System of serial number on new sales

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Djdamo
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System of serial number on new sales

Post by Djdamo »

Strange question recent purchase of C8 flyer retuned for exchange, original watch was serial 0102,new watch sent with a serial number of 0078, I thought the serial number would go up not down? Does anyone know what system CW use?
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Re: System of serial number on new sales

Post by Thermexman »

I don’t believe that CW send them out in any sort of sequence or order. They appear to just “grab” one off the shelf and post it out. You get what you get. Random, isn’t it? :D
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Re: System of serial number on new sales

Post by Scrogg »

CW serial numbers are a complete waste of time.

Not only do they have no relevance to the order in which watches are released, CW completely ignore them when it comes to warranty etc, preferring to use order numbers instead.

Unless a watch is part of a limited series (075/500 for example) they may as well not have serial numbers for all the good they do.

Other than so they can sometimes pretend 000/001 numbers are in some way 'special' I can't actually think of a reason why they bother...
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System of serial number on new sales

Post by gaf1958 »

^^^ Thats true. I sometimes wonder why they bother.

But then I also wonder why they don't do the logical thing and track serial numbers - I think it's because they're actually not unique. The serial number is only unique within a model range, perhaps to even a model number within a range e.g. the bronze Trident has its own serial number range starting at 1, as does the Trident day/date, the Trident GMT, Trident 600, Trident quartz and so on. You then get the same within each different model range.

I'm not sure whether it extends beyond that though (e.g. the black bezelled C60 600 has a different serial number range to the red bezelled version and so on and on and on). I think it may, based on the recent 000/001 serial number sale.

Companies like Omega have one unique sequential serial number irrespective of the model, allowing them to track the serial number back to the 1800s.
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Re: System of serial number on new sales

Post by Thegreyman »

gaf1958 wrote: Companies like Omega have one unique sequential serial number irrespective of the model, allowing them to track the serial number back to the 1800s.
Which is quite a cool thing for provenance.
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Paul Drawmer
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Re: System of serial number on new sales

Post by Paul Drawmer »

Many, many years ago in the early 70s I was selling BMWs. We sold a new 3.0 saloon to a customer and took his two year old car of the same model in part exchange.
Sales were VERY slow at the time, and most makers had fields and fields of unsold stock.
When I was preparing the paperwork for the deal, I realised that the VIN for the new car was earlier than the two year old that was coming back!
There's always time for one more.
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Re: System of serial number on new sales

Post by MiniMpi »

That's a good story Paul !
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igorfiume
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Re: System of serial number on new sales

Post by igorfiume »

So,what is the use of this kind of serial numbers?
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Re: System of serial number on new sales

Post by smegwina »

^^^^^^^

Pretty much nothing. Whilst CW do have serial numbers they apparently do not use them in the same way as virtually every other manufacturer does. They are not tracked through service, they are not attached to a movement etc, etc.

The only thing I can see it used for is to link the watch to the paper certificate and warranty.

I assume that they must use it for more than this, and we just don't know what it is, as otherwise it is truly barmy!



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Re: System of serial number on new sales

Post by Wintersports »

gaf1958 wrote:
Companies like Omega have one unique sequential serial number irrespective of the model, allowing them to track the serial number back to the 1800s.

IWC too, a few years ago I bought an IWC trench watch, silver, ceramic dial and was able to contact the factory and for £20 or so bought a new box and a copy of the original extract from their register printed on a certificate like a birth certificate copy. Despite my hopes it was not sold to Churchill in 1912 :(. Good investment tho, added about £150 to the value of the watch when i sold it.
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Re: System of serial number on new sales

Post by quark »

The serial number is useful. You can use it as a Pin No, so you don't have to write it down. If you have forgotten your Pin, just take off your watch and check the Pin!
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Re: System of serial number on new sales

Post by MiniMpi »

quark wrote:The serial number is useful. You can use it as a Pin No, so you don't have to write it down. If you have forgotten your Pin, just take off your watch and check the Pin!
If you have 16 CW's like me that could get very confusing :lol:
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Re: System of serial number on new sales

Post by what-time-is-it »

Or my Trident Day Date which is 0000. I did once receive a pin from HSBC that was 1234...
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