In the spirit of paying it forward and doing your HOMEWORK before BUYING a GMD OMEGA or VINTAGE, I would like to submit a saying with a video attached to deter would be victims.

And remember not all chickens and sellers on ebay are good mammas so careful do homework AND IF IT THE WATCH IS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT PROBABLY IS.

!!!!!!!!! BUYER BEWARE !!!!!!

 

Well done.

 

I am in a strange mood today. The Americana eggs have many colours, redials, frankens, broken foot dials and parts missing in the movement.

 

Who the f buys unhatched chickens from eBay????

 

A friend ties her own flies for fly fishing. She recently showed me a feather she paid $80.00 (Cdn.) for. Perhaps Patrick should consider branching out!

 

The same people who are so quick to buy vintage watches without learning anything about them.

 

It's important to note that there is a huge difference between grey market and vintage, yet you don't seem to differentiate between the two.

Yes, for a noob, buying vintage has numerous pitfalls, as even established dealers don't always disclose overpolishes, redialled frankens, and there is no substitute for research to make sure you know what you're getting. Because of this, buyers may mistakenly believe that any watch from a vintage dealer is 100% correct.

However, I don't quite understand your issue with grey market. If someone is offering a new Speedmaster for £400 quid, it's probably fake, but there are several well respected GMD's offering a good but realistic discount and there is no risk buying from them. As with any new item, it may have issues from the off and by buying grey, you may not have a factory warranty. However, as a full service is likely to be significantly less than the savings made when compared to buying from an AD, this is a saving that many consider worthwhile.

 

EggBay. Where they count your eggs before they hatch.

 

How do people know who the good grey dealers are and who the bad grey dealers are? Does Omega approve of them? Also sometimes the so called good ones are not as good as people think. If people take short cuts things will go wrong sometimes and there is no comeback for them, only the good will of the person who is selling an item they are not supposed to can save the buyer. The GMD even though they are good dealers are selling stock sold to them because an AD wants to off load stock and break there agreement with Omega. The whole GMD issue and AD's discounting stock down grades the brand. This is something that Rolex do well although it does happen AD's do not discount much and it strengthens there brand. Rolex and grey market is another issue altogether, I assume it is the same as grey market and Omega. GM still devalues the brand and the perceived value people have in the product is diluted. These watches true value is not the quality of craftsmanship or the components but it is there perceived value as it represents the buyer and what they stand for. You allow discounting of any kind and over time the brand is diluted.
DISCOUNTING IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM DOWN GRADES THE BRAND.

 

Ha Ha. Probably not a good idea.

 

With a bit of research or PMs, it's not hard to find out who the trusted grey market dealers are.

You say "sometimes the good one aren't as good as people think etc", and you repeatedly say this when people ask about buying a new Omega, but do you have any experience of this or is it just hearsay and conjecture?

Finally 'downgrades the brand'?! Are you actually suggesting that people shouldn't save money on rrp because it reduces the value of Omegas brand? Surely that's for Omega to worry about, not their customers.

 

Absolutely not, think about it for a minute, no factory warranty, and if they did the the dealer would be an "Authorized Dealer (AD) or an "Omega Boutique".

 

I completely disagree. Just because a company offers a discount i.e. Clearance sale, holiday sale, does not down grade anything ! Is a BMW any less of a car because the dealer has a end of model clearance sale?

 

Sounds like he's worried about what people may think his watch cost, not what its value is

 

Thank you. Not approved from the manufacturer.

 

If you did not care what someone's perceived value of the Omega brand is you would wear a Casio from Wallmart. It does not cost thousands of dollars to make these watches you know. The whole industry is based on perception. Or are you going to tell me different, be honest with yourself.

 

That is different, clearence sale is for a reason as a newer BMW is being released etc....

 

Definitely not. Perceived value of others makes absolutely no difference to me.
I've worn vintage Omegas for several years and vintage Speedmasters for a couple. In that time, I don't think a single person I know/work with (apart from my family who know it interests me) has even noticed what watch I wear.
I like vintage mechanical watches, chronographs in particular, for their history, design, engineering etc and not the value. I'd be happier if they had little perceived value nowadays, to allow a small band of collectors to hunt them out under the radar.
Same applies to certain types of antique furniture in the uk. The quality craftsmanship is there but perceived value is often low, as many types of Victorian furniture are not popular at the minute.
It's the history and quality I care about, not the perceived value of the brand.

 

Look we all have an appreciation of expensive things and cheap. I love my Boctok Russian diver that is the price of a g shock. They designed the watch from the ground up, the water resistance increases the deeper you go. They wanted to be different from the swiss and did it there way, in the 60s the off the shelf watches were issued to the Russian navy. I also love Omega and Rolex, I love them for the quality but am not lying to myself to think it is only to do with that. Off course there is AN ELEMENT off prestige to the watches. You are lying to yourself to think it is just because you like Omega and Rolex and their quality. These watches reflect the fact we have worked hard to get them and maintain them. Although we do not advertise the value fact to others we know it ourselves and is part of the love we have for the watch. Sorry to be blunt but what is right is right.

 

Just throwing in a couple of pennies here on the whole Grey Market thing.

I don't have the cash to buy a new Omega, either AD, Boutique, or GM, so have no skin in this game, but:

1) Boutiques and AD's, add value by having expensive and impressive bricks and mortar stores, very often in expensive locations, with well presented staff, who are selling the brand as much as the products.

Not just perception, a store on Old Bond Street, or in The Royal Exchange is going to be costing them £££.

And that's going to be factored into the selling prices of their stock.

So what you're getting through the official routes, is the full brand experience... It's impressive, it's full on Omega, and it's expensive.

It also comes with a factory warranty, which as others have said, is only worth the cost of a full service by Omega (as this then gets the 2 year warranty on the work).

2)GM doesn't have any of that.

And if you're not bothered by the full brand experience, and are happy that the watch you're buying is genuine (easily checked), then why not buy GM.

The calculations are pretty simple.

Either

RRP + Brand experience + factory warranty = happy customer.

Or

RRP - brand experience - factory warranty - percentage of RRP = happy customer.

Neither way is right or wrong, it's a personal choice issue.