About Me

I am a British private collector, based in Hong Kong, but travelling frequently to the USA and UK.
My true obsession is to find single ownership watches with a little story and some attraction, with evidence of originality. I enjoy the interaction with the sellers and have often travelled long distances to acquire a special watch. I once went to Huntsville, Alabama, where they built the apollo rockets, to buy a 2998 from an actual 91-year-old rocket scientist.
I have been collecting Speedmasters for over fifteen years, and now it is time to hone my collection into a smaller, focused and more usable group of watches that I can enjoy.
The watches I sell have all been hunted out by me because I found them attractive. Sometimes I buy a watch to compare with an example I hold, and then decide which one to keep. For me the pleasure is in the finding, buying, cleaning and holding the watch. The only way I can keep doing that is to sell some from time to time.
Sales
My collection is large, and fluid. I sell to make room, physically and financially, so I can continue to hunt for more.
I have exhibited twice in the UK at the Watch Show and I prepare drops every few months, usually when I have gathered eight watches to present.
Returns and Repairs
All sales are final, with the following exceptions:
- If upon receipt you do not like it and can get the watch back into my hands in the same condition as I sent it, I will undo the sale.
- If the watch is misdescribed or in some way miss represented, I will take it back within a month.
In practical terms, I am not automatically in a position to buy back a watch after a time of your ownership. I am not responsible for your financial decisions, or future consequences of buying a watch from me, nor can I bail you out because you no longer want to have the money in the watch. While I might sometimes be happy to buy the watch back, that verges on trading, and my watches come from owners rather than collectors, unless there is a compelling reason – which there can be.
My added value comes from the honest presentation of watches (that I doubt someone without my level of obsession could readily find), and certainly not in the numbers I present in my sale. My primary motivation is not profit, it is turnover, so I can find more watches.
These are all vintage watches, and as such are liable to failures at a greater rate than modern watches. I try to ensure all watches are in fine order before shipping, but I cannot predict what a 40+ year old watch will do.
All watches are guaranteed mechanically for 12 months, but you must bear the cost of returning it to and from my UK watchmaker – any repair costs will be borne by me.
Watches shipped to continental Europe or Asia will be additionally tested, and I will limit my liability to a one time payment of Euros 200 to repair in your country. Otherwise, please return it to Simon Freese at your expense for a free repair, and a charged return.
Payments & Delivery
Payments will be in HKD, USD or GBP direct to my Company Bank Account in Hong Kong. Full bank wire details will be on the invoice. All watches are held in a trust account in Hong Kong, and as such there is no sales tax when I ship out from HK.
You may have liabilities in your own tax jurisdiction for which you will be responsible. USA is negligible, while European jurisdictions have VAT for which you are responsible as these watches are sold FOB Hong Kong.
I will arrange delivery to you, insured FedEx. Some countries will have additional hurdles, but we can settle details at time of sale.
Please feel free to email any questions.
Bitcoin
I am accepting Bitcoin.
The amount of BTC payable is based in the USD equivalent at time of payment, so no risk to you.
You can easily open a Bitcoin account at Coinbase.com and move your USD/STG there, then make the payment to an Address I give you.
Please wait to receive the payment instructions with the address from me, and do not re-use an address I have given you before.