Ebay's Authenticity Guarantee - A Buyer's Story
In 2012, as I was entering the workforce, I had already decided that my first “nice” watch was going to be an IWC Portuguese Chronograph (model 3714). In fact, I had already placed the order with an AD, and said watch would be waiting for me once I got back to the office. However, on that flight back home, I had a connecting flight at Chicago O’Hare airport, and my departure gate was right next to the O’Hare Montblanc store. I ventured in, and discovered the TimeWalker line (since revised and discontinued). I don’t know what it was; perhaps it was because I was very new to the luxury watch game, or if it was my first time seeing such uniquely-shaped watches, but I was immediately drawn to them. I would have bought one, except I just committed a large sum to the incoming IWC. In the next few years, my mind would go back to those TimeWalkers in the display cases for quite some time.
In 2013, I discovered the TimeWalker TwinFly GreyTech, it was using Montblanc’s in-house chronograph movement; it had a GMT, a flyback, centrally-mounted chronograph seconds and minutes hands, and it was made of gray-blasted titanium. But, it was going to be well out of my reach. Limited to 888 pieces, and retailing at nearly $15,000 USD, I figured they would be long-gone by the time I saved up for one, even if I could get over the mental hurdle of forking over that much money.
Over the years, I had made some half-hearted attempts to get my hands on one of those GreyTech watches. An AD who was ending their relationship with Montblanc and was liquidating their entire inventory had one priced very, very attractively (almost 50% off), but I didn’t pull the trigger. Another one came up in a forum used, but their price wasn’t good enough, now that I had that 50% off benchmark. In 2021, I got a new job, and had (unfortunately) gotten more desensitized to the price of watches, I figured I would take a look again at the GreyTech, because compared to paying $30,000 for a Daytona, sub-$10,000 for a GreyTech seemed like a bargain.
I ventured over to eBay, as I had some recent success selling on eBay and gained some comfort in the platform. I did a search, and a used GreyTech popped up that had a really, really appealing price. My first thought was that something is wrong with it. Otherwise, why sell it for that price? But the seller claimed it was recently serviced, and they had the papers to prove it. As the saying goes, ‘buy the seller’. Well, I didn’t know the seller. But I do know Montblanc watches, having bought a couple of them over the years. Still, I had always bought from an AD or a reputable reseller, so this would be a first for me. Luckily, eBay had recently launched their ‘Authenticity Guarantee’. The criteria at the time was for watches priced over $2,000 and purchased/sold within the United States.
The GreyTech qualified based on the criteria. I did some research and confirmed with the seller that they would be shipping the watch to eBay’s authentication partner in Ohio (Stoll & Co.). The authentication partner is supposed to inspect the watch and verify it against the listing (so not only were they going to be checking for authenticity, but they would also be checking if the condition and items listed in the sale were indeed included in the package). This removed a lot of the envisioned headaches and risks. As mentioned earlier, my fear wasn’t so much the watch being authentic (I was reasonably sure that there wouldn’t be a replica of a watch limited to 888 pieces that barely anyone knew about), it was about the condition of the watch, and if it were in working order. The authenticity guarantee was basically a perfect fit for my needs in this case. I purchased the watch, the seller shipped it, and after a slight detour to Ohio that only added 1-2 days to the delivery process, I received the watch. The watch came in a blue eBay branded box, as well as a nice quality eBay branded watch pouch and a “warranty” card that had an image of the watch and the serial number on the case
A few other positives about the program, it didn’t add any additional fees for the seller or buyer, and with the authentication, if I ever did want to sell the watch in a private transaction, I could point to the authentication process and proof that the watch went through that process, which is helpful for a watch that didn’t come with its box or papers.
Wrist Enthusiast would like to thank George Yang for contributing this story. You can find George on Instagram.