Pawnshops and Vintage Sea Wolves

[Gary]

Hello everyone.  Just wanted to ask if anyone has ever had success at finding vintage Sea Wolves in pawn shops?  Out of curiosity I went in to one of the larger pawn shops in the area just to get a feel for their knowledge regarding vintage Sea Wolves (and possible availability).  The folks I talked to there appeared reasonably knowledgeable.  However they impressed on me that Sea Wolves were extremely difficult to come by and that when one came in it was sold almost immediately.  This probably is a pretty consistent theme nationwide.....Gary

[Butch]

To be honest, I have never even tried as I find pawn shops usually want too much money for items. eBay is your best shot to be honest. If you live along the coasts and near a military base, perhaps flea markets, yard sales, and estate sales.

[jon p]

  i gave up on pawnshops a long time ago. you could, YEARS AGO , find some good deals. since the internet came along they price everything too high, and usually all you find is BLING JUNK WATCHES and beat up junk at sky high prices. i live near u of ga in athens and the students will pawn nice watches for beer money but the sale prices are crazy high. stick with ebay--it gives you easy access to sellers all over the world and at least you get to bid on them.sea wolfs are NOT " rare "-millions were made and sold in the military PXs over the world. excellent condition watches ARE a little harder to find but they ARE out there.expect to pay a premium for the really nice ones cause usually someone has spent some money to make it nice!! butches repair guy can attest to that.

[Gary]

Thanks....Good feedback.  You're right, hunting for the good watches is half the fun.  When I recently got one off of Craig's List I thought I was pretty fortunate.  Talk with you soon....Gary

[flyingdutchman]

One way I have found several watches is on a Google search. I type in what I want and then instead of going to the "Shopping" header, I go the the "Images" header. Several forums and sites seem to have posted photos of items for sale in that area. That is a great search meathod for me. FD

[Gary]

FD...Thanks....That's a good thought....Gary

[Yankees76]

Craigslist and Kijiji are two other alternatives. I'm from Toronto and there have been a few vintage Zodiacs posted - if your area is large enough you might come across a steal or two.

I have yet to look in Pawn shops around here, though there are a few vintage watch dealers in the area - 1 in London, Ontario that I posted in another thread, and a couple others who have no serviced Zodiacs at the moment, but have sold some in the past.

I think cities with high gambling rates (Vegas, Atlantic city Niagara Falls) might have the most fertile pawn shops for Zodiacs.

[Gary]

Yankees76....You're right about Craig's List.  I picked up a real nice Sea Wolf about 3 weeks ago off my local Craig's List.  The guy was happy to sell it and I was delighted to buy it. 

Following up on the gambling areas you mentioned.  I touch bases with the Reno pawnshops occasionally to see what they have.  Most of their watches are pretty overpriced, and to date I haven't found a Sea Wolf.  I did find a real beat up relatively new Zodiac dress watch today in a downtown Reno pawnshop (the only Zodiac he had).  Truth be told it was so beat up I didn't pay real close attention to it.  He wanted $279 for it.  We had a polite conversation, but I told him my focus was really on Sea Wolf watches.  When I got ready to leave he made me an offer of $200 for it which I wasn't really interested in. 

However, like most of the folks on this forum we're always on the scout for a good find.  Hopefully some day I'll be able to make a really good find and post it in the Watch Stuff section of the Forum.....Gary

[Butch]

All this talk of Craig's List made me think there are people out there that need help. So I posted the following:

http://delaware.craigslist.org/clt/1579016851.html

While you cannot duplicate this in your local CL (it will not let you), feel free to tell others of the forum here.

[JDS (Ohio)]

One way I have found several watches is on a Google search. I type in what I want and then instead of going to the "Shopping" header, I go the the "Images" header. Several forums and sites seem to have posted photos of items for sale in that area. That is a great search meathod for me. FD

Heck of a good idea, I haven't tried that one before. 

One point though: Zodiacs are NOT rare, they seem to have filled that niche of "affordable but nice" watches, back in the day.  However, the Sea Wolves generally seem to have been used hard, I think that for many users of the divers they were essentially beaters, sort of like a "Swiss Seiko" (but FUNKY ).  And those chrome plated bezel edges brassed a little too easily to survive a rough life without looking the part.  So finding a babied one is pretty hard  - you babied your Submariner, NOT your Sea Wolf or your Seiko.

And as much as I like the show Pawn Stars, I have never been inside a pawn shop to look for watches, except maybe once - too much bad karma feel.

[Butch]

Well, technically (as my kids used to say), you may be correct JDS. But let me point out why I believe they are "rare". And surely not for the meek and weak of heart.

One rarely finds a NOS watch prior to the 80's.
One rarely finds a used one in decent shape.
One rarely finds a watchmaker that truly knows how to service them.
One rarely finds a watchmaker that is willing to work on them.
One rarely finds a watchmaker that has parts, i.e. off set canon pinion, sealed barrel, etc.
One rarely finds cosmetic parts such as the crystals with decals, bezels, crowns, etc.

OK, OK, perhaps they are not rare to find, but I assure you there were only about 3 a day back in the 90's on eBay. Granted, there were more expensive watches made (although Zodiac had their own very expensive solid gold diamond encrusted dress watches). I have only ever owned one Rolex (and sold it) but I have yet to meet a owner that said they kept accurate time and ran for 20 years without a service. I am SURE there is ONE out there though.

Any watchmaker will tell you that Zodiacs at least rival, if not surpass, Omegas from the same era. As for the cosmetic parts, such as the "chrome plated bezel(s)", >I< believe they were made to be affordable by a company that thought they would be around for a long time to supply parts for them. Back in the day, you could send it back for service and get anything you needed, cheap, from the factory. You could buy a Sea Wolf in the PX for about $36, and Back In The World, they were under $110 (full retail in 1966) in a jewelry store. BTW, I was told the Submariner sold for $125 in the PX, but only the Orificers could afford that one.

OK, OK, OK, I will get down off my soapbox now.

[JDS (Ohio)]

I'm in total agreement Butch.  Also note that Zodiacs were an almost unknown brand  out here in the midwest, until the decade before the Fossil buyout. I never saw any until the 100 ATM SSW showed up in a couple of Cincinnati jewelers (early 1990s, late 1980s?), followed later by the quartz point models for just a year or two here.  That was just enough to get me interested before they disappeared from the stores.  So out here in the styx, most people have NEVER heard of them.

And maybe the label of "rare" really does fit them now, as their numbers on ebay seem to be declining lately.  My daily search turns up usually 1 or 2 Sea Wolves, and a smattering of the Hermetics and Astrographics, but generally I have to wade through  40 or 50 Fossiized "Zodiacs" to see those 3 or 4 vintage ones.