Loading...What is it about you guys and boxes??
Look in any closet, under any desk, in any garage, of any serious watch collector, and you’ll see a mountain of watch boxes from when the watches were acquired.
It’s like there’s an unwritten law that you must keep all the watch boxes of all your watches since the dawn of the watch age: “Thou shalt keep any watch box or packaging of any kind, from all yee buyers of timekeepers”
To make matters worse, when you sell the watch you must make sure that all relevant packaging and papers are still with the box so that the next watch nut will be assured that the watch is real (?).
Recently overheard conversation of a watch transaction:
Buyer: “Okay, so let me get this straight. I’m buying from you a pre-owned Omega Speedmaster. In steel with a steel bracelet for $2,000.
Seller: “ Yes, and I can ship it to you for $22.00”.
Buyer: ‘Okay, does it have the original box and papers?”
Seller: “Yes. It does.”
Buyer: “Okay, does it have the original operating instructions, and worldwide service station booklet, and original warranty card?”
Seller: “Yes, I believe everything is in the box”
Buyer: “ Does it have the original Omega string tags, with the stores name on it?”
Seller: “Ah, I don’t think so, let me go check”
Buyer: “Why you’re at it, can you check if the original cotton from the pad is intact, and that it weighs .03 ounces.”
Seller: “ Um, I don’t have a scale that could weigh that, but it looks pretty well kept.”
Buyer:” Also, can you make sure that on page nine of the User’s Manual that there is a tea stain on the words: the, watch, must, be, wound.”
Seller: “Tea stain? Are you kidding? How would I know that?”
Buyer: “Well everyone knows that Christophe, the Omega hairspring straightener from that period had spilled his Swiss breakfast tea on the manuals. It’s important that it’s a tea stain, and not a Swiss Coco drink stain, which he usually only drank on weekends when he wasn’t working in the Omega factory.”
Seller: “ Um, look, I’m just selling what I have, I don’t know if all this other stuff is really relevant to the watch itself, which is beautiful, keeps great time, and is very, very pristine in condition.”
Buyer: “That’s all nice and dandy, but I want to make sure I’m getting the full package. Is the red wallet that the warranty card comes in “fire engine red”, and not the “Ferrari Red”? And does the outer box have at least 90 degree angles on 3 sides?”
Seller: “Look, maybe you shouldn’t buy my watch. I have another buyer I can call and you can buy another one from another seller that has Mick Jagger’s belly button lint under the crystal, for all I care!”
Buyer: “No, no, I want the watch, I just think it’s worth $1,000 less without all the necessary packaging.”
Seller: “#%##&*$@^*^>?%$##”
As some of you may know, not only am I a journalist, but I’m also a fourth generation watchmaker, and I produce my own watch brand, the “Rpaige Watch”. I designed an Art Deco style steel case to house an antique American 12 size pocket watch movement.
I grappled with this concept of how to package my watch when I was in the beginning stages of design and manufacturing, and I came to this conclusion: make the packaging with as small a footprint as possible, and make the packaging useful so that it doesn’t sit in a closet collecting dust and spider webs for the next decade. As I wracked my brain to come up with something clever, what I finally settled on was the simplest idea. Package my new watches in a leather traveling case that would fit two watches. This way, when you travel with your watches, you can wear a watch and take one or two more in a safe, and secure travel package. Also, you can store two watches safely in a drawer without worrying about them scratching against a metal shoehorn, another watch, car keys, iPhone, coins, etc.
Also, I tried to simplify the amount of accouterments that come with it. I package it with an extra strap or two, the users manual with warranty, and an outside box with my logo on it.
So, one hundred years from now, if my watches become as important as I think they will be…don’t let anyone convince you that all my packaging comes with a copy of my birth certificate, a locket of hair from my two daughters, and a bronzed reproduction of my first teething ring.
(This contribution was written by Richard Paige, he can be reached via his email: richard@timeventures.com)