I was looking at the latest omega catalogue as thinking about my next purchase. I really liked the look of the dark side of moon and was quite shocked when I saw the price of nearly £10,000 for the one I liked. The moonwatch with all its history is only £5,000. Some of omegas watches are getting very expensive. I know they are completely different watches but I could buy a 2020 rolex explorer ii for £8000 and that would never go down in value. I think that some of omegas watches are very food value for money like moonwatch and seamaster smp but others are just becoming to expensive. Nearly £50,000 for a platinum moonphase chronograph on leather strap seems crazy money to me. Your into Patek philippe, vacheron Constantin and A lange & sohne. Is it just me or does anyone feel the same

 

It's all relative.

 

I think the challenge for Omega is eroding the gray market “discount.” Obviously there are many advantages for buying from a boutique or AD, but how many additional thousands are those advantages worth to cost-conscious buyers? Rolex’s tight supply chain control, tied with assiduous brand and catalog management is the gold standard when it comes to value retention. Omega is easily the “number two” in the U.S. when it comes to what average people think of (and therefore, aspire to) as a luxury watch, but the disparity between retail and gray market prices is significant — literally thousands, even for in-demand models. Anecdotally, I think this gap is narrowing but while it is still frequently in the four figure range it’s hard to see how they can push prices without meaningfully addressing these other market pressure.

 

IMO Omega is a great brand if you're shopping in the $5k-10k (USD) range. Which Omega(s) do you consider a good comparison to the explorer II?

 

A friend of mine has a jewellers and showed me today that he was offered a 2020 unworn solid gold omega with all box and papers that retails at around the £34,000 mark for £14,000. Thats crazy

 

Well every brand is trying to move upmarket and increase their price , I dont blame omega for doing it I think many omega models are underappreciated.

 

I do think Omega are heading for "think long, hard and carefully" pricing territory, here in Canada at least.

When I bought my first modern Omega, in 2018, I paid under CAD 5k for a new SMP Diver on steel, from an AD. It was a lot of money, and it caused me some pangs, but even at that price it seemed a decent, even good, value. Now that same watch is CAD 7k, and AD discounts on it are a lot harder to find. Still a great piece, but if I were looking for a sturdy, well-made diver with history and strong value, there are more places I'd look first.

Similar story with the Speedies, of all kinds, which have gone up substantially over that timeframe, and will rise even more with the 3861-based models coming down the line. The Speedy Racings and ceramics are all well north of 10k here now, with the LEs closer to 15k, and the 321 at over 20k after taxes. If you're after a Railmaster, or an older model, you can still spend a bit less and walk away with an excellent watch, or buy a Longines, Oris, Sinn, IWC or Tudor. Still great watches, but there's a lot more competition at those prices, and perhaps less incentive to "collect" the brand and be An Omega Person rather than own that one iconic piece.

I'm reminded of some years ago, when many well-known high-end audio companies pushed upmarket in an effort to wrest more pennies out of an ever-shrinking pool of buyers. It worked, for a while, and the buyers aged out or looked to other cheaper, more interesting gear. And now only a handful of those companies are left.

Won't happen to Omega, of course. But who knows how much longer people will be willing to drop thousands and thousands on watches? There's something to be said for making a serious, technically superb product at an price point that is still accessible to many. I'll always love my Omegas, but I'm not sure I'll be buying many more. At least, not new models.

 

The closest I think is the aqua terra gmt which is about £8000 I think

 

+1. Thank you for saving me time

I am in Canada as well and while US counterparts may have access to gray online dealers with a little steeper discounts, we don't. I am now starting to see used SMPs for over 5K.

I used to really love Omega for being a very high price/value brand. It had the styling, the brand cache, the innovate tech behind it. Not to mention I was a huge Brosnan fan growing up in the 90s.

That value proposition is now gone. After tax most of their watches are nearing 10K mark, which IMO is pretty hefty price tag for most who earn their living by waking up and going to work.

Having said that, the growth of wealth in Asia far outpaces that in Europe/North America. In major Canadian cities, most high dollar items are purchase by wealthy immigrants and tourists and most desirable luxury items are often OOS. Check Mercedes dealerships, LV boutiques and the Rolex ADs.

So while Omega is becoming unafforable for average folks, I think they know they can start to charge more because of the above demand and a large vaccum left by Rolex due to their unattainable watches. Heck there is a waitiling list for OP and Datejusts now. That tells you all you need to know.

 

I paid about £4000 for my white dialled seamaster professional which I actually think was a bargain. They are now about £4500 I think. It is a great watch and worth every penny. I look at the speedmaster racing models which are £7000 plus and then the speedmaster mark ii at under £5000. I think the mark ii is a great watch and well worth the money but would not buy any of the racing models as too much money. I look at the dark side of the moon range and would rather buy a moonwatch for half the price. I am a working class guy with an ok job but i don’t think I could part with £10,000 for a new watch

 

Omega are making some great watches, just look at the 321 Speedmaster for confirmation. Worth every penny in my opinion.

 

Hi. I put a post on Rolex forum earlier in the year as I stupidly thought that I could go in and buy a new oyster perpetual as no one would want them as everyone would be after subs and GMT’s. How wrong I was and the dealerships I approached wanted me to have an interview to see if I could go and n a waiting list. It was insane. They could not even show me any models as they had not received them yet. The demand for any new men’s Rolex is crazy. When it comes to marketing Rolex are the best of the best at it.

 

I just sold my Rolex Submariner for a small profit because I grew tired of thinking of my watch as an investment rather than something I wore that was attractive, beautifully made, felt good on my wrist, and kept remarkable time. Considering those factors my Seamaster 300m is a bargain.

 

they are costly. I dont like that bit.

 

I have one more watch left in me before I spend my pennies on another hobby. I’ll certainly be thinking “long, hard and carefully” within the Omega range

 

To a certain extent, every brand wants to increase prices if only to make their products seem artificially higher quality. It's called the Veblen Rule. Personally, I don't seen any Omegas that interest me other than the Moonwatch - and you can find a great vintage one of those for less than MSRP. If you want to spend more, I think there are other brands, like Rolex for example, that offer better products.

 

What is the dealer cost for most of the Omega watches? Seems like it’s around 50% of MSRP. This definitely leaves room for a grey market intermediary. Personally, I don’t see the value of the AD for an Omega.

 

The answer is “no”. They are not too expensive as long as people buy them. Like any other product or service, Omega will charge what the market can bear. So far, the market can bear what Omega wants the market to pay, apparently. As long as that remains the case, the prices will react accordingly.

 

Most are too much for me but they are beautiful watches with some great designs and features. I have a hard time saying they're not "worth" it but they sell at such low prices in the grey market, you have to wonder their actual cost/worth is.

Longines, Sinn, a few micro-brands, Damasko, and Oris even seem to have designs I like and are priced for me but I'm looking for older, used, vintage watches right now.

 

My first message here, I've joined because got Speedmaster.
I agree that Omega is going away from "reasonably priced" (if you can use word "reasonable" to high end watches).
I remember I saw Speedmaster something like 5 years ago for 4500 CAD, year ago it was 6200 CAD. Now it is 6750 CAD and MSRP for new upcoming one with 3861 will be 8550 CAD. So price doubled during last 5-6 years. I took mine with 20% off MSRP couple of month ago. Today I saw on another forum that 1-year old Speedy was sold for exactly same price I've paid within just 6 hours. Crazy. What's next? Limited supply like Rolex does?