Hello all,
Looking for some advice/opinions from some experts.
My wife found this watch years ago at a waste dump of all places and we almost simply pawned it for the gold, but later decided to see what it would be worth to restore and get it appraised. After a couple of weeks at a jewelry dealer that specializes in these services, we had to call to see if it had been looked at and to our surprise, they informed us that, once restored, it would be worth $2,700-$3,000 USD! Said it would cost around $700.00 or so to restore. We took it home to think about what to do and decided to take it back to them to see what they would offer (if interested) as is, and they offered $850 :blink: The math just doesn't seem right to us, so this is why I'm here. Since Tiffany & Co. was on the face, we knew that it may be worth something, but didn't realize until after we brought it home that they wrote Tiffany/Patek on the envelope with the restoration quote.
The back is engraved (possibly reducing its value?) with the initials M*W*D and date stamped February 18, 1924. I've been searching the internet for like pieces and can't really find any - I mean, some come close, but no exact likenesses.
My questions are: Was that a reasonable offer as far as you can tell? Should we get it restored, then try to sell it? And if so, where/how do we sell something like this? ebay, Cragslist, another jewelry/watch dealer?
Appreciate any and all comments!
Looking for some advice/opinions from some experts.
My wife found this watch years ago at a waste dump of all places and we almost simply pawned it for the gold, but later decided to see what it would be worth to restore and get it appraised. After a couple of weeks at a jewelry dealer that specializes in these services, we had to call to see if it had been looked at and to our surprise, they informed us that, once restored, it would be worth $2,700-$3,000 USD! Said it would cost around $700.00 or so to restore. We took it home to think about what to do and decided to take it back to them to see what they would offer (if interested) as is, and they offered $850 :blink: The math just doesn't seem right to us, so this is why I'm here. Since Tiffany & Co. was on the face, we knew that it may be worth something, but didn't realize until after we brought it home that they wrote Tiffany/Patek on the envelope with the restoration quote.
The back is engraved (possibly reducing its value?) with the initials M*W*D and date stamped February 18, 1924. I've been searching the internet for like pieces and can't really find any - I mean, some come close, but no exact likenesses.
My questions are: Was that a reasonable offer as far as you can tell? Should we get it restored, then try to sell it? And if so, where/how do we sell something like this? ebay, Cragslist, another jewelry/watch dealer?
Appreciate any and all comments!