Quote Originally Posted by anz3001 View Post
Mr Milton, is this information available anywhere for watches pre purchase, the Rolex version of HPI if you like? Or do people have to take their chances and come a cropper when it get sent to Rolex for a service etc.
Not straightforward questions.

There are a number of registers of watches that have been reported lost or stolen thereto, all of which hold details of different watches and most of which are not easily accessible to a casual enquirer. GDPR is probably going to cause some further headaches!

No one can guarantee that a pre-owned watch is not stolen. Many owners fail to record the number of their watch before it is lost, so if papers / card have also been mislaid there will be a problem identifying it. Buying a pre-owned watch from an individual, known or not, bears the greatest risk of all --- not just because they are less likely to have done any checks on registers but because if they turn out to have sold a stolen watch, albeit in ignorance, they may not readily be inclined / able to refund you when appropriate. This is where buying from a decent business or recognised dealer of substance should have inherent value.

H