I have been interested in watches to some degree my whole life, but only in the last couple of months have vintage watches registered on my radar. For some reason (I´m sure you guys can think of a million of them) Enicar is the brand that has caught my eye. If I had been a millionaire, I no doubt would be starting my collection of their really exceptional chronographs, but my starting point will have to be much more modest. I think there are many beautiful, quite inexpensive Enicar models, but the question is where to get them. I read somewhere that Asia was a big market för Enicar, so it would not seem unreasonable to think that there would be quite a substantial supply of more inexpensive models to be found there.
I have come to understand that the ones coming out of India in many cases seem to have repainted dials (and most of the dials on the Indian ones I see at E-bay certainly seem to be too good to be true). One thought would be to buy cheaply from India enjoying them for what they are, knowing that the dial is reconditioned, but I guess you experts would see those watches as more or less destroyed and devoid of value in the true vintage watch sense.
At least some of the Chinese Enicars, however, seem to have dials with a patina that seems reasonable. Furthermore, many Chinese listings show pictures of what I, as a complete newbie, think look like genuine crowns, case backs, movements and dials. China is, however, a country producing a lot of watches, not all of the brand they claim to be. I´m also a bit concerned that it would be quite easy to send me something else than what is in the pictures (or a brick), and it would be more troublesome for me to dispute the fraud.
Do you have any experience of buying Enicars from Asia and could you give me advice on how to avoid at least the most obvious mistakes?
I have come to understand that the ones coming out of India in many cases seem to have repainted dials (and most of the dials on the Indian ones I see at E-bay certainly seem to be too good to be true). One thought would be to buy cheaply from India enjoying them for what they are, knowing that the dial is reconditioned, but I guess you experts would see those watches as more or less destroyed and devoid of value in the true vintage watch sense.
At least some of the Chinese Enicars, however, seem to have dials with a patina that seems reasonable. Furthermore, many Chinese listings show pictures of what I, as a complete newbie, think look like genuine crowns, case backs, movements and dials. China is, however, a country producing a lot of watches, not all of the brand they claim to be. I´m also a bit concerned that it would be quite easy to send me something else than what is in the pictures (or a brick), and it would be more troublesome for me to dispute the fraud.
Do you have any experience of buying Enicars from Asia and could you give me advice on how to avoid at least the most obvious mistakes?