I see that a "trusted" seller is not so trusted (again)

[Nomadz]

Well know to be dodgy, but they are talking about "NBtimes" over at TRF again. Just in case it was not obvious
his stuff is at best "questionable"


http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=397937

[blkgsl]

I'm glad I don't like the yellow orange stuff...I can see the doubt. I know nothing about it, so I won't comment...but basically, I like to buy from Wu when a watch is made before 2000.

[mfxr]

Its funny, I was just doing some reading on laser welding cases, and this guys name kept popping up all over the place.

It seems obvious that some of these watches are too good to be 'original' (which is how they are usually represented), but the issues that people have raised have never been directly addressed by NBtimes, and they keep allowing him to sell over there.
I think if he just represented the watches as having 'restored cases' people would be happier (whoever does the case work is quite skilled). Dials that have been messed with are probably a different story though.

Vintage Rolex is too worrisome for me

[jbsf3]

I'm glad I don't like the yellow orange stuff...I can see the doubt.

I'm with you there. I tried my hand with vintage Rolex, a 1680 and a 1675, they were nice but ended up returning both. Too many doubts, too beat for the price and too many newer Rolex's out there that I'm interested in. To each their own!

[Panerai7]

I would love to know the answer.
Ive been looking at his stuff for months.
No freaking way they all have orange patina. Does he use a UV lamp or is it just a filter?

[JBZ]

I wouldn't touch his watches with a ten foot pole.

[foodle]

It seems obvious that some of these watches are too good to be 'original' (which is how they are usually represented), but the issues that people have raised have never been directly addressed by NBtimes, and they keep allowing him to sell over there.

The problem is that none of the accusations have even been proven (or even deeply investigated). He has a steady stream of un-polished, perfectly matched patina watches that seem too good to be true. The suspicion is that he uses laser welded cases and colored lume hands/dials, but no one has ever bought a watch and subjected it to testing. There's some controversy as to whether the laser welded case could be detected at all. However, looking at all the other "trusted" vintage Rolex dealers, you'll see that most of their watches show more wear and non-uniformity with the rare safe-queen thrown in. It seems hard to believe that such a steady stream of legit pristine watches could exist.

[Nomadz]

It seems obvious that some of these watches are too good to be 'original' (which is how they are usually represented), but the issues that people have raised have never been directly addressed by NBtimes, and they keep allowing him to sell over there.

The problem is that none of the accusations have even been proven (or even deeply investigated). He has a steady stream of un-polished, perfectly matched patina watches that seem too good to be true. The suspicion is that he uses laser welded cases and colored lume hands/dials, but no one has ever bought a watch and subjected it to testing. There's some controversy as to whether the laser welded case could be detected at all. However, looking at all the other "trusted" vintage Rolex dealers, you'll see that most of their watches show more wear and non-uniformity with the rare safe-queen thrown in. It seems hard to believe that such a steady stream of legit pristine watches could exist.

Precisely

[toxicavenger]

I bet you he soaking all of those dials in coffee grounds and laser welding the cases.

[wrist enthusiast]

Just a noob question. What does laser welding the case do?

[dnslater]

Just a noob question. What does laser welding the case do?

Basically they infill pits and dents in a case with new matching metal and grind clean.

http://www.newdwf.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=6478

[toxicavenger]

Just a noob question. What does laser welding the case do?

Basically they infill pits and dents in a case with new matching metal and grind clean.

http://www.newdwf.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=6478

^^^This and you can build up lugs that have been polished too much or damaged and have them cut back down to the og specs. Nothing wrong with it just it isn't og if you do this.

[wrist enthusiast]

Got it. thanks. Yeah, that may turn out looking good but for sure that lands in the category of requiring "full disclosure".

Like when I bought this watch from Christopher Walken. Then later I was all " it smells like..". I sit down and Pulp Fiction is one.

[Turns to the sky and screams] WALKEN!

[sinner]

[deepcdvr]

Those dudes on TRF sure are 'wordy' lol

Who the hell has time to type all that Sht?

And who reads it all?

They spent most of their time jumping on the hate train - then turned on each other in the end... Funny

[sierra11b]

I have been skeptical of him for years. What's also disconcerting is his limited interaction on the forum which never seems genuine. Comments like, "nice watch" repeated over and over...

Speaking of if it walks and talks like a duck what about Andrew Shear? Looks like everything he gets literally comes out of a time capsule... We're going to question this cat because he's from HK and not Shear because he caters to the wealthy, has a cool site, and likely gets a lot of his watches from Asia, too? They gotta be genuine because they’re priced to the moon, right?

I'd be wary of anyone selling homerun after homerun which is why I like going to Jacek's site amongst a few others.

[toxicavenger]

TRF forum is second place to TZ. Paneristi is the worst imo. That place will ban you if you have bad sale or been scammed.

[Knome]

Sheartime always has what seems to be super high quality pieces but according to the site, they don't offer a bottomless supply of them at least. Either way, they are priced way out of range for me to ever consider.

[koda240]

If you're going to deal with vintage Rolexes you're going to have to accept that part of the job description is skepticism from others. It's par for course. Fair? Perhaps not, but realistic? Yes!

[sierra11b]

Sheartime always has what seems to be super high quality pieces but according to the site, they don't offer a bottomless supply of them at least. Either way, they are priced way out of range for me to ever consider.

Maybe their non-bottomless supply means he's caching them or simply cannot get to Asia often enough? Look, if I had a gun to my head I'd choose a watch from Andrew over Ben 100% of the time, but if I'm spending my money I choose neither based on the accusations associated with Ben but not anyone else.

I'm not here to protect Ben having never worked with him but it seems provenance has never been in question with most of these top sellers. Andrew's huge premium on time-capsule-condition watches is no guarantee of authenticity but I'm willing to bet most people assume authenticity/reputation comes with that increase.

[thach]

Well that was a fun read. Thanks Nick.

[outtatime]

TRF forum is second place to TZ. Paneristi is the worst imo. That place will ban you if you have bad sale or been scammed.

Yep. I got scammed at p.com. Alerted a mod, got no response so I posted a "watch out". That got their attention and I was treated like a criminal by the mods (even though they acknowledged the guy, under the same user name, had scammed other members and rhey did nothing about it). They started demanding to know details of our transaction including PII stuff they had no business (or need) knowing. I haven't been back since.

Actually, I take that back. I saw someone posted a FS post using my exact post from years ago (lifted word for word and pictures). I again alerted the mods, no response and they didn't delete the thread (even thoigh I sent a link to my original post from two years earlier).

F that place. As far as I'm concerned, every seller there is a scammer.