NOS is always a tricky title for any vintage watch to have attached to it, i'd suggest 95% of watches that are called New Old Stock are not. If the case has been refinished then it cannot by any suggestion be called NOS, mint condition at best.

But also a watch coming from an original owner and with some dents and scratches on, is neither NOS, whether or not it's been sitting in a drawer for the past 30 years...if it's got signs of life, it's not NOS. I see just as many of these and whilst original owner watches are lovely things in their own right, almost all of them turn out not to be NOS.

On the Monaco an extra issue comes in the form of the seal, most true NOS Monacos are likely to have seal melt, i've only seen one true NOS Monaco where the seal hadn't melted, which leads to another issue, as personally i'd rather have a non new old stock Monaco with a mint condition dial (with no seal issues).

NOS means it's as if it was just purchased, been sitting around doing nothing, never polished, never worn...(or has been put together with unused, unmarked original parts), perhaps with some tiny storage marks...and this is why there are so few true NOS watches, despite the claims.

Rich

:
And here is an eBay listing that provides a perfect example of
: the idea that a watch that has been "freshly restored"
: is not the same as a watch that is New Old Stock. This one has
: had the crown, pushers and bezel replaced, but is listed as New
: Old Stock.

: http://cgi.ebay.com/200620679138

: No surprise that seller has 93% positive feedback on eBay.

: Jeff

: ++++++++++++++++++++++++

: