- Maui
- By appointment
- Same-day payment
The full process, from your first message to same-day payment. No sales pitch, just what happens, in what order. Twenty years buying watches in Hawaii, and every step below is the same for a walk-in at the Maui office as it is for a ship-in from anywhere in the country.
A firm offer in a couple of minutes. No obligation.
From your first message to money in your bank account, the whole thing takes 3 to 5 business days depending on where you are shipping from. Same-island in Hawaii is fastest. Mainland is a day longer because of the transcontinental shipping leg. In-person appointments at the Maui office skip the shipping leg entirely.
Send the reference, condition, and a few photos. Two minutes to submit through the form on any page of the site. We come back with an indicative number the same business day, usually within a few hours. If we need more photos or a specific angle, we ask. If the reference is one we do not buy (fashion brands, brands under $3,000 retail), we say so up front, before you have invested any time.
The indicative is a real number based on the photos plus current market data (dealer sales, auction results, our network's inventory). It is not final because we have not authenticated the watch yet. We tell you clearly what we are basing it on and what could move the number up or down after authentication. Most indicative offers come back within a few hours of the intake, always within the same business day.
If you are in Maui, you can visit our downtown office by appointment and hand the watch over in person. Same appointment covers authentication and payment. If you are shipping from anywhere else, we send a prepaid FedEx or UPS label with the full declared value insured. You drop the watch at any FedEx or UPS location, or arrange a home pickup with the courier. No cost to you either way. Tracking is shared with you the moment the courier scans the package.
Every watch is authenticated in our secure Maui office. Movement, case, dial, serial, papers. Everything filmed on the shop camera so both parties have a record. Takes 2 to 3 business days from the moment we receive the watch. If authentication reveals something we did not expect (a service replacement, a redial, an undisclosed refinish), we write it up with photos and adjust the firm offer accordingly. Nothing is a surprise, and nothing changes without a written explanation.
Once authentication clears, we confirm the firm offer. If it matches the indicative, you accept and we pay the same day, bank wire or USDT. If the firm is lower than the indicative, we explain why in writing, and your options are laid out in Section 8 below. Wire clears same day for domestic US accounts, next business day for international. USDT clears within an hour. From intake to money in your account: 3 to 4 business days from Hawaii, 4 to 5 from the mainland.
The part of the process that nervous sellers wonder about most. Here is what happens in the secure room.
Case back opens on a bench in the secure room, calibre number confirmed against the reference. Service history checked for tell-tale signs of a movement swap (mismatched screws, unofficial parts, timing regulation that would not have left the factory). If we find something inconsistent, we photograph it and flag it before continuing.
Engravings, laser marks, hallmarks, hand-finishing quality on the lugs and bezel. Case shape checked against the reference dimensions. Polished cases are noted (they are not disqualifying, but they affect the number). Any refinishing that removed original lug lines is documented.
Print quality, lume aging, hand alignment. Redials and service dials are usually visible under a loupe within a few seconds. If we find one, we say so, with a photo comparing the dial to a known original from the same reference and era. Same for replaced hands and lume touch-ups.
Serial verified against known reference ranges. If a warranty card is included, we cross-check the caseback serial against the card. Service records reviewed. Everything on the bench is filmed continuously on the shop camera, and the video is retained for both parties’ records. If the seller wants to see the authentication live, we arrange a video call for the appraisal step.
The mechanics of the insured leg. Written plainly because this is the part sellers worry about most.
Standard FedEx and UPS insurance covers up to $50,000 per package. That covers most of the watches we buy. For pieces above $50,000, we add supplemental insurance through a third-party carrier so the whole declared value is covered end to end. The seller tells us the declared value when we send the shipping label, and the coverage matches. There is no cost to the seller for either the standard insurance or the supplemental.
Tracking is shared with the seller at drop-off. Both sides watch the shipment together. If a package is delayed, held for customs review, or misrouted, our team notifies the seller within the hour. Delays happen occasionally, particularly during holiday periods, and honest communication is the only way to keep both sides calm through them.
If damage or loss occurs, we file the insurance claim against the carrier on your behalf. The seller is made whole against the agreed declared value, not the offer amount. That is why the declared value conversation matters up front: we set it against the indicative offer, so if something happens in transit, you are covered for the full value we were prepared to pay.
Chain of custody: from the moment the courier scans the package at the drop-off point to the moment our team signs for it in Maui, the package is tracked and insured. It is never in transit without either being signed for or in the courier’s controlled facility. If a package is signed for by anyone other than our named team, we treat that as a loss and file immediately.
Bank wire is the default. We initiate the wire the moment you accept the firm offer. Domestic US bank wires clear the same business day if accepted before 3 pm Eastern, next business day otherwise. International wires clear next business day. No fees on our side. Your receiving bank may charge a fee for incoming wires above certain thresholds.
USDT (Tether) is available for sellers who prefer stablecoin settlement. Cleared within an hour of the seller sending us a valid receiving wallet address on the ERC-20 or TRC-20 network. USDT is popular with Miami-transiting international sellers, with collectors who move regularly between crypto and dollars, and with sellers who want the fastest possible settlement without a banking layer. Bank wire is the default for most sellers.
No cash for pieces above [threshold amount] because of federal AML reporting requirements above certain thresholds. This is a compliance point, not a preference. Cash is available for smaller pieces at the Maui office if the seller strongly prefers it and the total is below the threshold.
The honest walk-away scenario. Nobody enjoys this conversation, but it happens, and here is exactly what we do.
The firm offer can differ from the indicative for three reasons. First, authentication reveals service history the seller did not know about: a movement swap, a dial replacement, a case polish that removed original lug shape. Second, the market moved between the intake and the arrival: a hot reference can move a few percent in either direction within a week. Third, the photos did not show a hairline crack, corrosion under the caseback gasket, or a scratch that only appears under raked light. We do our best to catch these on the indicative, but photos have limits.
When the firm is lower than the indicative, we write out the reason in a short note, with photos of the specific issue, so the seller sees exactly what changed. If a redial was found, the photo compares your dial to a known original from the same era. If a service replacement was found, the photo shows the mismatched part. The seller reviews the note before deciding.
Then the seller has three options. Accept the lower number and get paid the same day. Or negotiate a middle ground if the difference is small and there is honest room to move (usually there is not, if the issue is clearly documented). Or refuse and get the watch shipped back to you at our cost, insured, within one business day of your decision. We do not hold a watch to force a haggle, and we do not charge a restocking fee or an authentication fee to sellers who walk away.
If you have read the process and outright sale is not the right service, two other options work through the same intake
Apply your watch’s value against another piece from our collection and pay only the difference. Same intake and authentication. If the trade math works, we finalize and ship the new piece. If not, no obligation and no cost. Cross-link to Trade-In.
We sell your watch on your behalf, at a higher final number, and you are paid when it sells. The same authentication and insurance process described above applies. Consignment is typically 30 to 90 days depending on the reference and the market. Cross-link to Consignment.
No papers is common for inherited pieces and does not disqualify the watch. Authentication does not depend on papers. What matters is that the watch is genuine, the movement matches the case, and the serial verifies. Papers, when present, add value (typically 5 to 15 percent depending on the reference). No papers, no problem, but the offer reflects the reduced desirability to a resale buyer.
Fine. Provenance is separate from authentication. What we need is confirmation that the watch is yours to sell. A prior purchase message from a named seller, a copy of your ID, and a signed bill of sale at the transaction cover it. We do this every day.
Not disqualifying, but relevant. Independent service work is common, especially for older references where the brand no longer services the movement. If the work was done by a reputable watchmaker with a receipt, that helps. If the service replaced original parts with generics, the offer reflects it. Either way, we tell you what we found before we finalize the number.
Usually $3,000 retail value or above. Below that, our authentication and shipping costs make the offer uneconomical for both sides. If you are unsure whether your piece qualifies, ask us before shipping. We say no politely if the number would not work for you.
Rarely. For higher-value pieces where a seller strongly prefers in-person, we can sometimes arrange it (usually New York, LA, or Miami). Ask, and we will tell you what is possible. Ship-in is the default for anywhere outside Maui, and it is designed to be as low-friction as an in-person meeting.
Once payment is initiated, the sale is complete. Before payment, you can withdraw for any reason at no cost. We ship the watch back to you insured within one business day.
We handle collections regularly. The intake process is the same, one form per watch. Authentication is the same. Payment can be consolidated into a single wire or USDT transaction covering the whole set. For collections above five pieces, we can arrange a scheduled call to walk through the whole set before you ship.
Perpetual calendar, tourbillon, minute repeater, split-second chronograph: yes. High-complication authentication takes longer (usually 4 to 5 business days) because we bring in an outside specialist for the movement inspection. Same insurance, same process, same firm offer.
Get an indicative offer today. Authentication happens once you decide to proceed.
