The best shopping advice I can give: if something feels fishy/sketchy/off, walk away.

 

With 58k items sold on eBay they must be doing something right.

 

I believe they are still on chrono24 : CLOSER co.,ltd ♛ Watches currently on Chrono24
I'm a bit confused on your story. I've found that these Japanese pawnshops don't like to / or don't accept offers. The price is the price. I've also seen them list the same watches for much higher on ebay (higher fees?).
I have no personal experience, but there are quite a few reviews on chrono24 and if you search closer and watchuseek you should be able to find some feedback.

 

I believe they are still on chrono24 : CLOSER co.,ltd ♛ Watches currently on Chrono24
I'm a bit confused on your story. I've found that these Japanese pawnshops don't like to / or don't accept offers. The price is the price. I've also seen them list the same watches for much higher on ebay (higher fees?).
I have no personal experience, but there are quite a few reviews on chrono24 and if you search closer and watchuseek you should be able to find some feedback.

If they are the same seller, then I'd certainly buy from them again. From what I have seen the prices on Chrono24 are lower than the same watch listed on flea-bay, but I've only looked at a few.

 

if you have doubts already, don't buy from him

easy peasy lemon squeezy

 

Type “closer0924” in the search bar above - this seller has been discussed here many times. If you feel comfortable, buy; if you don’t, don’t.

 

My first watch was purchased from them. No complaints

 

How you're asking for price quotes on eBay...?

I bought my Hamilton from them. Seamless transaction. Of course, being on eBay, I just paid the buy it now price.

 

What is the seller's name again?

 

Who's asking?

 

If you don't feel comfortable, move on to a seller that does work for you.

 

I contacted him about a few Breitlings on Chrono24, and he wasn't interested in offers on any of them. He basically said, "The price is the price." I would have considered buying from him given various protections, but all of the mentions of import/customs duties, taxes, etc. on eBay kind of made me nervous and I decided to buy from a US seller instead.

As far as I can tell, he seems reputable and I haven't seen any serious complaints in either Chrono24 or eBay.... lots of issues with Customs, delivery, etc., but none about him or the watches themselves. He does seem to "refurbish" some of his pieces, though, and I don't know what kind of parts he uses, so if you're a purist I would use a little more caution.

 

I contacted him about a few Breitlings on Chrono24, and he wasn't interested in offers on any of them. He basically said, "The price is the price." I would have considered buying from him given various protections, but all of the mentions of import/customs duties, taxes, etc. on eBay kind of made me nervous and I decided to buy from a US seller instead.

As far as I can tell, he seems reputable and I haven't seen any serious complaints in either Chrono24 or eBay.... lots of issues with Customs, delivery, etc., but none about him or the watches themselves. He does seem to "refurbish" some of his pieces, though, and I don't know what kind of parts he uses, so if you're a purist I would use a little more caution.

He ships via DHL at least to my residence in the US. You pay your customs fees through them. It's a pretty painless process, but you will owe money on watches imported into the US if their value is > $800.

 

They're legit, but almost all of the watches Closer sells are in really poor condition and in need of service. They're like the dumpster diver resellers of the watch world.

 

I bought my 1967 Breitling from Closer. It was in excellent condition despite being listed as "fair", and on my timegrapher appears to have been recently serviced. Many times multiple watches are listed of the same model with various pricepoints. I suspect the listing price has much to do with the condition. For any used and especially vintage watch I buy I just assume it needs servicing.

 

Japanese sellers are most often legit and don't sell fakes, though clearly I can't speak for all of them. The watch market in Japan is insane though, so there are lots of tiers and thus sellers who cater to all sectors of the market. Komehyo, or Quark, for instance, rarely sell anything other than high-end brands with at most minor scratches on them (and would still call that a 'B' grade - despite some eBayer saying something in a similar condition 'as new’). They'll almost always professionally service the watch before selling it on, and in most cases comes with official warranty papers plus their own guarantee (usually only valid in Japan, however). The Komehyo showroom in Shinjuku looks like a high end department store in New York, you'd never know anything had ever been near human skin. That said, a new-ish Rolex Explorer I (just for example) as of the last time I was there in June is going to set you back at least a million yen/$7000 - so it's not a tremendous value proposition and maybe only marginally lower than USA/UK resellers want for one right now, esp once any import duties are paid.

Others, like 2nd Street, sell Omegas and Rolexes but usually in noticeably more used condition. Their 'B' grades really have seen signs of wear. Prices are lower, of course. You can sometimes also order these from Japan and they'll ship.

Then there's online-onlies who generally take the watches Komehyo won't buy, either because it's a second-tier (in their eyes) brand, or that it's had a lot of wear. Not always, of course, but this is maybe where Closer comes in. They can polish them up, sometimes very obviously so which makes them look worse, but they'll usually be working well enough. However, whereas Komehyo will in some instances run the watch through a timegrapher and show you that it's passed a 10ATM pressure test right in front of you, you'll be having to take the risk some gasket isn't corroded or whatever with these other sellers. It's reflected in the price, nine times out of ten.

 

Picked this from them when their was Global Rakuten, the had very clear photos of the watch and it was price as per condition.

 

If this is the same seller, and I am certain it is, I have purchased from them on couple occasions without a problem. I believe they have thousands of reviews on eBay. Just make sure you know what your hidden costs are importing from Japan if you are not in Japan.

 

I can't get a good view of my target through all these red flags. Can someone tell me what's on the other side?

 

To add to my previous post, I am not sure why but I often see Japanese listings of a same watch by multiple sellers with different prices. Sometimes, even the same seller has multiple listings of the same watch at different prices. The only logical reason I can speculate is that Japanese sellers typically sell on multiple sites and they may be simply importing their listings to eBay from other market sites and creating discrepancies on the listings. Just a thought.

 

You are correct. There are sellers out there that list other sellers watches with a markup. If you are not thorough in your review of the listings, you may be buying a watch from someone who doesn't own it, but will buy it and then resell it to you for extra profit. And yes, sometimes it is sold on multiple sites that have varying costs (fees) associated with selling on that particular platform, which impacts the price.

 

I have dealt with Higuchi and Seiya for Japanese watches. They were both great.

 

If it's the same vendor that I have been tracking for many months, I've noticed that his stock tends to consist of fairly beat up and over polished watches.

Most of the watches I looked at carefully had substantial flaws, and give the impression that they've been through a lot of "restorative" work, meaning that superficial cosmetic work has been done to make them presentable.

Also, I get the impression that many of these have been built using salvage parts. Obviously, I can't know this for sure, but that's the impression I get.

Please examine carefully and don't be drawn in to the lower prices he offers unless you are good with very worn watches that have had extensive cosmetic work done.

Check the case lugs and edges for sign of grinding and polishing, as well as uncommon dial abuse and condition (corrosion on hands or indices). Many look like the watch was water damaged. Many also have crystal scratches

 

The watch may have been sold but the buyer walked away and it got relisted. Happens a lot. If the seller raises the price to you and your friend with each contact that is a pretty good indication that your business isn't wanted. Possibly because he figured out you both were testing him on the same watch. It's time for just you to look for a watch through a different seller.

 

Would you pay for the COA ($80) to verify the authenticity?

 

I purchased a watch from them through C24 and was very satisfied. They shipped quickly and the photos were accurate. They do take about 12 hours to reply.

 

Closer is the best used watch dealer I have ever done business with. I have bought at least a half dozen watches from him. He is the absolute best. He does not dicker on prices.

 

Hello hello,

Bit late for a reply, but I can speak about my personal experience with closer co ltd.
I ordered quite a good amount of watches from this seller (Rolex, omega, longines and others) and personally never had any issues.

With orders made in Japan, you can usually expect a better product that what you are looking at on the advertised pictures.
(They seem to take very simple photos)
Description is usually accurate, concerning the potential defects (scratches, rust and other potential issues there could be) that you could find on the watch advertised.
Concerning the products for sale, you can find from all, it goes from damaged, heavily used, in a good or very good or even new condition.

All watch I've ordered were always in a good to very good or serviced condition.

I'm leaving in Luxembourg so I always have to pay a 17% import tax on the value of the item I order from abroad.
Prices are absolutely decent and honest.

From my personal experience and point of view, I can only recommend Japanese retail and wholesale dealers.


Never had any issue with closer or any other Japanese dealers.

 

Hi,do you know any websites or reseller of vintage luxury watches in wholesale ?

 

Closer is nice in that they post accurate and detailed condition descriptions, and measure timekeeping performance for mechanical watches. I wish they were more flexible on pricing, as their listings are usually a bit overvalued.

 

On ebay, yes, their listings sell for a bit higher but go to Chrono24, they offer the same watches for less.
I've bought twice form them, the watches I received looked even better than described.

 

He is the best. My favorite pre-owned seller.

 

I'm another very happy Closer customer. Bought two watches from them and both were packed well, shipped fast and arrived in great condition. I'd definitely buy from them again!