Patek Philippe 2077
I will never buy from VGWL again and I urge prospective buyers ‘BEWARE’.
John O'Brien of VGWL sold me the above watch at the full asking price in Nov 25. It was running 3 minutes fast per day instead of the +/-30 seconds guaranteed by VGWL.
I returned the watch to John in April 26 for it to be recalibrated under the 24 months warranty. He indicated that the remedial works would take about three weeks. After 10 weeks, seven emails, one phone call and a threat of legal action, I managed to get my watch back with it still running over 2 minutes fast per day. (The Patek Philippe regulation guidelines for smaller calibers is between -5 and +4 seconds per day. and on unserviced or older vintage watches ± 30 seconds per day.)
Again, according to PP: If the watch is deviating by more than 1-2 minutes a day, it typically indicates that the movement is magnetized, the lubricants have dried, or the hairspring requires regulation by an authorized vintage specialist.
When I bought from VGWL, I thought I was dealing with a reputable firm with 'authenticity, integrity, openness and trust' as set out in their company's vision & values. However:
-This watch has a time deviation well beyond the acceptable tolerance and far from what VGWL guaranteed,
-The crown is a gold-plated replacement, in spite of the fact that VGWL guaranteed the watch to be '100% Genuine and All Original, Fully Inspected, Serviced and Guaranteed',
-Never was I told what is wrong with this watch and why it was not fully checked before it was sold.
VGWL did offer to give me a refund in exchange for the watch. I have turned this offer down, because the trust in this transaction is broken. Based on the above reasons, I have no faith in that once VGWL gets back my watch, faults would not be found somewhere and be used as an excuse to not give me back the full refund.