watch looks real to me but what do I know?

pretty beat up

just a small piece of advice - all that extra stuff in your listing makes me want to throw up

I would never buy it from that listing - too much confusion

confused listings tend to be scams

simplify the listing and for $65 you  better make sure you get a clear photo of the  movement from that jeweler to use in the listing.

Also for $65 make sure you get a certificate of authenticity with the jewelers name and business addess on it, If not then take it somewhere else 

good luck

Unfortunately your listing brings along with it a staggering amount of baggage, to the point that hand-held devices or computers on slower connections cannot accommodate it without a long delay. All that biographical data and large pile of images require almost two hundred separate web page object downloads just to present your one listing. I was watching my own network computer here in morbid fascination as it slogged through all the downloading. Many interested bidders may give up and hit their Back button before it ever completes.

I hate to say this, but you need to dump everything that does not relate to the watch that you are selling. All the other stuff is a network hog, and belongs on your About Me page, not in an individual item listing. Check out some similar watch listings to see how other sellers present theirs.

Now then, regarding the watch itself. What your watch repair person was trying to explain, I think, is that more recent watches are likely to have quartz-regulated, battery-powered movements; the older watches such as yours (which we'll assume is genuine at this point) are hand-wound mechanical devices with no battery. If you bought a watch like this that was supposed to be from, oh, let's say the 1940s, opened the back and found a button-cell battery staring back at you, that would be a modern, quartz fake. (That's not to say that quartz watches can't be valuable collectibles in their own right, but that's irrelevant to our story here.)

$65 seems a bit steep to have somebody simply open the back and squint at it. If he can get it working again, great, but at minimum you need a clear photo of the insides for your listing.

So: dump all the verbosity and web page artwork, leave in your clear watch photos, add at least one more showing the movement inside, and focus your factual description on what the watch is, what you know first-hand about its condition, and any other important details regarding payment and shipping. Good luck.

dreams_of_italy wrote:

As for the story about where this came from...I do tell my sister's story with everything that was hers and I get about 100 emails a month from people who have read it thanking me for it so the story stays

That's entirely your privilege, but that's what the About Me page is intended for. You'll never know how many prospective bidders gave up waiting for the page to download just to see the watch. At this moment, I cannot recall ever seeing a bigger or longer one in a standard eBay listing.

Again, that is a not insignificant drain on resources, and users of hand-held devices are sometimes billed by data usage. The vast majority of your listing -- the overwhelming majority of your listing -- has nothing to do with the item at hand, and I can tell you as a regular wireless & smartphone user that if a given web page isn't downloading properly, I just hit the Back button and go on to something else.

If you want to try a comparison, put up some listings with all the current stuff on the bottom as usual, and some similar ones without it, in which you have a single line directing folks to see your About Me page instead, and see which ones record more traffic and higher bidding activity. I think you know which way the results are going to skew.

That is a good idea about doing a comparison. I will try it. I got a call from the jeweler today. It is 100% authentic. He said the $65 is for the cleaning and to get it running again. He said he has worked on Cartier many times and it is usually one movement that gets stuck, especially if it has been sitting in a drawer as long as this has.

Thank you for the advice about having him take a photo of the movement inside. He agreed to do it and when my husband picks it up I will have him ask for a signed certificate from him of authenticity. Would it help to change the band and buy a brand new one or best to leave the old band on since it seems to be the original band?

The price being for a simple clean is reasonable. What the man is saying is that unused watches tend to gum up with dried oil, notably the coils of the spring sticking to each other rendering the spring power ineffective.

I agree with the others, more and more users are using mobile broadband in many forms, all will heartily curse such a vast picture heavy download.

"You support the corrupt cause. Lake of fire for you"

I appreciate all of the advice. I got the watch back today. The jeweler said if I replaced the crystal I would get $1,000 but I said on ebay it doesn't work like that. He wants $150 for the crystal but it only looks scratched if you are in the direct sun or looking with a loupe. When it is on my arm I see thru the crystal clearly.

He replaced one movement AND only charged me $25! He said the normal price is $125 but I bring him a lot of business. I feel badly because all I can remember is bringing him watches over the years to replace batteries. I took in a bag of jewelry today for him to verify was silver and real amber and he was so nice and did it so quickly.

OK, off to work on the new improved listing and I will take the advice of losing 1,000 pics.

Oh, here is a pic of the movement. He kept it open til I got there so I could photograph it. It will take me about twenty minutes to get it done but if anyone has any critiques I would love to hear them

You are funny! I left in the first paragraph and a couple of pics and then a link to my me page. I had withdrawals doing that but followed the advice here.

Sorry, failed to get those superman underpants on over my trousers...... and it was 4.14 AM here

Nothing to add really, apart from wondering what "replaced one movement" meant.

The movement picture will do the trick for a sale.

A little rouge and a buffing wheel will usually sort out a slightly marked crystal

Just one tiny quibble, don't include 'wide' pictures in a formatted listing. They spead the page so you need to scroll sideways.

Best of luck with it, I have stuck in a cheapo $100 bid to start it off.

"You support the corrupt cause. Lake of fire for you"

BTW, vermeil is French for silver gilt, not the name of the coating. But no harm done, the keywords are in there.

"You support the corrupt cause. Lake of fire for you"

I appreciate all of the help. I don't think he put in a new movement.  He said the watch was working now and he said he cleaned the insides and said the movement that was stuck was now working so maybe that is all he did for the $25. Thank you for the info about the crystal. I wish I would have gotten the diamond and gold Elgin working before listing now that I know it is not crazy expensive to get a watch up and running again. It sold at a nice enough price for the buyer that they can afford to have it repaired.

Thanks for the tip about the pics, too.

Thanks again for everything.

Well, that had some brisk bidding. Sold to a sniper for $330...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150836364220