These are the pics I just took. As you can see there is no brown tape on the actual seam itself but on the flap. There seems to have been a single layer of a clear tape running perpendicular to that flap that was either cut in transit by a USPS employee or was left unsealed by the shipper. Anyone's guess as to how it happened is as close as we'll get. Although a more prudent packager would have put the brown tape over all the seams on the box.

: Thanks very much Stewart and everyone who has emailed me.

: I got off of the phone with AMEX which I use when paying for
: watches via Paypal as an extra layer of protection. I've been
: buying and selling watches online since 1994 and this is the
: first time anything like this has happened to me. When I
: examined the outside of the box when I first saw it, I was able
: to slip my hand inside of it through a flap and take out the
: packaging material inside of it. Oddly, the package was taped
: securely everywhere except along the main seam which wasn't
: taped. This could have been by accident or on purpose to show
: that an attempt had been made to properly seal it but not all
: the way.

: I'm going to take some pics shortly and will post them.

: Thanks again everyone for your advice.

: Rick