Watch Selling Guides
Everything worth knowing before you sell, written out properly by the people who buy these watches every day. No prices, no hype, nothing you need to give us an email address to read.
How to Sell a Luxury Watch in the US: Every Route Compared
The five ways to sell a luxury watch in the United States, compared on speed, certainty and risk. Who actually pays, what each route costs you, and the paperwork to have ready.
Read the guide →Selling
The routes to a sale, what each one costs you in time and certainty, and how to run the process so it ends well.
What drives value
What genuinely moves an offer, what does not, and the well-meant mistakes that quietly cost sellers money.
- How Luxury Watch Valuation Works, and Why Quotes Differ What a professional buyer is actually measuring when they value a watch, why two honest offers can differ by thousands, and how to read a quote instead of just comparing numbers. 9 min
- What Box and Papers Really Do to a US Offer How much a complete set actually adds, why a matching warranty card matters more than the box, and what to do when the paperwork is lost. Written for sellers in the US market. 8 min
- Why a Fresh Polish Can Cost You Thousands Polishing removes metal permanently and a buyer can see it instantly. What to do instead before you sell, when a service is genuinely worth paying for, and how to handle work already done. 8 min
Know your watch
Reference numbers, serials and condition. How to read your own watch the way a buyer reads it.
- How a Buyer Reads Your Watch in the First 90 Seconds The order a professional checks a watch in, what each step is ruling out, and why knowing the sequence lets you present your watch accurately instead of nervously. 8 min
- How to Spot a Fake Luxury Watch The checks that catch most counterfeits, the ones that no longer work, and why only a movement inspection settles it. For buyers checking a private sale and owners checking an inheritance. 9 min
- Find Your Watch’s Reference and Serial Number Where the reference and serial are engraved, what each one tells a buyer, why the reference is the number that gets you a quote, and why you should keep the serial private when selling. 6 min
Safety
Scams and their tells, shipping and insurance, and selling a watch that came to you through an estate.
- Shipping a Watch in the US: What Insurance Actually Covers Why a standard shipping label does not cover a luxury watch, how US carriers limit liability on jewelry, and the way to send a watch so a loss is actually paid. 9 min
- How Watch Sellers Get Defrauded in the US, and the Tells The fraud patterns that target American watch sellers: counterfeit cashier's checks, recalled wires, overpayment refunds, swapped returns and fake escrow. What each looks like early, and where to report it. 10 min
- Selling an Inherited Watch in the US: What to Do First The order of operations for an inherited luxury watch: establishing authority to sell, why probate rules differ by state, how basis step-up changes the tax question, and valuing it before anyone makes an offer. 10 min
