How to pick a vintage discontinued watch on eBay β the real risk isn’t a fake, it’s a genuine watch that’s been altered
π TL;DR
γ»For a new watch, Hong Kong is a good place to buy. No sales tax, and there’s no need to pretend otherwise. This article is about second-hand vintage watches β a different market with a different problem.
γ»The biggest risk isn’t a fake. What you actually run into is a genuine watch that’s been modified, redialled or over-polished. It’s real, but a large part of its value is gone.
γ»Price tracks originality, not age. After the Seiko SKX was discontinued, clean unmodified examples sell well above modified ones; the original bracelet and box add US$50β100.
γ»A worked example: the SKX007/009 was discontinued in 2019 β used prices went from about β¬150β250 to β¬400β500.
γ»eBay’s authentication is of limited use here. Authenticity Guarantee starts at US$500 (add-on) and US$2,000 (automatic), and it checks authenticity rather than originality β reading photos and asking the seller is what actually works at this price.
γ»Why the US: Bulova and Hamilton are American brands and the US second-hand market is their home turf. Hong Kong has no equivalent market.
γ»Good news: all four picks are mechanical, no battery, and watches are light, so forwarding costs very little. From our US warehouse, from HK$24/lb (plus a HK$1/lb fuel surcharge).
The usual way to get burned on a vintage watch isn’t receiving a fake.
It’s receiving a genuine watch with a redialled face, a case polished out of shape, and parts inside that didn’t come from the factory. The seller may not even know, because that’s how it was sold to them. The watch is real, which makes a dispute hard to win β it’s just worth considerably less than you paid.
β οΈ Worth knowing first: a great many US sellers on eBay set their shipping to US Only and won’t post outside the country. You can have the parcel sent to your Buy&Ship US warehouse address, which is in a sales-tax-free state, and forwarded to Hong Kong β or use Buy&Ship proxy shopping and we’ll place the order for you (fixed-price listings). Auction listings you bid on yourself; once you win, the parcel can come to the same US warehouse.
Contents
β Hong Kong already has no sales tax β so why buy from US eBay?
β What sets the price of a discontinued watch? Originality
β Four things to check (and what eBay’s authentication actually covers)
β Four affordable vintage discontinued watches
β What does it cost to ship a watch to Hong Kong?
β Vintage watch FAQ
β How to buy a vintage watch on eBay: forwarding and proxy shopping
Hong Kong already has no sales tax β so why buy from US eBay?
For a new watch, Hong Kong genuinely has the advantage β no sales tax, dealers everywhere, and retail prices for popular brands are not necessarily higher than in the US. If what you want is a current model with a warranty card, Tsim Sha Tsui or Causeway Bay will do the job and there’s no reason to go the long way round.
But vintage discontinued watches are a different market, and in that market the local advantage stops applying:
- American brands live in America. Bulova and Hamilton are US brands; Elgin and Waltham no longer exist as companies at all. US watchmaking was all but wiped out by the quartz crisis of the 1970s, and what survives circulates in the US second-hand market β Hong Kong simply doesn’t have that market.
- Depth of discontinued stock. You can find a Japanese diver discontinued in 2019 locally, but the range of examples, conditions and price points is not on the same scale as the world’s largest second-hand platform.
- Sellers state what’s been changed. A second-hand watch is worth what its originality says it’s worth, and eBay’s listing culture is to spell modifications out and photograph them. You get to judge for yourself, rather than taking a shop assistant’s word that it’s all original.
New watches, stay home. Vintage is worth the trip.
What sets the price of a discontinued watch? Originality
In the previous article on retired toys we set out a test: discontinued does not mean it appreciates, and three conditions have to hold at once β genuinely scarce, sustained demand, verifiable condition. Watches fit that test exactly, and here the third one β condition β carries the most weight.
The clearest example is the Seiko SKX007/009. It was discontinued in 2019, and prices moved like this:
| Before discontinuation (pre-2019) | Now (2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Used price | about β¬150β250 | US$250β350 (clean unmodified, on rubber) |
| Retail at the time | β¬340β360 | Discontinued, no longer supplied |
| Full set premium | β | Original Jubilee bracelet + box, add US$50β100 |
Note the two words in that table: clean unmodified.
The Seiko modding scene is enormous β bezels, dials, hands, sapphire crystals, all routinely swapped, and often done very well. But a modified watch is a different price on the collector market. Same reference, same year, keeping time just as well, and original versus modified can differ by tens of percent.
So the order in which you judge a vintage watch is: originality first, then age and rarity. Something old that’s been altered beyond recognition doesn’t become valuable just by being old.
Four things to check (and what eBay’s authentication actually covers)
| What to check | How to check it | Effect on price |
|---|---|---|
| β Modification (mods) | Compare the listing photos against factory images item by item β bezel markings, dial fonts, hand shapes, crystal profile. An honest seller lists what’s been changed | Modified pieces are a separate price bracket on the collector market, usually well below original |
| β‘ Redialled dial | The most common and the hardest to spot. Look at whether the lettering is too neat, print edges too crisp, spacing and logo placement slightly off. Factory printing shows its age under magnification; a redial usually looks “too new, too tidy” | A large hit, and many sellers won’t mention it |
| β’ Over-polishing | Look at the case lines and chamfers. Edges that should be sharp going soft, and the boundaries between surfaces blurring, means it’s been ground down too far | Irreversible; collector value drops sharply |
| β£ Replacement parts | Ask the seller for a photo of the movement and check the movement number matches the reference. Whether the bracelet and crown are original also feeds straight into price | For the Citizen Bullhead, sources are explicit that an original bracelet and signed crown add value |
Where eBay’s authentication threshold sits
eBay runs an Authenticity Guarantee service, where a third party physically inspects the item before it goes on to the buyer. For watches the thresholds are:
- Over US$2,000 β triggered automatically, free
- US$500 β 1,999.99 β available as an add-on, US$80
- Under US$500 β not available
π‘ Not having AG matters less than it sounds
Most of the four picks trade under US$500, so AG isn’t available at this price. That said, AG checks “genuine or fake”, not “original or altered” β a real watch that’s been redialled and polished out of shape passes inspection perfectly well. Even as an add-on, it wouldn’t solve what actually goes wrong with vintage watches.
A fake isn’t the main risk in this category; an altered genuine watch is. The usual gap isn’t receiving a counterfeit β it’s receiving something real whose originality falls short of the description, which means you overpaid. That gap is what the table above is for, and it closes by reading photographs, not by hiring an authenticator.
Settle three things before you buy. Message the seller straight from the listing page β whether they reply, and how carefully, tells you something on its own:
- “Has the dial been refinished or the case polished?” β the two biggest value killers, so ask outright rather than guess
- “Can you send a photo of the movement?” β if the movement matches the reference, check β£ is done
- “Is the bracelet and crown original?” β original fittings move the price, and therefore whether you want to pay this one
Put the answers next to the table above and you have something to judge on. A seller with a long feedback record who photographs thoroughly and answers questions is the most practical protection at this price β and the price itself is working for you: getting it wrong on a US$300 watch and on a US$3,000 watch are not the same event.
One aside: AG’s terms require the buyer to be in the United States. So if you later go for something over US$500 where the add-on is worth having, receiving at a US warehouse address is how an overseas buyer gets access to the service at all β asking the seller to post internationally removes the option from the start.
Four affordable vintage discontinued watches
Two Japanese, two American. All four are mechanical, with no battery β which is genuinely convenient when forwarding.
β οΈ Vintage American watches have no unified reference numbering, and prices vary enormously between models of the same era. So for the two American picks below we describe what to look for and give no price band β better that than a number with nothing behind it.
π₯ 1. Seiko SKX007/SKX009 (discontinued 2019)
The legendary entry-level diver β 200m water resistance, automatic movement, tough and cheap enough that it has been the standard answer to “my first mechanical watch” for years. Since it was discontinued in 2019, used prices have only gone up.
What to look for: this is modding ground zero, and huge numbers of SKXs have had the bezel, dial or crystal changed. For collecting, hold out for clean unmodified, and confirm whether the original Jubilee bracelet and box are included β that’s the US$50β100 difference.
π° Current used reference: US$250β350 (clean unmodified, on rubber)
Full set with original bracelet and box adds US$50β100 | overall band roughly US$300β700, mostly driven by condition
β 2. Citizen Bullhead 8110 (1970s automatic chronograph)
The pushers sit on top of the case like horns, hence “Bullhead”. A 1970s automatic chronograph, with panda and reverse-panda dials the most sought after β the centrepiece of vintage Citizen collecting.
Where the demand comes from: Brad Pitt wore a gold 8110 as Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). Searches spiked when the film came out and have stayed up ever since β not a passing moment, but demand that stuck.
What to look for: sources are explicit that a complete original movement, the original bracelet and a signed crown all add value. Panda and blue dials usually cost more than other colourways.
π° Market direction: auction prices have risen over the past three years
Colourway and condition vary too much for a single reference price β use “Sold Items” and compare like for like
Reissue or original? Citizen launched a Tsuno reissue in 2026, its first wide release in the US. If you want the look, the reissue is newer, has a warranty and no condition worries. If you want the actual 1970s watch, a reissue can’t stand in for it β the scarcity is on the original side, and a reissue landing usually pulls attention back to the originals anyway. They serve different wants and don’t cancel each other out.
3. Vintage Bulova (American brand)
Bulova made its name building tool watches for the US military in the Second World War, and by the 60s and 70s was turning out very good chronographs and divers. This is home-market stock in the US β there’s no equivalent circulating market in Hong Kong, so the US is where you look.
What to look for: redialled faces are common on vintage American watches, so check β‘ with particular care. On military models especially, compare the factory lettering and the layout of the markers.
π° How to price it: vintage US watches have no unified reference numbering and prices differ hugely between models of the same era.
Settle on a specific model first, then use “Sold Items” to compare recent sales of the same model in the same condition
4. Vintage Hamilton (the easiest one to service)
Also an American brand, sold at the time through selected jewellers and positioned a notch above. For anyone buying vintage, Hamilton has one very practical advantage: parts are plentiful.
What to look for: a vintage watch will need servicing sooner or later, and a watch you can’t get parts for is an ornament that will eventually stop. Hamilton is friendlier on this front than most American watches of the same period, which makes it a steadier starting point if it’s your first vintage piece.
π° How to price it: as above β settle on a specific model, then compare with “Sold Items”.
Also ask the seller when it was last serviced β that affects running costs more than the outside does
*Reference prices come from public watch-market tracking and collector community data (August 2026). They are not our own transaction data and not official eBay figures. Vintage watch prices vary enormously with condition, originality and completeness, so the listing page at the time you order is what counts. This article is not investment advice and makes no guarantee about any item’s future price.
What does it cost to ship a watch to Hong Kong?
This part is short: watches are the lightest category we’ve written about.
A watch and its box usually come in under a pound, and international forwarding is charged by actual received weight, per pound. So a US$300 watch lands in the cheapest bracket there is β high value, low freight, which is about as good a ratio as collectibles get.
| Actual parcel weight | Lai Chi Kok self-pickup (HK$24 + HK$1/lb fuel) | Other delivery options (HK$27β34 + HK$1/lb fuel) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 lb (one or two watches) | HK$25 | HK$28β35 |
| 2 lb | HK$50 | HK$56β70 |
| 3 lb | HK$75 | HK$84β105 |
π‘ Two practical points:
β Declare the value honestly. Vintage watches aren’t cheap, and the declared value is what governs how things are handled if something goes wrong. Don’t under-declare for any reason.
β‘ Ask the seller to pack it properly. What a watch suffers in transit is a scratched crystal or knocked lugs. Asking how they’ll pack it before you buy beats arguing afterwards.
Vintage watch FAQ
Q1: Is the biggest risk with a vintage watch buying a fake?
No. In the affordable end of the vintage market, what you run into far more often is a genuine watch that’s been altered β redialled, over-polished, fitted with non-factory parts. It’s real, which makes a dispute hard to win, but a large part of its value is gone. Learn four things: modification, redialling, over-polishing, replacement parts.
Q2: Can eBay’s authentication service check a vintage watch for me?
Mostly not at this price. Authenticity Guarantee for watches is automatic and free above US$2,000, available as an US$80 add-on from US$500β1,999.99, and not available under US$500. Note too that it verifies authenticity, not originality β a redialled but genuine watch passes just the same.
Q3: Hong Kong already has no sales tax β is there any point buying from the US?
Not for a new watch; yes for vintage. With no sales tax locally, a new watch with local warranty is most straightforward bought here. But the second-hand market for American brands like Bulova and Hamilton is in the US, and Hong Kong has no equivalent; the range of discontinued models and conditions isn’t on the same scale either.
Q4: Can you bid on auction listings for me?
Not at the moment. Buy&Ship proxy shopping currently handles fixed-price “Buy It Now” listings only; there’s no bidding-on-your-behalf service. A lot of vintage watches are listed as auctions, so those you bid on yourself β then have the parcel sent to our US warehouse and forwarded to Hong Kong.
Q5: How is Buy&Ship forwarding charged for a watch?
International forwarding is charged by actual received weight, per pound. From the US warehouse to Hong Kong, Lai Chi Kok self-pickup is HK$24/lb plus a HK$1/lb fuel surcharge; other delivery options are HK$27β34/lb, also plus HK$1/lb. A watch and its box usually come in under a pound, which is the cheapest bracket. Current rates are on the pricing page.
Q6: Does it make a difference whether the watch is mechanical or quartz?
Yes. Mechanical watches have no battery, and all four picks here are mechanical. Quartz watches have one built in, and prohibited and restricted item lists differ by market and by origin warehouse, and are updated from time to time. Check the Hong Kong restricted items page before you order to confirm the item and its accessories aren’t listed. For anything specific, ask Customer Service.
Q7: The watch arrived and it isn’t keeping good time β what now?
Vintage mechanical watches run with some deviation by nature, and plenty of listings state the watch is “unserviced” β in this category that’s a normal condition rather than necessarily a mismatch with the description. So read how the seller describes the mechanical state before you buy, and ask when it was last serviced; that works better than arguing after it arrives. If what turns up clearly doesn’t match the listing, contact the seller through eBay first.
How to buy a vintage watch on eBay: forwarding and proxy shopping
Three situations, three routes:
| Your situation | What suits it |
|---|---|
| You have an eBay account and can pay, but the seller won’t post to Hong Kong | Buy&Ship forwarding β receive at our US warehouse address |
| You don’t have a US payment method, or aren’t comfortable with the interface | Buy&Ship proxy shopping β send us the “Buy It Now” listing link |
| You want to bid on an auction | Bid yourself + Buy&Ship forwarding β proxy shopping doesn’t cover bidding |
β Option 1: Buy&Ship forwarding
Step 1: Find the watch on eBay
Search the reference (for example Seiko SKX007) and filter Item Location to “US Only” on the left. “Buy It Now” gets you something available now; vintage watches also come up heavily as “Auction”, which is usually where the bargains are. Check “Sold Items” for recent selling prices first, then decide your ceiling.
Step 2: Enter your Buy&Ship US warehouse address
At checkout, use the US warehouse address from your Buy&Ship member centre β it’s in a sales-tax-free state β and remember to include your member number, or the parcel can’t be matched to your account when it arrives.
Step 3: Declare the parcel in your member centre
Once you have a tracking number, declare the parcel in your member centre with the tracking number, item category and declared value. Vintage watches aren’t cheap β declare honestly.
Step 4: Consolidate and receive
Once the item reaches our US warehouse it is forwarded to the Hong Kong sorting centre. From there you can consolidate parcels β watches are light, so combining a few in one shipment works out well β then pay the international shipping and choose a pickup point or home delivery.
β Option 2: Buy&Ship proxy shopping (fixed-price listings)
Step 1: Submit the request
Copy the eBay listing link and send it over with the reference and any condition requirements. Proxy shopping currently covers “Buy It Now” listings only; for auctions, bid yourself and forward the win.
Step 2: Confirm the quote and pay
We check the item and send a quote; you confirm and pay, and we place the order.
Step 3: The item reaches our warehouse
Once the seller ships, the item goes straight to our US warehouse and you can follow it in your member centre.
Step 4: Consolidate, pay and receive
Once the item has been forwarded from the US warehouse to the Hong Kong sorting centre, it can be consolidated with your other parcels in the same way. Confirm, pay the international shipping, and choose a pickup point or home delivery.
π Further reading
β US PokΓ©mon cards vs Japanese: which should you buy on eBay?
β US vs Japanese Beyblade X: what’s different and how to buy the US version