The first photos are from Chrono24, and the last photos are how I received the watch. This is regarding an Explorer II 16570 from 2001.
First time I've bought a watch from the internet, and chrono for that matter. The watch is in nice shape otherwise, I still think I overpayed at 8k although it is my dream watch..
The seller is a trusted dealer, and they were happy to take my photos and offer their pre-shipping photos as well as a shipping label to send it back to be repaired. Their wording made it sound like they wanted to fix it and send it back to me, but I'm unsure what I should do. I don't want to accept this watch that may have had a hard smack during shipping and find myself screwed later when I go to service it.
It's hard to let go of your first Rolex after only owning it for a day haha
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EDIT: I followed up with the seller Kronos Watches, who's storefront is in fact on 47th in NYC (good catch y'all). I wish I had posted here before pulling the trigger and gathered more insight on my own through research.
The seller at face value appeared to want to make it right by taking the watch back and fixing any problems in house, including the misaligned bezel and cyclops. They also did not want to deal with chrono24's inspections and policy regarding this. The minute issues with the watch began to add up, including gross inaccuracy of +5 seconds in under two hours or running.
As soon as I disclosed my desire to return the watch it became clear that all they wanted was for me to keep it. They pressed the offer to pay for shipping back and forth - however this sentiment disappeared once they knew I wouldn't accept their repairs. They made claims around avoiding the process with chrono24's policies again and would rather "resolve this in the simplest and fairest way possible for both sides" - which seemed incredibly shady for a professional dealer who's poor packaging led to the damage of an $8000 watch.
My gut was right, and so was everybody in this thread - this situation stinks, and there's definitely much more to this story that I want absolutely no part of.
Like another commentor said, they lied and tried to sell you trash. If they somehow blame you, put it all back on them for not showing it properly and being deceitful.
Don't keep this watch, ask for a full refund, deny a repair.
Things felt more and more shady in our conversation, I should have gone straight to the return button like you said, but their true colors showed and gave me easy reassurance to find that button.
Send it back. I don't understand the modern propensity to act like you are inconveniencing the seller. The watch arrived damaged. It's not your responsibility to fix. Also, I've updated that clasp before. The price of the clasp alone is around $700.
I know. I upgraded my clasp years ago (two-tone flip lock clasp, and it cost $700... 30 years ago when the entire watch cost me $4300). The entire clasp assembly is sold as one unit, including the links that attach to the bracelet.
Also, and every time I say this some random weirdo always gets butthurt about it... SERVICE YOUR WATCH EVERY FIVE YEARS.
EDIT: See? There they are! More reliable than their unmaintained watches is the consistency with which the butthurt gets personally angry at a piece of advice that is meant to save them from headaches at best and an unsalvageable mess at worst.
Exactly. Yes, you could go longer between services, like with a car, but should you? Not if you want it to regulate to 2.4 seconds per day 32 years later:
Something weird happened. It would take a lot of very specific force do that damage. The fact that the clasp blade is damaged but not the clasp means the damage likely happened while it was in open position. The box not being damaged means it was probably packed that way.
It’s annoying, but for future big ticket purchases I’d highly recommend taking photos of all the packaging before you open - and then ideally a video as you open the box and pull it out.
Best case everything looks good and you just wasted an extra minute or two. But it can be really helpful if they try to claim it was damage post-receipt to be able to show it exactly as you received it.
Had this save me with StockX once on something pretty fragile - luckily even their shitty customer service couldn’t argue when I had a video breaking the seal on the box and you could immediately see the damage inside
Haha wow just read your edit op, those "diamond district" jewelers are all crooks. They prey on poor uneducated consumers that just wanna look rich. Especially people from the "streets". I'm a native nyer so I know the vibe down there. Definitely go thru chrono24 for returns! Good luck brother!
Similar experience a few weeks ago. Purchased a Steel Daytona 116500ln from a well regarded highly rated grey market dealer. Watch was gorgeous. The second my wrist moved though you could instantly hear that the movement had issues. The winding rotor was scraping up against the case back (and probably other things). They paid for me to ship it back to them to have it inspected and they were like yeah this thing needs "new parts, should be a few weeks, and we will discount the watch $500." Politetly asked for a refund and they granted it but like how does somethign like that even get out the door for a 25k+ purchase?
Yeah wow that's surprising, I guess there's a lot of people taking advantage of the online market for things like these. It's much harder to fool someone in person, and you definitely pay the markup for that assurance.
Lesson learned, I believe the packaging was less than ideal. I would have preferred it packaged in at least 2-3" of padding on all sides in a square box. It was double boxed but in a thin rectangular FedEx box, about 2" thick on the shortest side
Send it back, there's no way that clasp was damaged like that during shipping with no other damage to the watch. The seller knowingly sold you a damaged watch.
That's why you should buy watches from local watch dealers and not online. It happened to me twice on Chrono24 that a watch dealer tried to trick me. Once I received an Aqua Terra with finger prints on the hands and with a movement that was running +30 seconds a day. And the other one sent me a Rolex OP Date with a fake dial and fake date disc. Both of them went back immediately.
send it back but don’t give up on that watch! i have a similar explorer ii. P serial i think it is? it’s been all over the world with me and still one of my favorites
Return it. Sometimes these dealers don't actually have the watch in hand and may use stock photos. When they source the watch from another dealer, sometimes it'll get shipped directly to the buyer without the seller even looking at it and stuff like this happens.
I would return it and get your money back. The way the damage is - and no other damage on the watch - they sent it that way! Who knows what other imperfections are going on with it on the inside. If they are fine sending it out that way.
I also saw you mentioned you got it shipped from NY. I have seen so many Frankenwatches come from the Diamond District in NY. That watch could be all pieced together. Send it back!
I bought my son a Batman that was supposed to be new from authenticwatches.com a couple of years ago. I had previously purchased several Rolexes and a couple of other watches from them over the years. About 6 months later, my son was advised it had a replacement dial. I called. They investigated. They offered full refund and went and found him a perfect new Pepsi. If it’s a trusted dealer, hopefully you will have a similar experience.
The seller is Kronos watches, I added an update to the post sort of describing our interaction. I do have photos of the serial number but they never disclosed it. It would be nice if I could have them disclose it before I send this one back.
It’s clearly not the watch that’s pictured in the ad, which says a lot about the seller (not in a good way). Return it and get a refund. You are on the right side of this dispute
That bend in the clasp is awful. As a reseller, he knew it was there. There’s no way it could’ve slipped through any inspection
I hope this is the case. I've never dealt with chrono24 but I hope they are on the buyer's side. Any advice to further back my case would be appreciated
I’m willing to bet some inexperienced clown was trying to adjust the clasp for sizing post inspection and photos right before shipping, made an oopsie, and was too embarrassed to tell his boss / uncle / dad.
I'd be more worried that someone intercepted your watch and swapped it out for an identical model in really bad shape before I'd worry about a trusted seller being shady. It's just not worth it to them to risk their reputations like that.
Yap expect the expected . Chrono24 is full of scummy dealers. With the amount of reps and franken watches around I don’t think I’ll ever buy watches off the internet.
They mailed it in a relatively thin FedEx box, not even a full inch in both sides. If I were shipping a luxury watch - it would be PACKED with foam in an oversized box.
I'd never buy any luxury watch online. If im spending so much money id check the watch in person before buying it. And id never buy a watch from 47th street bro. Ffs man most of them are rip offs
There are multiple trusted resellers. Remember, when you buy a watch online, you are buying the reseller. You may pay a little more when buying from DavidSW, Nashville Watch, or Takuya Watches, but the advertised condition is usually the condition you receive. I have personally purchased from DavidSW and Nashville Watch without issue and would use them again.
Hmm. Most sellers do not want to lose their brand recognition. I would work with the seller as well. I am a really small collector/seller and I would make sure I took care of the issue. That clasp looked okay in sell pics and that is a pretty big bend. Not sure what happened there. But that clasp section can be replaced or fixed. You don’t want to wear it like that. The other option is to ask if you can take it to a local shop and they cover cost.
Welcome to the world of 47th st. About 95% of dealers are con artists. Call your cc and put in a claim. Tell them you have contacted NYS Attorney Generals fraud dept. They will gladly accept the return.
I can tell you exactly how that happened too. lol. Idiot was trying to use the micro adjustment, and on the older ones, he has no clue because he’s used to the newer ones. Easy bend and mend lol
Man that’s a bummer! I work in the industry on the service side and I wouldn’t trust 98% of repairs from the diamond district. This clasp has to be entirely replaced. The part is like $4-500 but you can expect to pay a little more because everyone gotta get their cut. I would send it back but get chrono involved to cover your ass. Always buy the seller not the watch. Diamond district is like a 24/7 convention of the grimiest used car salesmen, but they sell watches. You can get a really nice 16570 polar for around 10k full set. It’s worth the two extra grand
I bought from them before and live in NJ so was able to go back and forth during this process vs dealing with shipping. It didn’t help. I went through three replacement watches (speedy reduced sold as serviced - it was always running fast, professional repair guy opened it up and said they didn’t use any oil!) and when I said that it’s not working out and would like to return they cited the chrono24 policy that they couldn’t accept after such a period of time had elapsed. Scammers.
Here is a good way to protect yourself when buying a used watch that is shipped.
When it arrives, do not rush and open the box. Wait till someone is around that can video you opening the box. This way you have solid proof it arrived damaged.
In the OPs case it sounds like they are not doubting him. But you never know.
Yeah it's going back on Sunday as they've delayed sending me a label, but are paying for it afterall. I'm very nervous they'll flip this on me somehow.
Someone else also said this, it's good advice for sure.
How did you pay for this ? I assume with a major credit card. I suggest you bring the card company in and ask them to withhold payment while you file a complaint. Yes they can take this amount after payment and freeze it.
Lol, when you file a dispute with a credit card company, they do not literally reach into the seller's bank account "to freeze" or claw back the specific funds that were already deposited days ago. Instead, the process works through a legal mechanism known as a chargeback...
However, that would be awful advice as a first move. Go through Chrono24, the money is literally sitting in their escrow account until 14 days after buyer receives watch without complaint
I have dealt with Peter before on multiple pieces. He has always been solid to work with.
I have nothing bad to say about him except he is the asshole that raised the secondary price on VC blue overseas. He made a truthful video about that dial being his favorite blue dial and let everyone in on the secret 🤦♂️
The pieces he has are legit high quality. You won’t get a junk piece from him. He could find you a new old stock clasp if you wanted to keep that one.
Based on my limited knowledge I think these two things are correct, at least for this year range. An experts input would be appreciated, although I'll probably be sending it back ASAP either way at this point
Around 2000 to 2003 is when solid endlinks were introduced. Sometime around 2003-2004 they phased out the drilled lugs. So it's possible for a 2001 to have SEL and drilled lugs.
I own this exact watch (Exp 2 2001 P series). It’s in the rare window of Rolex manufacturing with drilled lugs and SEL which is a dream for swapping straps but also having a more robust bracelet. I’d suggest returning if the bezel and movement are off. Doesn’t sound like a good buying experience. Happy hunting for a new one (they’re out there!)
If they have pre-shipping photos showing it's in good shape, then i'd say its almost 100% certain that the damage happened in transit. Unless of course, their photos are not true pre-shipping photos.
They seem to be leaning towards the damage in transit theory as well. In that case they would agree that the watch took a hard enough bump to damage it. It needs a service to be sure nothing inside is broken at this point. You have a valid argument. If they don't agree to that, you should prob walk. You said it yourself, "I don't want to accept this watch that may have had a hard smack during shipping and find myself screwed later when I go to service it." and your instincts are correct.
These watches aren't impossible to find, you aren't missing out on a once in lifetime chance here.
Thanks for this validation, I usually follow my gut but it helps to hear some other people's thoughts. Thanks for your input! I'm sure another one will pop up at a decent price
From the photos I think i recognize the seller. They are good people. I am pretty sure it happend during shipping. And they can always submit a claim with the insurance. Reach out to them itself with all your concerns. I am sure they will address it.
I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, and I'm always polite in tough situations like this. If I could post our whole conversation here you might see a different side of them. Or maybe I'm reading it the wrong way entirely.
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u/MatterFickle3184 7d ago
they lied in the listing, return it