[vilts]

yea have you ever checked what magrette charges for engraved watches..... you should sell these!

Yes, Magrette is known to me. Very nice engravings indeed. Guy who engraves for them, Andrew Biggs, is a top notch engraver. I've even gotten some advice from him on forums how to improve my engravings.

Well, let's see how things progress. Certain company where I work has just announced that they're going to fire 18000 workers, I may be one of them. Might be good chance to go full time

 

[loiidol]

Yes, Magrette is known to me. Very nice engravings indeed. Guy who engraves for them, Andrew Biggs, is a top notch engraver. I've even gotten some advice from him on forums how to improve my engravings.

Well, let's see how things progress. Certain company where I work has just announced that they're going to fire 18000 workers, I may be one of them. Might be good chance to go full time

Said it before and shall say it again. You skills are really good! I hope to see you do more of this in the future =D

 

[vilts]

So, I think I'm ready to step up the game a little and I need a donor watch for next project. I'd like to keep budget in 400 - 1200 USD range. I believe selling $1000 watch with $500 engraving is easier than $50 watch, right?

I've been looking around for weeks and came up with following candidates with rough prices:
- Tissot Visodate, $440
- Seiko SARB065, $440
- Orient FFD0F003W0 (FFD0F003W0 FFD0F003W FD0F003W CFD0F003W | Orient Automatic Watches & Reviews | Orient Watch USA), $465
- MIDO multifort auto, $620
- Hamilton Intra-Matic, $620

Higher ends
- Stowa Marine, $1300 range
- Raymond Weil Freelancer, $1325

What does the collective WUS wisdom think, what would have the best resale potential after engraved? Other suggestions, besides the ones on the list, are more than welcome.

I think the watch should have rather simple face, otherwise the whole package will get very busy. Doesn't need to be thin, I think the Sottomarino was very nice in that regard. Especially nice would be to have an option to get aftermarket rotor, so I could engrave that and swap it out.

 

[CMA22inc]

I think a Hamilton Khaki Field Pioneer Auto non-chrono would be a good choice. They seem to hold value.
It has a vintage style that might lend well to engraving.

 

[Sonic_driftwood]

I think the mido would be fantastic. But, mido seems to be a niche brand. I think the hamilton or the seiko would be more recognizable, which makes the watch more striking, because everybody knows those don't come engraved.

 

[BA1970]

The engraving looks good. I like it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

 

[NinthSphere]

If I was going to send you something to have engraved, my thought was something along the lines of this:

time2give.be/index.php?id_product=94&controller=product&id_lang=1

330 E/452.13 USD

Although that may be a bit busy for some people.

 

[T1ck]

Can't answer your question without pics I'm afraid. Would make life easier if you could put at least links next to the models...

Having said that, have you considered a genuine vintage mid to high end watch as the base for the work ? You are better to judge this, but I would imagine that any blemishes on the watch case would be gone by the time you are done with it. Going vintage should enable you towards an even more prestigious brand on the same budget, plus the big devaluation chunk had been taken out, mitigating some of the risk.

 

[vilts]

Can't answer your question without pics I'm afraid. Would make life easier if you could put at least links next to the models...

Good idea, here's the list with photos:

- Tissot Visodate, $440

- Seiko SARB065, $440

- Orient FFD0F003W0, $465

- MIDO multifort auto, $620

- Hamilton Intra-Matic, $620

Higher ends
- Stowa Marine, $1300 range

- Raymond Weil Freelancer, $1325

Having said that, have you considered a genuine vintage mid to high end watch as the base for the work ? You are better to judge this, but I would imagine that any blemishes on the watch case would be gone by the time you are done with it. Going vintage should enable you towards an even more prestigious brand on the same budget, plus the big devaluation chunk had been taken out, mitigating some of the risk.

Hm, nope, haven't even considered vintages. But that might be a good idea indeed.

 

[Stepper]

Here's an Idea,
Do your magic on a few MTG G-Shocks, give one to BubbaLicious or IddyBiddy (or whatever rapper of your choice) and sell the other ones for 300% mark-up!

 

[jon_huskisson]

Strange that you mention it, I'm looking for next one as we speak . Currently at the top of the list I have Tissot Visodate and Hamilton Day Date Auto. I'll travel to US soon, so it would be good change to get a good deal...

Anyhow, it is finally ready. Quite a long journey, starting from the end of October, but actual hours worked on it was about 4 days worth.

Final photos:

View attachment 1568131

View attachment 1568132

View attachment 1568135

View attachment 1568137

And a video - Watch hand engraving, part 2 - YouTube. I didn't know much what "to do" in the video, but maybe helps to get a better idea of how it looks in real life.

Wow! Just wow! You, sir, are an artist.

I make no apology for including the photos in my reply - some photos are worth re-posting.

 

[jon_huskisson]

So, I think I'm ready to step up the game a little and I need a donor watch for next project. I'd like to keep budget in 400 - 1200 USD range. I believe selling $1000 watch with $500 engraving is easier than $50 watch, right?

I've been looking around for weeks and came up with following candidates with rough prices:
- Tissot Visodate, $440
- Seiko SARB065, $440
- Orient FFD0F003W0 (FFD0F003W0 FFD0F003W FD0F003W CFD0F003W | Orient Automatic Watches & Reviews | Orient Watch USA), $465
- MIDO multifort auto, $620
- Hamilton Intra-Matic, $620

Higher ends
- Stowa Marine, $1300 range
- Raymond Weil Freelancer, $1325

What does the collective WUS wisdom think, what would have the best resale potential after engraved? Other suggestions, besides the ones on the list, are more than welcome.

I think the watch should have rather simple face, otherwise the whole package will get very busy. Doesn't need to be thin, I think the Sottomarino was very nice in that regard. Especially nice would be to have an option to get aftermarket rotor, so I could engrave that and swap it out.

For what it's worth (I'm no businessman) I think you would be better off taking a specific commission i.e. an order to engrave a specific watch in a particular style. People around here are pretty specific about what watches they like and don't. In addition, as beautiful as your work is it is not to everyone's taste to wear an ornately engraved watch. Add those two elements together and you have a very small potential market (i.e. person who likes the watch in question, and would like to have it engraved by you, and is willing to pay a premium price to have that particular watch engraved). I'm sure you'd be able to sell any watch you engrave because it will look great, but you may not get as high of a price if the buyer is not in love with both the watch and the engraving. If, alternatively, the buyer selects the watch to be engraved then you already have a guaranteed customer (which lowers your risk - especially if you could work out a way to receive payment up front for the cost of the watch) and I suspect that they may be willing to pay more for the engraving aspect because it will be enhancing something they already like a lot. There are websites out there (e.g. Etsy) which are well suited to such commissions. If you really wanted to take things further you could look into putting together watches from stock cases, movements etc and starting your own brand where the watches themselves are not particularly unique, but the engraving aspect is the primary selling point.

I'm sure you've thought about this sort of thing, but I'm just putting the idea out there. Whatever you decide to do I look forward to seeing more of your work.

 

[sinner777]

hats off...

 

[JamesWWIII]

Saw this mentioned in another thread, and it deserves a bump.

Absolutely gorgeous work.

 

[T1ck]

@OP: how is this going for you? Taking commissions yet?

 

[93EXCivic]

@OP: how is this going for you? Taking commissions yet?

I'd PM him. I know he is as he did one for me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pallet Spoon]

I believe he can also be reached via facebook ...

https://www.facebook.com/bottegamarrandi

I believe this is his website .... some beautiful stuff:

Viljo Marrandi art and engraving | Handmade art

 

[vilts]

@OP: how is this going for you? Taking commissions yet?

Hello again!

It is going very well, thanks for asking . Just few months ago I quit my comfortable job and went full time with engraving (and bunch of other stuff). Few watches have run across my table as well - the Celtic Invicta and this Apple Watch

And yes, I do take commissions with great pleasure.

 

[93EXCivic]

Hello again!

It is going very well, thanks for asking . Just few months ago I quit my comfortable job and went full time with engraving (and bunch of other stuff). Few watches have run across my table as well - the Celtic Invicta and this Apple Watch

View attachment 4505306

And yes, I do take commissions with great pleasure.

I love how you make an Apple watch look good.

Good luck with your business. I plan on sending you some more in the not to distant future. :-!

 

[T1ck]

Really glad to hear you are doing well. You have a great talent. Wishing you lots of success!