Preowned watch
- Thread starter mayamo
- Start date
I bought pre-owned watches (Omega, Cartier)...with all papers and documentation of all revisions, and had I never any problems.
I’ve bought a pre-owned Ballon Bleu. I’d check eBay, most are stores you can Google and make sure they’re reputable. You can often FaceTime with them directly and buy from their business website once you connect. I’d wait on the watch you want with complete papers and box. Have a couple options in mind and see if you can negotiate. I was impressed by SwissWatchExpo (on FaceTime they showed the watch experts maintaining and authenticating watches in their showroom), but we wound up using a jewelry store for the lower price, and complete papers/box.
I have pre-owned Roadster that I bought from Tourneau years ago. It didn't have any original paperwork. I had it serviced by Cartier last year with no issues/questions asked.
Never purchased a pre-owned Cartier, but I recently bought a pre-owned Rolex from eBay last July. The store/seller is very reputable and he's a jeweler in CA and comes with a 1 year warranty with their store. A month or so after I got the watch, the date stopped cycling, so I sent it back (pre-paid postage) and they fixed it within a week and shipped right back to me. Excellent service.
I bought from private via a large German watch-forum, but I was a member for a long time and "know" the other members, so this is not the fast way for everybody, I guess.
I don't know which one you are looking at (stainless steel, 2-toned, or all gold) but I will share with my experience shopping used v new and what I learned.
I was going to buy an older version of the Panthere watch and was aggressively talked out of it by 2 jewelers who sat there and basically tag teamed me (totally against their interest obviously). They were super sweet and knew that this watch purchase was a big deal for me and they felt that my money would be better spent on something else. I ended up going for a different watch altogether for different reasons but I think that some of the arguments they made would be relelvent to your current decision whether or not to buy a used Panthere. These are the reasons the sales people gave me for NOT buying the used Panthere:
1. If you are getting a version with gold, the gold links on the older models are hollow. The gold itself is sold gold, but the inside of the link is hollow. The new watches have solid links. There is no hole in the middle. However, I don't know if there is actually less gold or not because if you look at the way the new watch gold links are shaped, they have concave bits in the middle. To me it's just putting the hole on the outside rather than hiding it on the inside. This honestly made no difference to me but I wanted to pass on the info in case it matters to you.
2. Also, a Cartier SA said that in the older models, the hollow links stretch a little over time, especially in the all-gold versions, leaving slight gaps between the links. I don't know that I've noticed it on actual watches tbh so I don't think that would be an issue for me personally, but that's what they all said so, again, I wanted to pass it along.
3. The versions with stainless steel are likely to be brushed stainless whereas the new ones are polished. This makes the older ones look darker. You can see in the picture below the difference between the darker gray brushed stainless vs the lighter sliver polished stainless. This is a matter of personal preference of course, but for me that was the deal breaker.
4. The new closing clasp is different and supposedly more secure and stronger, although tbh I prefer the appearance of the old version better. The older clasp has integrated links and the new one has a clear demarcation. The pics below are of the backs of watches to show this. The older links do have a bit of gapping at the clasp point, but I still prefer the appearance of it to the new version. Again, personal preference and you may prefer cleaner look of the new models.
5. Their main argument is that these are quartz watch movements which do ultimately need to be replaced at some point and the old ones are at least 20 years old already since they were discontinued in the early '00s. Depending on whether the used one you are looking at is from the 80s, 90s, or 00s, you are at least two decades closer to needing to replace the internal movement. You may never need to replace it, as I have quartz watches from the 70s from various brands that work just fine. One of the ladies said that she used to be a Cartier SA and she saw watches needing movement replacement fairly frequently before they reissued them a few years ago (when presumably people just buy new ones rather than repair old ones).
Take this info for what it's worth. The 2 jewelry store ladies were not motivated by money, as they do not get paid commissions. They were actually trying to talk me into buying a less expensive automatic movement watch because it was a better fit for what I was looking for. In other words, I felt their information was honest and unbiased.
The current Cartier SA who is paid commissions, would of course prefer that I bought a new watch through him rather than a used one elsewhere, so his info is perhaps less biased, however I have heard the same info he gave me about the links from multiple sources.
I don't know if any of these arguments are relevant for you and your buying decision, but I wanted to share what I learned just in case it helps.
Best of luck no matter what you do!
I was going to buy an older version of the Panthere watch and was aggressively talked out of it by 2 jewelers who sat there and basically tag teamed me (totally against their interest obviously). They were super sweet and knew that this watch purchase was a big deal for me and they felt that my money would be better spent on something else. I ended up going for a different watch altogether for different reasons but I think that some of the arguments they made would be relelvent to your current decision whether or not to buy a used Panthere. These are the reasons the sales people gave me for NOT buying the used Panthere:
1. If you are getting a version with gold, the gold links on the older models are hollow. The gold itself is sold gold, but the inside of the link is hollow. The new watches have solid links. There is no hole in the middle. However, I don't know if there is actually less gold or not because if you look at the way the new watch gold links are shaped, they have concave bits in the middle. To me it's just putting the hole on the outside rather than hiding it on the inside. This honestly made no difference to me but I wanted to pass on the info in case it matters to you.
2. Also, a Cartier SA said that in the older models, the hollow links stretch a little over time, especially in the all-gold versions, leaving slight gaps between the links. I don't know that I've noticed it on actual watches tbh so I don't think that would be an issue for me personally, but that's what they all said so, again, I wanted to pass it along.
3. The versions with stainless steel are likely to be brushed stainless whereas the new ones are polished. This makes the older ones look darker. You can see in the picture below the difference between the darker gray brushed stainless vs the lighter sliver polished stainless. This is a matter of personal preference of course, but for me that was the deal breaker.
4. The new closing clasp is different and supposedly more secure and stronger, although tbh I prefer the appearance of the old version better. The older clasp has integrated links and the new one has a clear demarcation. The pics below are of the backs of watches to show this. The older links do have a bit of gapping at the clasp point, but I still prefer the appearance of it to the new version. Again, personal preference and you may prefer cleaner look of the new models.
5. Their main argument is that these are quartz watch movements which do ultimately need to be replaced at some point and the old ones are at least 20 years old already since they were discontinued in the early '00s. Depending on whether the used one you are looking at is from the 80s, 90s, or 00s, you are at least two decades closer to needing to replace the internal movement. You may never need to replace it, as I have quartz watches from the 70s from various brands that work just fine. One of the ladies said that she used to be a Cartier SA and she saw watches needing movement replacement fairly frequently before they reissued them a few years ago (when presumably people just buy new ones rather than repair old ones).
Take this info for what it's worth. The 2 jewelry store ladies were not motivated by money, as they do not get paid commissions. They were actually trying to talk me into buying a less expensive automatic movement watch because it was a better fit for what I was looking for. In other words, I felt their information was honest and unbiased.
The current Cartier SA who is paid commissions, would of course prefer that I bought a new watch through him rather than a used one elsewhere, so his info is perhaps less biased, however I have heard the same info he gave me about the links from multiple sources.
I don't know if any of these arguments are relevant for you and your buying decision, but I wanted to share what I learned just in case it helps.
Best of luck no matter what you do!
This was extremely helpful-- thank you for the thorough explanation!
Just to add little bit regarding movement replacement for quartz watches. If it fails and need a replacement, a complete service, which cost around ~$500, will cover the cost of the movement.
This is extremely helpful! As I am Contemplating in getting a Cartier panthere vintage myself. I am very active in looking for a good deals of arts, watches, jewelry at several different auction houses.
I stumbled upon an amazingly good deal Cartier Panthere in yellow gold, but the only problem is that if you see the dial is a bit fading and yellowing. Does anyone experience buying vintage Cartier with a dial like this? And brought it to Cartier for repair?
Thank you in advance
I stumbled upon an amazingly good deal Cartier Panthere in yellow gold, but the only problem is that if you see the dial is a bit fading and yellowing. Does anyone experience buying vintage Cartier with a dial like this? And brought it to Cartier for repair?
Thank you in advance
Last edited:
I purchased my panthere YG new.
I received a Tank Louis YG preloved as a gift. I took it to Cartier and they searched it using the serial number. The sapphire glass has multiple deep scratches and the dial is yellow as well. I thought it was 10+ years old but Cartier said it was 5 years old. I guess prior owner wasn’t too careful with it. Crocodile strap also needs replacing. So Cartier said they won’t just replace the dial and glass for me. Instead, they said I have to purchase the full service and pay extra for parts as replacement. They couldn’t give me an exact quote but they estimated
$2,000-$3,000 USD. I passed and decide to do a full service later when the battery dies. I’d recommend finding another panthere in better condition as I found the whole process to be an inconvenience- especially because I don’t live near a Cartier.
Thank you for your suggestions. I agree, Honestly if repair will cost that much, I would rather find a better condition panthere. if I win the bid I’ll probably have to pay almost 7k and for repair it might add up to more than 10k. I’ll continue to look
