My Purchase of 5712 stopped mid way

[salnuaimi]

So finally decided to pull the trigger and found a good example of 5712 (2021) unworn with majority of the stickers on the bracelet for 103K USD

The price seems around average maybe a tad above but for the condition I was willing to make the exception .

At first checked the paper work and had my guy in patek to verify the warranty dates and the purchase dates and its all good .

Second I knew the AD who sold the watch and sent them a pic of the certificate and they did confirm that they sold this watch to the same gentlemen who his name was on the certificate.

So established from a system and paper prospective I'm good to go .

Today was the appointment for physical inspection of the watch and I did choose a watch maker here in Dubai who is very experienced and having the tools and kits do check .

So we asked for the watch not to be opened and supposed to be brand new .

The Watch maker took his time while myself and the dealer rep were discussing watches in general , the watch maker comes out and hes like I have good and bad news tell me what you want first .

The watch is completly original , the bracelet , case and movement are all perfect and never used. BUT !

but the case has been reopened and this is when we requested to go and see ourselves using his screen. It was evident that a previous watchmaker for whatever reason did open the case and unscrew all 4 screws holding the case where all of them had physical damage most prob for using smaller size screw !

Ok , then the watch maker showed us dust particles on the dial which he is sure because the watch was opened. As well he indicated that the hands have been removed and put back as the round finish of the hands in the middle has gone slightly off . And finally 2 main bridges on the movement had 2 screws which were also damaged due to opening !

This indicated that the watch has been completely dismantled and put back again . I was in shock and so the dealer who then admit that he bought it from a seller who got it from another seller who got it from the main purchaser !

The watchmaker told us clearly its not the first watch he has seen like this and he expect that the watch was dismantled for shipping as spare parts to avoid tax ! and them put back in the final destination .

the sale has been canceled as I didnt feel comfortable after that and now I have even more doubts in the grey market !

was so close today yet too far ... sigh!

[Chiboy]

Wow, dismantling a watch to try to smuggle it through as parts.... I would certainly pass on this.

[sensui]

Shady dealer with fake provenance stories. Should be called out. Glad you did your due diligence OP.

[2loaded]

Wow..
Used watch market is indeed a minefield

[GGGMT]

Originally Posted by salnuaimi

So finally decided to pull the trigger and found a good example of 5712 (2021) unworn with majority of the stickers on the bracelet for 103K USD

The price seems around average maybe a tad above but for the condition I was willing to make the exception .

At first checked the paper work and had my guy in patek to verify the warranty dates and the purchase dates and its all good .

Second I knew the AD who sold the watch and sent them a pic of the certificate and they did confirm that they sold this watch to the same gentlemen who his name was on the certificate.

So established from a system and paper prospective I'm good to go .

Today was the appointment for physical inspection of the watch and I did choose a watch maker here in Dubai who is very experienced and having the tools and kits do check .

So we asked for the watch not to be opened and supposed to be brand new .

The Watch maker took his time while myself and the dealer rep were discussing watches in general , the watch maker comes out and hes like I have good and bad news tell me what you want first .

The watch is completly original , the bracelet , case and movement are all perfect and never used. BUT !

but the case has been reopened and this is when we requested to go and see ourselves using his screen. It was evident that a previous watchmaker for whatever reason did open the case and unscrew all 4 screws holding the case where all of them had physical damage most prob for using smaller size screw !

Ok , then the watch maker showed us dust particles on the dial which he is sure because the watch was opened. As well he indicated that the hands have been removed and put back as the round finish of the hands in the middle has gone slightly off . And finally 2 main bridges on the movement had 2 screws which were also damaged due to opening !

This indicated that the watch has been completely dismantled and put back again . I was in shock and so the dealer who then admit that he bought it from a seller who got it from another seller who got it from the main purchaser !

The watchmaker told us clearly its not the first watch he has seen like this and he expect that the watch was dismantled for shipping as spare parts to avoid tax ! and them put back in the final destination .

the sale has been canceled as I didnt feel comfortable after that and now I have even more doubts in the grey market !

was so close today yet too far ... sigh!

Name the seller


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[salnuaimi]

Originally Posted by GGGMT

Name the seller


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A dealer in Dubai
I would say the dealer himself was shocked and took many pics. I just it doesn’t resurface afain though


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[brandrea]

Never heard of that before. Hard pass. Crazy times we live in

[2000-NJDEVILS]

Good story - Solid advice!

[Apdl]

Wow, that is wild!
Excellent work OP for the due diligence, clearly not your first redo

[Batmannr1]

Informative story OP. Is the AD who sold the watch originally in the same country where you met the seller? The watch was exported as spare parts and then imported back?

[messikens]

Glad to hear you did your DD!

That said - please NAME THE SELLER. If this is as you said and you've personally witnessed this as an impacted party, naming the respective company can actually help change practices.

Otherwise it's a bit like - thanks for telling us but what are we going to do with this feedback (outside of finding another AD to handle)

[LJubel328]

Originally Posted by messikens

Glad to hear you did your DD!

That said - please NAME THE SELLER. If this is as you said and you've personally witnessed this as an impacted party, naming the respective company can actually help change practices.

Otherwise it's a bit like - thanks for telling us but what are we going to do with this feedback (outside of finding another AD to handle)

+1

Even if the dealer was shocked as much as the OP, the dealer clearly didn’t diligence this watch as he should have.


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[1William]

Great story and good job on doing your due diligence on the watch. Sorry it did not work out but even better since the watch was not right. Keep looking, you will find what you want and it will be right.

[2000-NJDEVILS]

To the OP -
Definitely a frustrating ending, but truly a great lesson learned and subsequently shared with us all in the TRF Community -
Good Luck to you and may you have success on your quest for the right 5712!!

[jinikari01]

WOW. This is some crazy ass Holywood moive scam. And they almost pulled it off. OP glad you have a watch maker that you can trust. From a big disaster if you had agreed to accept the watch. Sheesh.

[KatGirl]

This is a perfect example of why some of us are willing to wait for a brand new watch from an AD. Glad you were so diligent, OP!

Kat


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[Rebel]

Wow.

[Submariner2019]

Alas, this has been going for decades. Happens with anything of value. I’m in the trucking business and have heard of guys cutting trucks in half to ship overseas for the very same reason…avoiding tariffs. Once the truck gets overseas they simply weld the two parts of the truck together.
I would have asked for a deep discount though

[77T]

A 4-year old watch - even one claimed as "unworn" - often has a history of mischief.

That 5712 just needed 4 new screws and a puff on the dial. The bridges were functional and could be remedied in first service.

Better option would be have been a $20K discount and close the deal.

After all you said the provenance was clean...


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