What you can check before you pay

The frames worth asking for

One message asking for these six items answers more than a long description can. All six are ordinary requests, and each one shows something the others hide.

• The dial straight on in daylight, filling the frame — shows marker and print alignment.
• The bezel or case edge straight on — shows how the scale print and insert sit on the edge.
• The bracelet closed and laid flat — shows how the links sit next to each other and where the colour changes.
• A close frame of the clasp and its markings — shows the part that opens and closes hundreds of times.
• The case back — shows the surface condition and any engraving.
• A short handheld video: turning the bezel through a full rotation, opening and closing the clasp, and starting, stopping and resetting the chronograph if the watch has one.

Details worth asking for in the same message

• The movement that is fitted, with the calibre marking visible in a photograph.
• The measured weight in grams, and the lug-to-lug length in millimetres.
• Whether water resistance is a tested figure or a quoted one for that unit.
• On a gold-toned watch, the plating or wrap thickness.
• How the bracelet is sized, whether links can be removed, and whether spare links are included.
• The price, the shipping cost and the estimated lead time to your country, in writing.

How to read what comes back

Judge the frames in the same order a watch is assembled. Start with the dial: is the print sharp, and do the markers sit level against the minute track? Then the bezel: is the scale evenly spaced around the circumference? Then the bracelet and clasp: do the end links meet the case without a gap, and does the clasp close flush? Finally the case back, which is where condition shows most honestly.

A studio photograph flatters every surface, so a bright, close, tilted frame is the least informative kind of evidence. Daylight, straight on and slightly further back is more useful. If a frame does not answer the question you asked, ask again with the specific item named — that is a normal part of the process, not a confrontation.

What this page is not

It is not a promise that any particular test is carried out on every watch, and it is not a claim that this site owns the equipment or the laboratory to verify a movement, a case or a pressure seal.

Whether a specific check is possible for the watch you are considering is confirmed in your own conversation, per unit, in writing. If something is declined rather than answered, treat that as information about the offer rather than as a reason to argue.

Nothing on this site has conducted or witnessed a test on a physical watch. The checks you want are requested from the person offering the unit.