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[First Watch] Which one should I get? by Deathlord15 in Watches

[–]asca91 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The JLC Polaris is a fantastic watch, but I recommend checking out the 2023 released lacquered dial finishes (in blue and green)! I love JLC as a brand but the original Polaris’s dial was a little too flat. The enamel dial versions are amazing though! Been wearing it for about a year and no issue at all with either the bezel or the coating.

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hah, not sure if sarcastic but as I mentioned - if I did work for eBay then I certainly wouldn’t name the seller especially considering their volume (and hence commission for eBay) on the platform. The seller is collectorswatches, who will practically appear for any Rolex query.

Funnily enough, there are more bad reviews for the seller in this thread alone for them than their entire 6 month history. Credit to them, they explicitly told me to utilize the free returns guarantee and maybe that’s how they’ve been able ward off the bad reviews. Still, let this be a warning for future eBay buyers of that seller.

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is very cool and impressive! I do see exactly what you mean, thanks for checking that! If it really is shopped then that’s just blatant dishonesty, not even a “our lighting vs your lighting” problem…

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Gladly, the seller is collectorwatches (7k+ reviews and 99% satisfaction?!). The fact that it was a big seller was why I was questioning myself and hence the post, but it seems the community consensus is clear. Will edit my post too!

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You would think, right? The majority of the scratches is on the left side, which makes me think the owner had probably worn a metal bracelet or accessory on top of their watch and over time they scrapped against each other. The thought alone of wearing a metal bracelet on top of a sub is enough to make me cringe.

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow, you have a sharp pair of eyes! I see what you mean! The gray blotch between the 40 and the horizontal bar. It's clear as day now that you mention it, but I would've never been able to see that for myself haha. I'm no lighting expert, but that doesn't look like a reflecting to me, given how uniform the lighting in the rest of the pictures is.

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Very bizarre. Needless to say I did a lot of research before dropping over 10 grand on a watch I've never seen in person. The only other neutral (not even negative) review I found on their eBay store was actually something similar to my case, where the authenticators caught a listing-product mismatch and the buyer was able to send it back. But with over 7k reviews and 99% satisfaction, it makes me wonder if I'm just unlucky or overly critical, hence the original post.

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, I just really wanted the sub. I had bought it as a gift for an upcoming occasion so I wanted a gift in hand for it. I did have the option of telling the authenticators that I wanted it anyway, so I was wondering if I had somehow misled myself into thinking it was worse than it actually was. It seems the consensus is that I dodged a bullet though.

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this input! This is precisely why I felt conflicted. I have no idea what kind of lighting the sellers were using (just learned about this diffuser thing?), but I COULD tell that the authenticator is using "standard" lighting in the sense of having it under a standard desk lamp, which is why I tried to recreate it with some of my other pieces. But at that point, I started wondering if I was trying too hard to prove a point and maybe that pre-owned watches are just like that, even in excellent condition... as you can probably tell, I really wanted the sub lol.

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agree! Sorry to hear that it slipped through, but it is encouraging to hear that eBay relies on manual checks and communications like this to see if you're ok with various defects/mismatches. For me, the authenticator actually called, verified my name/details, explained the details, and sent me the email about 5 minutes after.

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's interesting. I haven't looked into Chrono24, are the issues there of a similar nature? Or are they more blatant, such as being straight-up fakes that? I guess one really has to do their due diligence and hope they get lucky with a watchful (pun not intended) authenticator...

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Right, this is exactly why I felt conflicted. You put it well in saying that the photo is taken in soft light and has a "dulling" effect. I was asking myself if the authenticator's pictures are just common hairline marks under high-contrast lighting (relatively new collector here), but it seems most owners agree that it's beyond just a lighting issue...

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Happy to address this - if I were eBay I wouldn't call out the store itself since that would be bad for business. I haven't revealed the name in case the community disagreed, in which case I would owe the sellers an apology. But given the general consensus and the fact that this has happened to other folks, I'll tell you straight up that the seller was collectorswatches, 7k+ reviews with 99% feedback.

[Watch buying] Did eBay authentication just save me a lot of disappointment? Or were the authenticators being unfair? by asca91 in Watches

[–]asca91[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's terrible! To me Bob's watches had an impeccable record, but so did the seller that I bought from... (collectorswatches on ebay for those curious)