The Seven Photographs That Get an Accurate Offer

A specialist valuing your watch from photographs is doing three jobs at once: identifying the exact reference, judging condition, and looking for anything that is not original. Good photographs let them do all three. Bad ones mean the valuation comes with a caveat, and caveats get resolved in person, in the buyer's favour.

This is the part of selling a watch where the seller has the most control and uses it the least.

Set up first, it takes two minutes

1. Find indirect daylightA window with no direct sun on it, in the middle of the day. North-facing is ideal. Daylight renders metal and dial colour honestly in a way household bulbs do not.
2. Turn the flash offFlash blows out the crystal, hides scratches, and flattens everything that makes a watch legible. It is the single most common mistake and it makes a watch harder to value, not easier.
3. Use a plain, neutral surfaceA sheet of white or grey paper, a plain table, a folded towel. Not a patterned countertop, not black velvet, not a wrist. The watch should be the only thing in the frame.
4. Clean the crystal, not the watchWipe the glass with a microfibre cloth so fingerprints do not read as marks. Do not polish the case, do not scrub the bracelet, and do not use any chemical. You are removing smudges, not restoring the watch.

The seven shots

1. The dial, straight on. Square to the dial, filling the frame, in focus at the centre. Every line of dial text should be readable. This single photograph does more identification work than the other six combined.
2. The caseback, full frame. Flat on, with any engraving legible. If the back carries a personal inscription, photograph it rather than hiding it, since it affects the valuation and a buyer will see it anyway.
3. The clasp, opened out. Open the clasp flat and photograph the inside. Clasp codes date the bracelet and confirm whether it is correct for the watch. Sellers skip this constantly and it is one of the most informative shots.
4. The case profile, from the side. Side on, at the level of the case. This shows the lugs, which is where polishing shows first. A specialist reads lug shape the way a mechanic reads tyre wear.
5. The serial or rehaut engraving. Angle the watch under the light until the engraving catches, then shoot. It will take several attempts. Where to find it on each maker.
6. The bracelet end links. Where the bracelet meets the case, on both sides. This shows stretch, fit, and whether the bracelet belongs to this watch.
7. The full set, laid out. Watch, box, outer box, cards, booklets, receipts, spare links, all in one flat overhead frame. One photograph that answers the whole paperwork question.

Photograph the flaws on purpose

This is counter-intuitive and it is the most important advice here. Sellers instinctively shoot around the scratch on the bezel, the ding on the lug, the worn spot on the clasp. The instinct is understandable and it costs them money.

A specialist values from what they can see. If they can see the flaw it is priced in, and the offer you receive is one that survives the inspection. If they cannot see it, the offer is based on a watch in better condition than yours, and it gets revised when the watch arrives. Now you are in the worst negotiating position there is: your watch is in someone else's hands and the number is moving.

Take a deliberate close-up of every mark you know about. An honestly photographed watch gets a number that holds.

A flattering photograph does not raise the offer. It only delays the moment the offer falls.

If the watch is not running

Photograph it anyway, and say so. A watch that has stopped is a completely ordinary thing to sell, and it is usually a dead mainspring or an overdue service rather than anything serious. What matters is that the buyer knows before valuing rather than after.

If the seconds hand is stuck in a particular place, or it runs for an hour and stops, mention that too. It is diagnostic information and it costs you nothing to share.

Sending them

Send the originals, not screenshots and not photos compressed by a messaging app. Detail is the entire point, and a screenshot of a photograph throws most of it away. Our valuation form takes the files directly.

Ten minutes, seven photographs, and the number you are quoted is one that will still be true when you shake hands.

Common questions