The photos I need to give you a number.

The shot list

1. Dial straight on, the whole watch in frame, hands away from the date and any subdials.
2. Each side of the case at the height of the case, so the lug bevels and the crown guards are in profile.
3. The case back, flat, with any engraving legible.
4. The clasp open, inside and out, including the clasp code and any stretch in the end links.
5. The bracelet or strap laid flat, full length, with spare links beside it if you have them.
6. The crown and the crown guards, close.
7. The lugs where the case meets the bracelet, from above, both ends.
8. The serial and the reference: between the lugs or on the rehaut. Two shots if they are in two places.
9. The warranty card or punched papers, both sides, next to the watch.
10. The box, open, with the watch in it, and anything else that came with it.

The light: a window, not a flash

Flash flattens a case and throws a white blob onto the crystal that hides the dial. Window light, especially on an overcast day, rakes across the case so brushed and polished surfaces read as what they are and hairlines show as hairlines. Keep the watch out of direct sun. Turn off any filter or portrait mode, which blur edges and change colour. The dial and the metal should look the way they do in your hand.

What goes in the frame, and what stays out

In: the watch, the papers, the box, a plain dark background. Out: your wrist, your hand, the kitchen counter, other watches, and anything with a reflection. A watch on a wrist tells me how it wears; it tells me nothing about the case edges. A watch on a mirror or a glass table reflects the ceiling onto the crystal. A dark cloth under a window is the whole studio.

The mistakes that cost a seller a day

• Reflections on the crystal that hide the dial and the hairlines around the bezel. Move the watch, not the phone, until the reflection leaves the dial.
• A photo of the papers with no watch in it. Papers alone prove a card exists, not that it belongs to this watch.
• The serial cropped, blurred, or shot from an angle so two digits are hidden. It is the first thing I check and the one I cannot guess.
• The clasp closed. The code, the stretch, and the wear are all inside.
• A quick wipe with a polishing cloth before the shots. Those cloths are mildly abrasive. Use a plain dry cloth.
• Stock photos, or a photo from the listing you bought it from. I will ask for yours, and the day is gone.

A phone is enough

Any current phone resolves a serial between the lugs if you tap to focus and hold still. A camera with a macro lens does it more easily and gives sharper case edges, but most of the photos I receive come from a phone. If the serial shot will not focus, step back a little and let the phone crop in.

Why I will not price from stock photos

A stock image shows the reference. It does not show your watch: the polish, the service dial, the replaced bezel insert, the clasp stretch, the scratch across the case back. Every one of those moves the number. I will not sell a watch with hairlines I have not photographed, and I will not buy one from pictures that are not of it.

What I do with the photos

I read the reference and serial, place the watch in its generation, read the condition from the case sides and lugs, check the card against the watch, and price against dealer-to-dealer transaction data for that reference in that condition with that set. The reply within 1 business day gives the number and the reasoning. The in-person inspection, at the appointment or the day the insured parcel arrives, confirms it: if the watch matches the photos, the offer stands.

When photos are not the right call

If you are in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach and would rather I see the watch than photograph it, send the dial shot and the serial so I can prepare, and bring the rest to the appointment. If the watch is a fashion brand or a smartwatch, no photographs change the answer; I do not buy them. And if a watch has stopped, photograph it anyway. A stopped watch is a service, not a problem.