Grey market has become a necessary evil for luxury watchmakers

mtmTexas · Apr 17, 2017

Thanks for sharing the article. It's realistic to believe, based off of sales declines of the last couple years and production numbers post-2012ish, that the grey market will be robust for the next few years. My thoughts are to get it while you can, before those deals are exhausted and the manufacturers adjust their model accordingly. As mentioned and already seen, I would expect more Limited Editions and vintage inspired pieces to slowly bring production in line with demand. Manufacturers will still want the gross profit they're accustomed to before they adjust drastically and ramp down overhead for less overall production and high GP.

I've bought grey market and AD. I recently received a Breitling from a prominent grey market website, and couldnt justify buying from the local AD, even though I wanted to, after giving them 2 different chances to come off of the list.

michael22 · Apr 18, 2017

Another trick manufacturers can use, is the curtailment of parts for vintage pieces. It makes working pieces rarer & more expensive, making new pieces more attractive.

SpeedyPhill · Apr 18, 2017

Most people I know bought their first decent watch in the 1970s in an AD... waiting three decades before something decent ( in historically correct terms ) comes out 😗

chickenman26 · Apr 18, 2017

Swissluxury.Com
...and most importantly make sure whoever you are buying your Omega watch from will include the official dealer stamped warranty card (our firm always does).......Darryl Randall (Owner) https://www.swissluxury.com

I think most of us realize that unstamped and undated warranty cards, or cards stamped by an unauthorized dealer, can't be used to obtain Omega factory warranty. The following statement from your website indicates you provide AD warranty cards, but no mention that they were stamped by an AD. So how does that square with your statement here that the cards provided are always dealer-stamped? Is it your non-AD Swiss Luxury stamp that comes on the card? Just asking...

From your website:
Warranty:
All watches purchased from us come with a full coverage 3-year warranty protection plan from our firm, SwissLuxury.Com. We provide authorized dealer warranty cards with your purchase . However, because we are not a manufacturer authorized dealer/distributor for the timepieces we sell, the manufacturer may choose not to honor the original warranty.

kkt · Apr 18, 2017

michael22
Another trick manufacturers can use, is the curtailment of parts for vintage pieces. It makes working pieces rarer & more expensive, making new pieces more attractive.

But that comes back to bite the manufacturer in the long run. Part of the reason new watches command a high price is that new buyers know they can sell them on a healthy used market in 5, 10, or 20 years. If the manufacturer kills the used market, it will drive down new prices along with the used, and drive both new and vintage buyers to different manufacturers entirely.

michael22 · Apr 18, 2017

kkt
But that comes back to bite the manufacturer in the long run. Part of the reason new watches command a high price is that new buyers know they can sell them on a healthy used market in 5, 10, or 20 years. If the manufacturer kills the used market, it will drive down new prices along with the used, and drive both new and vintage buyers to different manufacturers entirely.

Yes, but not forever.
A lot of good watches are 50 yrs old & going strong. Manufacturers could stop making parts available at 20 or 30 yrs. A lot of new buyers wouldn't price this in.

Fialetti · Apr 18, 2017

M'Bob
Let me get this straight: a large tour group, who en masse visits Europe, and collectively buys luxury wristwatches?

I can't say for sure whether this happens in Europe, but in Hong Kong it certainly does, and was pretty commonplace until the downturn in Chinese watch-buying a couple of years ago.

hugo · Apr 18, 2017

Thanks for sharing

Grey market has become a necessary evil for luxury watchmakers

mtmTexas

michael22

SpeedyPhill

chickenman26

kkt

michael22

Fialetti

hugo

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