The pre-owned watch market is bigger than ever and savvy watch collectors regularly scour the internet for the best hidden gems. The staff at WatchGecko are all regular hunters, so that is why we are especially delighted to announce a new source for chronograph bargain seekers. Welcome to the WatchGecko Pre-Owned Range.
What are our Pre-Owned Watches?
As you can imagine we have a significant turnaround of watches with the brands WatchGecko covers for the UK. These could be our own brand watches or the many external brands we look after. When we receive a batch of new watches we always allocate a number to the Photographic Unit within the Creative Team. It’s these watches that star in the amazing images you have come to associate with The WatchGecko Magazine and website. Once we have a decent selection of images, on a variety of straps, we have until now just been storing these watches as photographic props. In an effort thin out the collection (something all watch fans will identify with), we have made the decision to sell many of these under the Pre-Owned scheme.
If you are lucky enough to grab one of these bargains you are effectively getting a new watch, which has NEVER been owned, and in many cases is still covered by some of the manufacturer’s warranty – take for example an NTH which has an amazing six year movement warranty.
Another source for the watches is customer returns. It’s a fact of life we have to accept as an internet based business that occasionally people order products and want to return them. It could be that you thought a 43mm watch would suit you and when it arrived it just wore too large on the wrist. At WatchGecko we have always been really accommodating with such returns – after all we want you to be happy. When we take possession of such returns we cannot resell them as new so we carefully look at each watch and decide if it is suitable for Pre-Owned. Those given the green light are subjected to the same QC process as new watches and given a 6 month WatchGecko warranty. This way you can be sure that the new Field Watch you have selected is adventure ready.
Our choice for February 2023
Every month we will be focusing on five great watches available within our Pre-Owned range which really caught our attention. You can look at the entire collection here but keep reading to see our favourites for February.
Boldr Expedition II Automatic Watch - El Capitan
Image Credit: WatchGecko
To Buy New: £659
The Boldr Expedition II is designed to be the perfect companion for the avid hiker or mountaineer. The rugged 41mm steel case of the Expedition houses a reliable Swiss-made Sellita SW200-1. This automatic is a trusted movement choice and has 26 jewels and a 38-hour power reserve.
When it comes to legibility in the dark, the watch has Super-LumiNova BGW9 applied to the hands and markers, which ensures that you’ll be able to tell the time even on an evening hike. It features an internal rotating bezel for tracking elapsed time for up to an hour, and should you encounter a large body of water, the watch is water-resistant to 200m.
The Expedition caps things off with a double-domed sapphire crystal. This has an anti-reflective coating to reduce glare from the sun, and the sapphire is incredibly scratch resistant.
All this makes the Expedition the perfect watch to take with you into the great outdoors. It’s built to take whatever nature can throw at it and will keep ticking away throughout whatever adventures you find yourself on.
Geckota Ensign Chronograph Dress Watch - Silver Dial
Image Credit: WatchGeckoTo Buy New: £299
Inspired by classic timepieces of the 1950s, the Ensign introduces a classic taste to Geckota's current range of chronographs. This is a watch designed for those who want to experience one of the greatest eras of watch design at a price they can afford. With a sapphire crystal and robust construction this is a watch which looks vintage but is ready for everyday wear.
The Ensign dial is made up of many levels to create depth and stunning contrast. Featuring sunken sub dials, a chamfered tachymeter scale, a stamped concentric circle texture and applied hour markers. The heat blued hands and polished detail contrast the subtle sunburst dial and brushed finish of the case.
Using the reliable Seiko VK64 movement, the sub dial on the left counts the chronograph minutes when its running, the sub dial on the right counts through the hours of the day in a 24 hour format. At just £179 this watch is not to be missed out on! Purchase here.
FORZO Drive King Mechanical Chronograph In Orange - Rubber Strap
Image Credit: WatchGecko
To Buy New: £749
Due to popular demand, the Drive King is back and better than ever with a fully mechanical movement. Inspired by iconic motoring colours of the late ’60s this range is perfect for anyone looking for a welcome pop of colour to their collection.
This 40mm racing-style chronograph offers impeccable clarity thanks to its thick sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating and generously applied Swiss Super-LumiNova® BGW9 lume. The dial features a multi-layer design with applied indices and tachymeter scale, a large sweeping chronograph hand and recessed subdials to measure elapsed time.
The solid 316L stainless steel case has polished and brushed textures, benefitting from a signed crown and embossed screw-down caseback, giving this watch a water resistance of 100 meters / 330 feet.This collection was designed to remind the wearer of a past era balanced with a modern specification so it can be worn with confidence on a wide range of wrist sizes.The FORZO Drive King Mechanical Chronograph comes fitted on a rally-style rubber strap to complete the 1960s look.
Boldr Odyssey Regatta ETA 7750 Automatic Chronograph - Admiral Blue
Image Credit: WatchGecko
To Buy New: £1,639
Blending modern & classic elements for peak performance, the limited edition Boldr Odyssey Regatta Admiral features a dark blue dial that's highly legible for ease of use.
The Odyssey Regatta has a large wrist presence, measuring 45.5mm with a thickness of 18.2mm (including sapphire crystal) in a 316L stainless steel case with brushed finishes. The case also benefits from a 60-click bidirectional ceramic bezel, helium-escape valve, specialized nautical tachymeter and a triple-lock screw-down crown featuring the Boldr motif.
Powering the Odyssey Regatta is an ETA Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement with a 44-hour power reserve. This allows for seamless timekeeping while skimming the waves or exploring up to 500m (1650ft) under the surface. The admiral blue dial uses white boat-shaped skeleton hands that stand out without obstructing the subdials. The hands, indices and tachymeter scale are all lumed with Swiss Super-LumiNova® for excellent legibility in any situation.
Marathon General Purpose Steel Mechanical Watch - 39mm
Image Credit: WatchGecko
To Buy New: £680
The Marathon General Purpose Stainless Steel Mechanical is essentially a re-issue of the brand’s classic GG-W-113 field watch, which was supplied to the US Army throughout the 1980s. This classic field watch has a case made from 316L surgical-grade stainless steel with a non-reflective satin finish. The crystal is a flat sapphire which provides the perfect blend of scratch resistance, durability, and clarity. All of which are vital attributes for a watch worn by military personnel.
To ensure legibility in low-light, the General Purpose watch makes use of tritium tubes. Unlike normal luminescent paint, the tritium outputs a steady glow, and won’t fade after a few hours. This guarantees the watch will be legible whatever the time of day.
Powering the watch is the reliable ETA 2801 movement. This 17 jewel hand-wound Swiss movement is widely renowned for its durability and accuracy, which makes it the perfect choice for this rugged field watch.
