited watch.
None of them quote prices. A number on a page goes stale in a month; the reasoning does not. Every guide ends where the reasoning leads, which is usually the appraisal form and a reply from me in 1 business day.
How the guides are written
What you can count on in every one of them.
Written from the bench
Each guide describes what I check when a watch is on the table, in the order I check it. Nothing is paraphrased from a forum.
No prices, only the reasoning
Pages that quote numbers are wrong within weeks. The guides explain what moves an offer up or down and leave the number to the appraisal.
A decision in each one
Sell or keep, polish or leave it, dealer or auction, hunt for the papers or sell now. Every guide names the choice and gives you a way to make it.
Honest about when I am the wrong buyer
Each guide says when a dealer is not the right call: sentimental pieces, fashion brands, watches worth more at auction with their provenance.
One next step
Every guide ends at the appraisal form or the page that owns the next question, so you are never left at a dead end.
Four questions
Start with the question, not the guide.
Most readers arrive with one of these four. The card takes you to the guide that owns it.
What is it worth?
How an offer is built: reference and generation, condition, the set, service history, then the market that week.
View →How do I sell it?
Private dealer, auction, consignment, or marketplace, compared on speed, risk, and who carries the shipping.
View →How do I know it is real?
The tells a fake usually gets wrong, what a serial can and cannot prove, and why I inspect in person anyway.
View →What do the papers add?
Warranty card, punched papers, box, booklets, receipts, spare links: what each does to an offer, and what to do when they are missing.
View →Before the appraisal
How to use the guides before you send the form.
Twenty minutes with the right four guides makes the reply faster and the offer firmer.
01
Photograph the watch properly
Read the photos guide, then shoot the dial, case sides, case back, clasp, crown, and the serial and reference, in window light. Phone photos are enough.
02
Lay out the papers
Find the warranty card or punched papers, the box, booklets, and any service receipts. The box and papers guide says which matter and what to do if some are gone.
03
Describe the condition honestly
Use the condition guide to say where the watch sits on the ladder, and mention any past polish or service. I will see it anyway; saying it first keeps the offer intact.
04
Read the serial and reference
For a Rolex, the serial guide dates the watch and the reference guide names the model, bezel, and material. Put both in the form.
05
Send the form
Photos, reference, serial, papers, condition. I reply myself within 1 business day with a number and the reasoning behind it.
Which guide, when
The right guide for the situation you are in.
You want to sell and have never sold a watch before
Start with how to sell a luxury watch. It lays out the four routes and what each costs you in time and risk, then tells you how to prepare. From there, the photos guide and the valuation guide are the two you need before the form. Skip the rest until a question comes up.
You have an offer from someone else and want to understand it
Read how luxury watch valuation works. It explains why two offers for the same reference differ, the difference between dealer-to-dealer transaction data and listing prices, and why I show the reasoning behind a number. If the other offer came by email with no photos requested, the selling guide's red flags section is the next read.
The box or the papers are missing
The box and papers guide is the one. It covers what each item adds, which ones prove something, which ones are just complete, and what to do when they are gone: archive extracts where the brand issues them, service receipts, the original purchase receipt. I buy watches without box and papers; a full set simply earns more, and the guide explains how much of the gap you can close.
You are not sure it is genuine
Read how to spot a fake, then the serial lookup if it is a Rolex. Neither will give you a verdict, and they say so. They tell you what a fake usually gets wrong and what a serial can and cannot prove. The verdict comes from the watch on a bench, which is why every watch I sell is authenticated in person before it ships.
You are about to polish or service it first
Stop and read the polishing guide. The short answer is do not. Polishing removes case edges and lug bevels that a dealer can see under a lamp, and a recent service receipt helps less than sellers think. A soft cloth is the only preparation the watch needs.
You inherited it, or you are settling an estate
The inherited and estate watch guide was written for heirs and executors, not collectors. It walks through identifying what you have, reading the papers in the drawer, whether it is real, who may sell it, and when. For several pieces at once, it links to the collections service page, which is my procedure for a lot.
When a guide is not what you need
If you already know the reference and have the photos, skip the reading and send the form. The guides exist to make a reply possible in 1 business day, not to delay it. And if the watch is a fashion brand or a smartwatch, no guide will change the answer: I do not buy them, and I will say so in the reply rather than after your trip.
Read, then send
When the question is answered, send the photos.
The guides get you to a good submission. The form gets you a number with the reasoning, from me, within 1 business day.