Luxury Watch Buyers on Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan

A luxury watch is one of the few things in a drawer that can be worth more used than most people expect, and the question is always the same: what will a real buyer actually pay, and who can you trust to handle it. We buy luxury watches at our Madison Avenue showroom in Midtown Manhattan, read each one in front of you, and pay cash for the pieces we take. This is the general luxury page: it covers the fine brands that do not have their own page here, and points you to the ones that do.

We are an independent buyer, not a dealer for any brand, so we value your watch on its own merits and buy it directly from you. If your watch is a Rolex, a Patek Philippe, an Audemars Piguet or a Richard Mille, each has its own page with more detail. For everyday, vintage or gold watches, start with sell my watch.

The luxury watches we buy

We buy across the high end houses, and a watch does not have to be running, boxed or recent for us to make an offer. We buy watches in solid gold and platinum for the metal as well as the make, and watches set with diamonds for the stones.

• Omega, including Speedmaster, Seamaster, Constellation and De Ville
• Cartier, including Tank, Santos, Ballon Bleu and Panthere
• Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Breitling, Tudor, Panerai, Zenith and Hublot
• Solid gold and platinum watches, where the precious metal carries value on its own
• Diamond-set and gem-set watches, and watches that are scratched, not running or missing a part
• A single watch, or a collection left in an estate

How a watch appraisal works at our counter

The appraisal is the heart of a fair sale, and ours is free whether you sell or not. You watch every step, and nothing happens out of your sight. Here is how a watch moves across the counter.

1. You bring the watch in, with the box and papers if you still have them. There is no charge and no obligation to sell.
2. We identify the watch: the make, the model, the reference number that pins down the exact version, and the serial number.
3. We look it over in front of you: the case, dial, hands, crystal, bezel and bracelet, whether it runs and winds, and any service or replacement parts.
4. Where the value is in the metal, we weigh the gold or platinum on the counter so you can see the reading for yourself, and we weigh in any diamonds.
5. We explain how we reached the number and make a cash offer. Take it and you are paid on the spot. Decline it and you leave with your watch.

What to bring

• The watch itself, running or not
• The original box and any papers: the warranty card, the purchase receipt and the booklets
• Service records or receipts from a watchmaker
• Any spare links, a second strap or bracelet, and the original buckle or clasp
• A government photo ID, because New York requires a buyer to record who it bought from

What decides what your watch is worth

No two offers on the same model are identical, because a watch is valued on its own merits. These are the things that move the number up or down, and a buyer should be able to point to each one on your watch rather than quote a single figure from nowhere.

The make, model and reference number

The first thing any buyer needs is exactly which watch this is. The make and model give the family, the reference number pins down the precise version, dial and era, and the serial number identifies the individual watch. Two watches that look alike can be worth very different amounts once the reference is read, which is why we identify it before anything else, and why an offer made without it is worth questioning.

Mechanical, automatic and quartz

How the watch keeps time matters to collectors. A mechanical watch is powered by a mainspring and regulated by a balance wheel rather than a battery, and an automatic winds itself from the motion of your wrist. A quartz watch runs on a battery and a quartz crystal and keeps very accurate time, but collector value usually rests with mechanical pieces. We note which your watch is and factor it into the offer, along with whether it runs and sets correctly.

The box, the papers and the service history

The original box and papers, the warranty card, the purchase receipt and the service records lift an offer, because they help prove the watch is genuine and show how it has been cared for. A watch with its full set is easier to resell and tends to bring more. A watch without them still sells; it simply starts from a lower point, and an honest buyer will say so rather than turn the piece away.

Condition, and the metal

Condition moves the price in both directions. Scratches on the crystal, a worn bracelet, deep nicks and a faded or refinished dial lower the value, while a crisp, well kept watch earns more. A watch in solid gold or platinum also holds value in its metal: precious metal trades against a published spot price quoted per troy ounce, and gold purity is measured in karats out of twenty four, so a gold case and bracelet have a floor set by their weight and purity. For a sought after brand the watch is worth more whole than melted, but the metal is why even a dated gold watch carries real money.

Why sell to an independent Madison Avenue buyer

Our showroom sits on Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, easy to reach and simple to walk into. We handle luxury watches every day, know the current demand for a given reference, and value each piece on its own merits. Right in Midtown, you deal with a specialist rather than a general jeweler, and the watch is read in front of you.

Because we buy directly and are not a dealer for any brand, there is no middleman standing between you and the offer, which is part of how we pay top dollar. A specialist who sees fine watches constantly tends to pay more than a pawn shop or a general jeweler. You are welcome to take our number away, compare it elsewhere, and come back, and we would rather you did that than wonder.

How you are paid, and the rules a buyer follows

When you accept an offer we pay you in cash, and the appraisal that got you there is free whether you sell or not. There is no pressure to take the number, and no pressure to sell the whole lot if you came in with several pieces.

New York City regulates buyers of second-hand watches and jewelry, and the rules exist to protect the person selling. The city requires a buyer to hold a second-hand dealer license, to record each item it buys along with who it bought it from, and to hold a purchased item for fifteen days before it can be resold. That written record and that waiting period are a safeguard for honest sellers, and one more reason to sell to an established buyer with a storefront rather than to someone working out of a hotel room or by mail.

Tends to lift an offer	Tends to lower an offer
Original box, warranty card and receipt	No box or papers
Recent service records, and a watch that runs	Not running, or long overdue for service
Original dial, hands, bezel and bracelet	Replaced or refinished parts, or aftermarket stones
A clean, lightly worn case and crystal	Deep scratches, dents or a stretched bracelet
A brand and model buyers are currently asking for	A model with little demand
Solid gold or platinum, by weight and purity	Plated or steel with little collector interest

Chronographs, divers and dress watches

Different kinds of luxury watch are asked for by different buyers, and the kind of watch you have shapes the offer as much as the brand. A chronograph, with its stopwatch function, such as an Omega Speedmaster, is read on whether the pushers and registers work and whether the dial and bezel are original. A dive watch, such as an Omega Seamaster, is valued on the case, the bezel and the bracelet and whether it still seals. A dress watch, such as a Cartier Tank or a thin gold piece, is read on the case, the dial and the metal. We identify which kind of watch yours is and what that means for the number.

Cartier is a case of its own, because many Cartier watches are as much jewelry as timepiece, set in solid gold with the metal carrying real value, so we weigh the make and the metal together. Across all of these, a working movement, an original dial and the box and papers lift the offer, and we explain in front of you how each point adds up.

Selling a watch from an estate

A good share of the watches we buy come through an estate, often in a mixed lot with other brands and with jewelry. We handle these calmly and without pressure. You can bring the whole box, and we sort and read each watch on its own, explaining what each one is and what it is worth, so you are not handed a single lump figure for the lot.

There is no obligation to sell everything, or anything. You can sell the pieces that make sense and keep the rest, or take the figures away and decide later. For the brands with their own page here, start on sell a Rolex, sell a Patek Philippe, sell an Audemars Piguet or sell a Richard Mille, and for everyday or gold pieces in the same lot, sell my watch.

What to ask any watch buyer before you sell

You do not have to be a watch expert to sell well. You only have to ask a few plain questions and watch how they are answered. The right answers come easily to a real buyer.

1. Will you tell me the reference number and what it is? A buyer who will not identify the watch precisely is not one to sell to.
2. How did you reach this number? The offer should break down into the make, the condition, the metal and the demand, not land as one take it or leave it figure.
3. Do you buy directly, or are you a broker passing it on? A direct buyer has no middleman to pay out of your price.
4. Do you hold the city’s second-hand dealer license and keep the required records? An established buyer answers yes without hesitation.
5. Can I think about it and come back? The answer should be yes. Pressure to decide right now is the clearest warning sign.
6. Is the appraisal free, with no obligation? It should be.

We are glad to answer every one of these before you decide. For the brands with their own page, start on sell a Rolex, sell a Patek Philippe, sell an Audemars Piguet or sell a Richard Mille, and for everyday, vintage or gold watches, sell my watch is the place to begin.

Questions people ask