Driver8 wrote:
Sniper wrote:
Personally, as a flipper who has gone through at least 50 watches, I have learned a few things along the way. Firstly, NEVER buy a watch because it's a good deal unless you really like the watch!. I can't tell you how many times I would buy a watch because it was listed for a price too good to pass up, only to sell it shortly later. Secondly, NEVER settle for a watch you don't like as much in the hopes it will hold you over. Save up and get the watch you really want right from the start, even if it takes you longer to save up. Trust me, it will save you a lot of headache and $$$ in the long run.
I'm probably not at 50 flippers myself, but I'm also probably not too far away either(!), so I totally agree with your points. I've personally "made do" on occasion due to lack of funds or availability, or not done enough research before buying, or decided to snap up a bargain.....only to end up selling it on within a matter of months (sometimes weeks, occasionally days!).
Only now, after being into watches for pretty much my entire life since I was a child (and "quality" watches for around 25 years) am I at a stage of knowing exactly what my keepers are. This watch interest/hobby/obsession of ours is all a journey, but heeding the advice above may help avoid it being an unnecessarily expensive journey!
I'm also becoming a lot pickier after all these years of flipping. I too started young with watches. 14 years old to be exact. My dad gave me a Casio calculator watch and like they say, the rest is history. I was trading Casios with friends even at that age. I started getting into Omegas and finer brands at 20 and have been flipping ever since!. I'm 36 now.
Even after this long journey, I'm still learning!. Here's a very recent example. I had a Navitimer 01 LE just like this one last year. I sold a planet ocean and the moonwatch to fund it. Although my Navitimer 01 LE wasn't listed for sale, a member asked me if I wanted to sell it. I guess he saw one of my posts. In a moment of dumbness, I said yes as I was thinking there are too many watches out there to pick from.
After a few weeks of selling it, I really started to miss it. More than any other watch I've sold. I had it for almost a year at that point. Right then I realized I should have never sold it. I reached out to the buyer and asked if he wanted to sell it back to me and he said he really liked it and wanted to keep it. I kept looking for the LE Navitimer 01 and I couldn't find one. I decided I didn't want to wait any longer and went ahead and bought the standard Navi 43mm thinking it's the same watch.
Well, after a couple of weeks of owning that one, I realized I really wanted the limited edition. I really liked the fact it was the first Navitimer with an in house movement and limited. I also liked Sapphire caseback in a perfect 43mm size. It was the total package to me!. Not giving up and desperate, I had the day off and decided to call around.
I called many watch dealers who I knew over the years and some random ones and one of the dealers said that he just got a NOS Navitimer limited edition with all the stickers still intact the day before and hasn't even put it out for sale yet. I told him to send me pics. After confirming it was the right model, I made the jump and got it. As soon as I paid for it, I sold the standard Navitimer. It's like reuniting with an old friend. Although the standard Navi and LE Navitimer are very similar, they really aren't...to me at least!.
Lesson learned this time...if you really like a watch, keep it!, especially if it's hard to find. At this point I think I'm done learning lessons. All these lessons are giving me migraines. I'm just going to enjoy this beautiful watch. I went as far as deleting all the bookmarks to the sales forums
. OP, don't settle and get the watch you really want!. You'll thank me later!.
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