Patek 5177 purchased, no papers...

[jon_jon]

Originally Posted by onefastman

Well, I forgot my old password and the email it was linked to was not in use so I formed a new account but it wouldnt let me post a reply. After spending an inordenant amount of time trying to figure how to get back into my account I can now post the trade information!

The deal was:
1. Patek Philippe Ellipse Manual Wind, white gold, blue dial, with box (Trade Value $4,000)
2. Blancpain Ladies Minute Repeater (1 of 10 produced, 1987 production year, yellow gold, 28mm, the smallest automatic minute repeater ever produced)
3. cash

Thoughts?

You didn't say how much the watch dealer gave you for the Blancpain ladies MR as a trade-in. Because of its limited production, it may be difficult to put a solid valuation number on it. Do you think you received a fair trade-in value for this watch, considering how much you paid for it when you purchased it?

For the PP Golden Ellipse WG, blue dial manual wind, with box but no papers, I think $4000 trade-in is a reasonable number. I think they are usually listed for sale at $5000-$10000, depending on size, year and condition, so you would expect the dealer to turn it around and try to sell it for $1K-$2K more.

At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, how much is not having the original paper going to bother you?

Do you know what year the 5711/1A was produced? Can you request an Extract from the Archives? Did you look at the movement side and check if it has the Geneva seal or the PP seal? It should give you an indication since the PP seal started around 2009. Also does it have the Caliber 315 or 324? There was a movement switch somewhere around 2009 as well IIRC.