Wow... Frankenbully goes big.

Submitted by plainsmen on December 14, 2011 - 9:05pm

Hey... if the buyer likes his "bulova" then I guess good for him... but shame on the guy who sold him this frankenbully for a small fortune!

I'm dreading the new owner showing up here wanting to know information on his fantastic new 1st Bulova purchase.  =(

"A rare and unusual Bulova men's drivers with flexible lugs in two-tone dial.  I have never seen this model before it is a larger watch and it's in great condition.  Take a look at this unusual timepeace"

YEAH you've never seen it before because it doesn't exist.

 

www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Unusual-Flex-Lug-Bulova-Mens-Drivers-Watch-/300634406821

 

vintagebulova.com
Posted December 14, 2011 - 9:21pm

BTW.. if you look at the direction that the dial is facing it would be nearly impossible to read while driving.  There has been a tendency lately to call anything with flexible lugs a drivers watch.  The true drivers watches were designed to fit on the side of the wrist.   Bulova made one and so did Gruen.  They are very collectable.   

But the real winner for bidder over paying lately has to go to this one: www.ebay.com/itm/1930-Vintage-EXECUTIVE-Bulova-NY-gold-DeCo-CURVEX-COoL-Blue-DIal-mens-Watch-/300633955432

Jay

vintagebulova.com

OldTicker
Posted December 14, 2011 - 9:26pm

In reply to by vintagebulova.com

Looks like Mr. Photoshop is back at it just in time for Christmas!

plainsmen
Posted December 14, 2011 - 9:35pm

In reply to by OldTicker

Freakin aye is that Photoshop HORRIBLE.... it's so freaking BLATENTLY OBVIOUS THAT WATCH IS CARTOON!!  Boy that guy pisses me off.

simpletreasures
Posted December 14, 2011 - 10:08pm

Aw cmon you guys, don't you have any appreciation for "creative marketing"???

OldTicker
Posted December 14, 2011 - 10:16pm

In reply to by simpletreasures

I gotta say Bob, I have not seen any of these things posted here, other than Lisa's collection, and she was kinda sheepish about posting them!

I don't know if it is "Creative Marketing" , its more like "Creative Deception". ; D

William Smith
Posted December 15, 2011 - 12:33am

"...new lamps for old...."

Reverend Rob
Posted December 15, 2011 - 12:49am

 Disturbing....

cuad
Posted December 15, 2011 - 12:57am

Jay, I put that one on my watch list just to see how high it would go. I feel bad for the guy, but it was like watching a train wreck. I mean, I like blue dials also, but that is ridiculous!

OldTicker
Posted December 15, 2011 - 1:03am

In reply to by cuad

I know what you mean, but the buyer was probably just looking at the Bling factor and not a collector...in other words, more money than brains! : )

mybulova_admin
Posted December 15, 2011 - 3:55am

each to their own.......now i'm going to have a lie down as don't feel so good looking at that blue poka-dot dial.....excuse me....

Geoff Baker
Posted December 15, 2011 - 11:00am

Caveat Emptor says I. The fellow in Jerin's post may or may not be misleading intentionally. There was a time in my life I would have assumed the subject watch was authentic. If the seller is misrepresenting then shame on him but at the close of the transaction it is the duty of the SORRY - I said SELLER - I MEANT BUYER  to be certain that what he/she bids on is either genuine OR will make him/her genuinely happy. In this case I suspect the latter. I bet we all watched that one end. 

Regarding the blue dial guy - he's taking $50 dollar watches and selling them for $500, I wish I could pull that off, just once or twice a week. As a purist I am slighly revolted but as a watch seller I am very jealous. I could use a grand a week to buy some cool watches!

.....hmmmm, that gives me an idea....

Ellierose
Posted December 15, 2011 - 8:48am

I saw this watch and was wondering what it was...i didn't think it was a true bulova....its amazing what people get away with...atleast the blue dial guy sells real watches with just a different color dial....anyway hamilton did make driver watches with flexable lugs and so did elgin and they were called driver watches,although i bet not all of the were...people calll a conrad a drivers watch becase of its lugs,which i don't think it was...

cuad
Posted December 15, 2011 - 9:14am

The blue dial auction had only two bidders. The original/first bidder with only two feedbacks and a shiny "new guy" icon and the other one a veteran with 440 feedbacks and 83% bid activity with the seller. I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist, but that's a heck of a coincidence.

I've sold watches on eBay for over 10 years (not so much in the last two) and I've had many return customers, as I used to email them when I listed a new batch, but I don't think I ever had anyone with more than 50% bid activity with me.

bourg01
Posted December 15, 2011 - 5:17pm

Hey Guys,

Let's face the facts, sellers will sell that which sells. Dial refinished in colors, patterans or as original. I've been there, done that, (no green or red though). At the end of the day there are hundreds if not thousands of Bulova movements that were re-cased by watch makers before our time and after as well and some folks just don't know what they are selling.

Our Buyer in this case, IMO, just wanted a cool looking unique timepiece that resembles the Hamilton "Contour". Try finding one of those for less than what this buyer paid, good luck.

I think we should spend less time on issues like this and more time on the purpose of this site, research, ID's, ads for the database, watch posts etc. rather than bitching about a seller on Ebay who made a killer profit on a watch they sold.

I sure hope you folks are not talking about my pursuits/ redials or listings behind my back. I don't ever promote my business here at mybulova and never will. Regards, Enough said.

cuad
Posted December 15, 2011 - 7:29pm

Bourg01,

I don't think anyone was criticizing the fact that the dials were redone. Just commenting on the crazy prices these two watches went for. It's been my experience that restored watches with refinished dials will bring a premium over the same watch with an unfinished dial in poor condition. This is because these are being purchased by people wishing t o wear the watch rather than worry about their collectivity. As it's been discussed already the ones with crazy colors sometimes bring more money. Heck, I even had one redone in red back when I was starting out and trying to find out where the profits were :0)

I guess we can call it the hot rodding effect (similar to what's done to old cars). Again, not ideal, but it's mostly a matter of personal taste.

bourg01
Posted December 15, 2011 - 8:13pm

No, I don't think so either, so don't get me wrong here, most of the core members know I'm a devoted mybulova member. They know of my work and of my business outside of this site and they are well aware of my contributions. So I know I have they're respect for where I'm at. They are also well aware of the markets outside of the site, what things sell for whether it be more or less than what an item may be worth.... in our opinion.

On occasion however, an item sells like this and the competition dosen't like it. Plainsman has taken a beating on many auctions the past 8 weeks, as I have as well. So, he's posted a forum to vent some frustration over his own lack luster sales. Sorry Jerin, Gotta call it as I see it. Ebay auctions are just that, an auction, highest bidder wins whether it's $50.00 or $500.00. It all boils down to who's watching, bidding and who wants it the most and the seller just has to live with and honor the sale, win or lose.

I've offered alot of advice and marketing tips to members selling on ebay but they don't guarantee top dollar unless your willing to wait for your price or just to keep it until you can get $$$ you feel it's worth.

To me, forums on issues like this, Sorry but a waste of time so I will not comment furthur in this thread.

Respectfully, Shawn

plainsmen
Posted December 15, 2011 - 10:48pm

In reply to by bourg01

I can see how you'd think that Shawn.  Though that's not really the case.  Although the past few sales I didn't do as well as I would have liked I didn't lose any money.  The profit wasn't just where I thought it would have been at another time.

What does torque me about that guy is that he makes so much money on his auctions while being imo dishonest.    He photoshops his pictures to the extent that I guarentee they are not what the watch looks like.  The gold on his watch is all the same color... no difference with reflection of the light.  No variance in the dial colors for the most part.  To me... that's not just marketing... that's fraud.  Blatently photoshoping your pictures to represent your watch for what it's not.  Fraud.

I'm not purist.  I could care less if someone changes the color of a watch dial.  It's what he's doing with computer manipulation is what is wrong with that picture.

Though... my view might be skewed as I deal with fraud all the time and I'm not selling watches for a living, but more just to supplement my hobby.  A hobbist/collector reseller in order to fund my collecting.  Sure a great profits nice... but not to the detrement of the seller by fraudulently misrepresenting a watch to someone.

cuad
Posted December 15, 2011 - 9:08pm

Understood, Shawn. However, I think there is some value on members here sharing their selling experience or suggestions. After all, for some  of us, selling is a considerable part of our collecting efforts. But you're right, it may be better to do it in other threads. This one seems ot have run its course.

Thanks, Angel.

mybulova_admin
Posted December 16, 2011 - 9:33pm

My 2 cents if I may....

We will always see this happen regardless of how we feel about it.

Solution - Share the knowledge so other may learn the truth and then be able to make their own decision before hitting that "Bid Now' or 'Buy it now' button.

William Smith
Posted December 17, 2011 - 1:49am

Yea this type of intentional photo enhancment is IMO just plain fraud.  It's worse than the "faked" receipt with my "Senator".   I can't come up with a legimate senerio for the origin of my "fake jewelers receipt".  Receipt said Senator.  Had case SN of the Admiral on it, and had a sales date of 1942 on a generic receipt book and was signed by Joe Smoe w/ and a handwritten jewelery store name.  However the seller from whom I purchased the watch/receipt may not have been the one who "faked" the receipt, and without some place like this website, didn't have the ability or knowledge to doubt it.  That is most likely not the case with this photoshopped image.

 

plainsmen
Posted December 20, 2011 - 9:41pm

Well color me suprised.

Looks like that same seller from the original post found GASP... ANOTHER rare and exact same model as the original fake Bulova he sold.

I won't post the listing ID number but it's not hard to find with the first post.  This looks like proof to me that this guy is fabricating these RARE and UNUSUAL models... and selling them as Bulova Drivers!

You can tell it's a different fake watch as the movement/back of the dial are way different that the other one he sold last week.

Scammy McScammer please step up.

OldTicker
Posted December 20, 2011 - 10:05pm

Report Him!!

I just did...NAWCC Member that is taking the privilege way too far, False Statements...time to clean up eBay so others don't get scammed.

Another good reason that we need a Frankenbully hall of Fame catagory...

OldTicker
Posted December 20, 2011 - 10:44pm

If anybody has doubts about this seller...PM me and I will forward his or her responses to my questions.

There is no doubt in my mind that this person should be NRU'd, the question is does eBay have the balls??

William Smith
Posted December 21, 2011 - 1:40pm

In reply to by OldTicker

I doubt eBay will do much of anything to their bread and butter- the sellers, unless they legally have to do so.  That's been my experience anyway.  However, as in the photograph use thread, there may be Trademark infringements by this seller.  Perhaps Bulova's attorney firm (s) would be the ones to notify.  Seems like making one's own  Bulova would constitute misuse of a registered Trademark and fall under their "brand dissolution" category (or what ever the legal jargon is). 

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted December 23, 2011 - 10:59am

Here's a kicker.

I've watched intently to what runs through on Our favorite auction site and to be honest I'm surprised at some of the Watches offered by members of this site who know better. 

Yes, the 'FRANKENBULLY' is everywhere, but when someone knowledgeable passes on a Frankie to an unsuspecting and less knowlegeable individual then I cry foul.

2c

William Smith
Posted December 23, 2011 - 5:50pm

In reply to by FifthAvenueRes…

on that note, I have the original hatchet with which George Washington chopped down the infamous cherry tree.  I seemed to have misplaced the documentation though.  I had it restored a couple years ago, and now it's in mint condition.  First I had to replace the handle and then the head, but other than that, it's 100% original.

simpletreasures
Posted December 23, 2011 - 6:09pm

In reply to by William Smith

WOW, didn't know that Wasington used a drywall hammer to chop that tree down ;-)

Spent a whole lot of hours on the business end of one of these!

OldTicker
Posted December 23, 2011 - 6:21pm

In reply to by simpletreasures

LOL!

Bob, I was going to post the same thing!

Hell, I probably have some of Washington's spares laying around!

Ellierose
Posted December 23, 2011 - 11:57am

Ebay NRU me because my gf and i use the same computer even though one account is in her name and one in mine, we just happen to have the same address...but people mislabel there stuff all the time on purpose or not and i bet not one thing happens i had a seller not refund my money after i sent and tracked the package to him,,called EBAY THEy did nothing..The seller still in business,isn't that grand.....

jfoley
Posted December 23, 2011 - 7:51pm

my great great great great great great great great grandfather saved seeds from that very tree. at the present i have several seedlings started dna certified. i think their winsapps