Authenticity

Examined in house

Every watch is examined and condition graded in house before it is listed. We put our hands on the piece itself. Nothing goes up on trust alone.

What we check

Case, dial, hands, crystal, bezel, bracelet, and movement. We look at reference and serial consistency, the state of the finishing, and whether the parts are original to the watch. Where a piece needs an outside opinion, we get one before it is listed.

Before it goes out

Our watchmaker is third generation at the bench. Every watch is either fully serviced before it is offered, or examined and function tested. The product description tells you which applies to that piece and what was done to it.

Function tested means the movement winds, sets and runs, any complications work as they should, and the rate averages within 60 seconds per day on a timegrapher across positions. That is our own standard, not the manufacturer’s original specification. A factory specification assumed a new movement, fresh gaskets and a case nobody had opened, and none of that describes a watch that has been alive for fifty years.

We make no claim of water resistance on any watch here, whatever it was rated when it left the factory. Gaskets age and cases get opened. Treat every piece as not water resistant.

That is a statement about the watch on the day it leaves us. It is not a warranty on what a fifty year old movement does next, and it is not the same as knowing a watch's service history, which on most vintage pieces nobody does. Where we do not know a watch's history, the listing says so and tells you to budget for a service.

How we describe condition

We state condition plainly, including polishing, service dials, and honest wear, and we point out a replaced part where it matters to the watch. Across decades of servicing, small components are often exchanged for period correct ones that can be hard to tell from the originals, so our notes on originality, like our condition grading, are an informed opinion on a decades old object rather than a guarantee of every part. Another specialist may read a detail differently. We would rather lose a sale than oversell a watch.

Box and papers

When a piece has its box and papers, we say so. When it has none, we say that outright on the listing. We never imply history a watch does not have. Papers confirm what was issued at the time, not the condition of the watch in front of you today.

Certificate of Authenticity

Every watch leaves with a signed Certificate of Authenticity. It certifies that, to the best of our professional knowledge and belief, the watch is a genuine, authentic production of the stated manufacturer, and it records the details that identify that exact piece:

• Brand / manufacturer and model name
• Reference number and serial number
• Movement / calibre and movement number
• Production year (circa) and case material

Each certificate carries its own number, the signature of the evaluator and the date. It is only valid with the official Biel embossed seal. It is our certificate, issued as an independent dealer, and not a manufacturer certification. Keep it with your invoice; together they are your proof of the guarantee below.

What authentic means

A watch is authentic when its case, movement and dial were made by the stated manufacturer. Over a long life a vintage watch is serviced and parts are replaced. A service or replacement crown, hands, bezel, crystal, pushers, bracelet or strap, or a refinished surface, does not by itself make a watch non-authentic under our guarantee.

Our guarantee

Biel Vintage Watches stands behind the authenticity of every timepiece we sell with a full financial guarantee. If, at any time, a watch is definitively determined to be counterfeit or non-authentic by the original manufacturer’s heritage department or an independent AWCI-certified watchmaker while it is owned by the original purchaser, we will refund the full original purchase price on return of the watch in its as-sold condition. The guarantee has no time limit. It is non-transferable and is tied to the invoice of sale.

What it does not cover

The guarantee covers authenticity. It does not cover a later difference of opinion on grade or polish, a change in value, an appraisal that reads differently from ours, or work done on the watch after it left us.