please school me... purchase from AD vs. grey market dealer

I don't see anybody bringing up the fact that grey market watches can be reconditioned or returned watches.

http://www.watchtalkforums.info/forums/thread68146.html

The watch being discussed was bought from a WELL known on-line retailer (think a large river in South America, or giant women) who then places the order with a grey market seller.

You can always show an AD the grey market prices and ask if they'll match or come close. That's what I did with my Breitling from Bailey, Banks, and Biddle 6.5 years ago.

I have a great AD now. Next year when all the craziness dies down, there's a Reverso high on the list. If I go new, and I probably will because I know how well one particular case size fits me, it's undoubtably going to be purchased from them.

Getting a returned watch from grey market was another scare for me. Ok for a cheap work watch. My local AD doesn't care what the grey maker prices are. They will not budge on the price. I went out of state.

Same as my local AD, they are firmed with their pricing, however, for Omega they will give a standard 5% and they may throw in a 8% to 15% for certain model. However for Rolex, it is considered lucky to have a 5% discount.

Some of my friends will wait for oversea visiting friends and use their passport to claim that sales tax of 7%, the price gap between grey market and AD will be narrowed to a few hundreds only.

I'd back most of the comments here. If it's new buy from an AD, it's certainly possible to get discounts, not as much as you want maybe but that's the deal. You get 100% backup and no worries. I've had problems in the past with a watch bought new at an AD in Switzerland. The service was superb even though the watch was out of warranty by the time I contacted Omega.

Ordered the Master Co-ax from George today, but it'll take a little while for him to get it. Worth the wait, I'm sure.

Stu

I had bought a few watches new (Rolex Sub, Omega 2561.80, etc.) and some other "used". If you want the "pride" of owning a new watch no one had owned before and value that over price, go for the new one. If you are OK with used watches, there are awesome deals out there. Like many people say, buy the seller, not the watch, that will reduce the likelihood of ending with a fake watch. I highly recommend buying an used watch over a new one if you want to save a lot, but still get a great watch. I'm glad you opted for buying through George (Kringkily); I bought my mint 2014 SMP coax mid size, with full boxes, price tag, warranty cards, etc. through him for a very reasonable price and can't be happier! The picture of the watch is below

Beautiful watch you have there. But I'm a bit biased, having the same mid size model, just a lot older. It was bought for me new by my wife, and yes, there was that pride in owning new thing going on. I got over that eventually when the watch became unreliable after more than ten years of daily wear and multiple failed repair attempts since by various Omega service centers. So in a fit of rage, I bought a mint quartz version 2012 model for accuracy and reliability, put it on a leather strap to save the mint bracelet, and started wearing it daily. That started me on these forums, which caused me to catch The Disease. The watch I'm waiting for George to deliver is my first brand new watch in17 years, and I doubt I'll ever sell it. I still own every watch I've ever bought new. For some reason, the idea of selling a watch I bought second hand is a lot easier for me to accept than selling one I bought new.

Thanks Stu! I understand the feeling, since I own a Rolex Submariner Date, S series, which have since new (1995),
When got the Sub, told my wife "it was going to be the only expensive watch would ever own"; she laughed and said there would be others eventually and she was right! I bought a new Tag Heuer 2000 chrono Quartz (which still own) and then about 8 years ago bought my first Omega (from Costco) an 2561.80 It was a weekly wearer on a 3 watch rotation (Tag, Omega an a Citizen Aquamount; Rolex is used very little). Making the long story short, sold the Quartz, bought an used 2551.80 auto but shortly after decided to go for the coaxial model above. I love the wavy James Bond Dial (nothing against the newest ceramic models with the new dials) and the coax got through George is an 2014 model, S/N 855XXXXXX, with the caliber 2500D, making it one of the last wavy dial SMP's produced before the switch to the current ceramic models. I think this one is a keeper!. Hope the wait for your new watch is worth (mine took about 2 weeks since ordering it to receive it) and you love your new baby for the years to come. When you receive it, post some pictures !!!!!!!

Regards,

Francisco

Will do, Francisco. I'm getting pretty excited about it. 38.5 mm master co-ax AT, white dial w/rose gold hands, logo, and markers. The leather strap it comes on will be replaced by a RHD Louisiana Alligator in reddish brown w/butterfly deployant. May not have it for another month, but will definitely post up pics when it arrives.

Stu

Sounds like a plan, Stu ! By the way, I forgot to say I also like leather bands like you do 😀 ; I ordered a 18mm / 16mm Hirsch curved end brown leather band for mine, plus bought (used) an Omega deployant (reference 94521603; older style, not as bulky as new style !) to go with it:



I haven't try it yet as want to use the watch with the SS bracelet for a while; will post pictures when I do !

Regards,

Francisco

Does it fit with the pins from the deployment or did just make another hole in the band? Cause i bought the same deployment but my bands won't fit so i need to buy matching one

Regards,
jasko

These threads make me laugh, honestly. There are so many legit sellers around here, with stamped warranty cards at good prices. Obviously that assumes they have the watch or can get the watch you are interested in. But if they do/can, it should be a done deal. Of course, that is just my opinion.

But really, everyone who starts these threads is obsessed with warranty cards when even gray dealers who don't provide them (Jomas, etc) are saving you so much over AD let alone OB prices that in the event you have an issue, you can have your watch serviced by Omega (or whichever master watchmaker you choose) at full service pricing and STILL come out ahead financially. The math makes no sense, yet people get wrapped up in this topic relentlessly. And while I know people get lemons with any product, what are the odds you'll even have a serious issue within the warranty period? These companies pump out a million-plus watches a year. They are good watches. Paying thousands more for the "experience" or "peace of mind" from an OB/AD makes no sense to any rational person if there is an option. Yet it seems to happen every other day around here.

I didn't know shit about any of this till about a year ago when I finally took the plunge on spending some real money on watches after always loving watches and sort of, barely, paying attention, and only ever having cheap Fossils etc. I spent about $10K and now have three Omegas, the Bulova "Moon Watch" and the Seiko SPB051. Say what you want about the last two as they are low-end on this forum but the point is, I saved roughly $4,000 total buying them all from reputable non-ADs/corporate boutiques and the best "discounts" they offer. And I don't sweat any of it. For $4K, I have enough leftover vs the "official" route to take care of any problems with any of them and, again, still come out ahead. And oh, they all have stamped cards.

Honestly, spend a few hours doing the research and it's easy to figure out.

I bought both my Omegas from grey dealers. Both were imported from Italy with as near as dammit full Omega international warranties. My £6,000 Speedmaster ‘57 cost me £4,750 and my £2,920 SMPc cost me £2,350. That’s a £1,820 saving on just two watches. Enough to buy another pretty decent watch. With international warranties, I can’t see why the grey dealer would not pass on the warranty card unless things are different in the States?

buying from AD would give me a peace of mind and also it is to build a profile to have a better chance of getting LE watches. depending on which brand, usually can ask for discount.

Like you. I've bought 3 new watches from non-franchised dealers at significant discounts. Rolex Explorer, Omega AT and a Nomos Club. Two of them from from Chronext, and the third from a UK based dealer. One was originally retailed in Italy, another in Greece, and I can't remember where the third one came from (all the papers are filed away).
In all cases I received all the stickers/tags/boxes/papers/cards with dealer stamps no more than 10 days earlier, and full manufacturer warranty. Unless a watch was unobtainable except from a franchised dealer, I wouldn't buy a fairly expensive watch any other way - and in that case I'd likely just save my money and not bother anyway 👍

As you say, perhaps things are different in the USA for some reason.

Quite the thread resurrection, pulling back a 4-year old conversation for a question about the strap. 😀

I've bought 3 Omegas, 2 from AD's and one from a forum member here. For the first purchase I was inexperienced, and the AD wouldn't negotiate. The watch (AT Golf Edition) was priced about $700 below MSRP, but still far higher than grey dealers (which I didn't know at the time). I felt stupid after the fact, but I like the watch a lot and don't intend to sell it. The second watch I purchased from an AD was the Apollo XVII 45th LE, about 2 months ago. The dealer had the watch displayed at MSRP, but I asked what their best price was and he immediately cut the price by about 15%. That seemed to be reasonable based on what I had seen for sales and listings here and elsewhere, so I bought it. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from a reputable grey dealer or forum member here, regardless of warranty cards. You can always pay for a full service from Omega and get a warranty on that work.

It's not.

So why do grey dealers not include the warranty card in the USA - Surely that would help a sale greatly?

Some do, some don't. I don't know the specific ins and outs of why some have the cards and some don't. This has been discussed repeatedly on the forums. Most likely explanation for the ones who don't is that the retailers that dump watches through them don't want Omega tracing the watches back to the retailer through their stamp on the warranty card. Now, why others appear not to care and will stamp the cards for watches being sold for upward of 40-percent off of retail, I do not know. But that's what happens.