Everyone,
I just learned my first painful first-hand lesson since starting this hobby 3+ years ago. I sold my 289X Panerai 029 to Czarczar for $450.00 a few days ago, and it arrived today. Czarczar emailed me and guess what? He cracked the case back, and it was not a 289X, but rather a modified 2836. I took Eddie Lee at his word, and thought I had something special. I never bothered opening the caseback, as I thought I had no reason to. Well tonight I had to refund a members money because of the dishonesty of a "collector" and because I was too stupid to verify the movement before selling. With the rampant problem of clone movements, I would be very careful selling or trading anything where you have not checked the movement, or it could come back to bite you. This is a huge endorsements for "collectors" that are known to do thourough QA, and even then, verify it yourself, or you might end up looking like a chump. Czarczar was very good natured about the ordeal, and I appreciate the level headed manner in which he approached the problem, and his refund has already been seen to. I have learned most of the lessons this hobby has to teach by reading, researching, and asking questions of my fellow members. This is a painful and embarrassing lesson that I hope many will learn without going through it yourselves. What a total bummer.
Regards,
B