Nice. I like that RHD. Looks like it came from the factory with it.
However, couple red flags to the watches authenticity came up and wanted to run them past you guys and see what you think.
First: packaging
This is a picture of the packing that I've seen with it. Nice wooden box, spot for extra strap, tools etc. This pictures comes from the original review on watchuseek so I trust its authenticity. Looking around I have found this case several places and I trust it is what Glycine ships with for this watch.
Link to the watchuseek review:
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f18/airman-double-24-09-review-845804.html
Now this is a picture of what I'm shown the watch in question comes with:
Looks to me like just a standard cardboard type box with Glycine branding. No spot for extra strap, tool etc. it shows a warranty card with extra sticker on it. The book is missing, but that I can see being more likely. Everywhere I searched I found the nice wooden box was what it came with, but this morning after more searching I did find this same packaging on worldofwatches. For what that is worth. With a limited edition of 300 pieces I have a hard time believing Glycinew ouod have two separate types of packing and contents that the watch ships with and am more inclined to think it is a Chinese knockoff, even if the watch is a decent knockoff which it looks to be.
Another red flag is the strap. Here is a photo of what I know to be authentic. It has blind embossed branding on the strap itself, oversized buckle and large crown image on one of the keepers.
Large Glycine logo on strap of known authentic:
Keeper and buckle shot of known authentic:
The images of the watch in question show it is branded with glycine, but missing the large logo on the south strap, has a smaller more standard buckle and has a different crown and logo com in tion embossed on the keeper. There is also he fact there is only one but I suppose it is possible the orange strap is missing. I guess it's also possible that the original black leather strap was missing and somebody replaced it with a different Glycine strap. I might be tempted to buy that if it had the proper packaging, and was told upfront.
The watch in question:
Smaller buckle and different embossed logo on keeper:
The guy seems to have been pretty accommodating considering my reservations that just came up last night on closer inspection, but I suppose I would be too if I was him. He 'says' he emailed the Glycine pictures of his watch to Glycine and they already confirm back this morning that it appears to be authentic but unless the are sent the watch could not confirm. There is obviously a time zone difference of 8+ hours but sending them an email in Sunday and hearing back by 7am on a Monday morning doesn't really st well with me.
If it were just any one of these things then I could probably dismiss my concerns. Heck even if I was told upfront that the original strap(s), tools, books and packing was missing and had been replaced by generic maybe I could have as well. But as it sits, to me, this adds up to several red flags that scream run away. If this were a few hinder solar watch I might be more inclined to take the gamble. That is very far from the case however.
I shared my concerns with him yesterday and told him that is not that I'm not interested but hae reservations and that I would like my funds returned via paypal until the matter is resolved. I woke up this morning and there was in fact an email from paypal saying I had been refunded. I certainly appreciate that.
The purchase was in watchuseek and he did have two transactions completed with positive reviews, however they were for much less expensive watches. His join date was only feb of this year. Based on his area code he is in Colorado Springs, not some place like China.
I do really like the watch but am leery of spending my hard earned money on a potential knockoff or replica. There is no local authorized Glycine dealer to bring it to for authentication should I choose to receive the watch.
Your thoughts? What would you do?
For reference...
Link to watchuseek ad:
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/fs-glycine-airman-double-24-09-a-1010139.html#post7633234
Link to similar packaging in world of watches:
https://www.worldofwatches.com/detail.asp?iq=1&bo_products_id=0&bo_products_variance_id=201928
