My parents taught me to be totally honest, to a fault. I'm glad they did. I'm a better person for it. To alter a watch for sale to enhance its value/appeal is just plain wrong in my book, period.

: Over the past few days, there has been a lot of discussion, on
: this forum and elsewhere, of the possibility that the Antiquorum
: auction house edited a photo in an auction catalog (using
: Photoshop or some similar program), to remove some severe
: blemishes on the bezel of a vintage watch. The three photos that
: follow show (a) the watch in a photo that does not appear to
: have been edited, (b) the watch in the main catalog photo (which
: appears to have been edited to clean up the bezel), and (c) a
: detailed view of a portion of the edited image, showing some
: “over-spray” on the numeral 10, which appears to have been
: caused by some sloppy editing.

: [unedited photo, showing a gash on the bezel at 10 o'clock]

:
:

: [photo in auction catalog, which appears to have been edited to
: remove the gash]

:
:

: [detail of the edited photo, showing some over-spray / sloppy
: editing on the numeral 10]

:
:

: I thought that it might be interesting to use this situation, to
: discuss some questions that arise in buying and selling watches,
: our use of photographs (and Photoshop), and some broader
: questions of honesty and fair dealing. Buying and selling
: watches using the internet and e-mail raises some interesting
: ethical issues.

: So let me pose a few questions, to get the discussion going: when
: you are selling a watch that has some obvious blemishes, might
: you take multiple photos in order to get one or two in which the
: blemish is less visible (or even not visible at all)? Is it fair
: game to use Photoshop (or a similar editing program) to remove
: the blemishes? Is there a difference between using a cloning or
: healing tool to remove a blemish and other less dramatic
: adjustments (exposure / saturation / levels / brightness /
: etc.)? What about posting smaller, darker photos that hide the
: details of the watch? Would you expect different standards of
: conduct as between different types of sellers – reputable
: high-end auction house; eBay or other online auction; private
: seller? When you are buying a watch through an auction house, do
: you believe that the auction house is representing that photos
: of the watch have not been edited to remove blemishes and
: defects? When you are selling a watch, do you volunteer
: information that might adversely impact the value or the
: prospective buyer’s decision (for example, that the watch has
: been running slow and probably needs an overhaul or that some
: parts have been replaced)? Does it depend on whether or not the
: prospective buyer asks the question? Does it depend on whether
: you are selling to a friend or to a stranger? I look forward to
: an interesting discussion and of course you should feel free to
: share any additional thoughts on these types of issues.

: Jeff