Hi

forgive my dumbfounded question but what does a watch with warranty card not dated really imply? I mean if you think about it, as soon as AD sells the watch they have your serial number date of purchase and all that, but is it really that simple to just leave the warranty card blank and fill it up with whatever date you want and get the warranty “extended”?

tia

 

The serial number is in the system, warranty cards are pretty much meaningless at this point in time.

 

So how come grey dealers are marketing it as if they can up the price just because the card is blank or the warranty card has no holes?

 

Because they are full of shit.

Grey market = no factory warranty.

 

Because people believe that a warranty card that isn't dated gives them a FREE repair sometime in the distant future when said watch eventually needs a service. So in seven or eight years when the watch stops running they figure they will just back date the card a couple of years and voila, the service will be gratis under the warranty program. Dishonest, obviously. Does it work, sometimes.

 

The AD I recently purchased my Seamaster from had an app on a phone with which he scanned a QR code on the card and registered my watch with Omega. He also filled out the warranty card completely but the warranty card doesn't mean anything except being a convenient reminder of where and when you purchased your watch. Not knowing how every grey market obtains their watch, I'd imagine Omega knows very well when that watch with a blank warranty card was actually sold so yeah, grey market sellers are pretty much full of it.

 

If it’s a vintage piece with an unsigned card… just means the original was lost and someone purchased a blank warranty card/sheet from eBay.

 

So interesting how grey market try to manipulate consumers. I’m oblivious to those tactics but then it doesn’t take a genius to realize everything is on the cloud now so a simple type of serial number and you see every detail a $7k watch has

 

Grey market = no factory warranty = smaller prices for anyone who can live with no warranty

 

Generally a blank card indicates the piece does not include a manufacturer's warranty; reference Jomashop.

 

I thought factory warranties were transferable. If I buy a watch new with 5-year warranty, but sell it in a private transaction, won’t the buyer have 2 years of warranty?
By the same logic, although I’m not sure how grey market dealers get their watches, I assume they get them legally so the manufacturer warranty would be valid.
Are these assumptions incorrect?

 

In short, yes.

 

yes, that is a short response.

But I'll have to disagree. I know from personal experience that the manufacturer's warranty is transferable, as I've had a watch serviced under warranty that I purchased privately. And if you check our sales forum (the "professional" one), there are loads of listings of new watches that indicate the watches are under warranty. So I'm not sure why some feel that the warranty isn't valid. Perhaps I'm unclear on the definition of "grey market" seller. If it's not simply a watch reseller, what exactly is a "grey market" seller?

 

A manufacturers warranty is transferable if a new piece was originally purchased from, and registered by, an authorized dealer. Grey dealers are not authorized dealers and many offer independent warranties. Reference Jomashop.

 

Many grey marketers sell product that has a properly filled out (dated and signed by an AD) warranty card, these carry the full manufacturers warranty. They may be from another country but that makes no difference. Others, like Jomashop, sell product that don't have the warranty cards so no factory warranty for those. Factory warranties are almost always transferable, the warranty goes with the watch, not the original owner. Not complicated.

At the end of the day follow the oft repeated rule, Buy the Seller.

 

Agree, that’s what I’ve always thought. I’m curious as to why the grey market sellers, such as Jomashop, don’t get the OEM warranty. I suspect the OEM may unload a large lot of slow sellers for a significantly lower price and exclude the warranty.

 

Its a crapshoot. Most legitimate ADs wont want to risk their relationship with Omega by activating the warranty on watches they offload to a grey dealer. Omega cares more now than in the past of course, so its more likely you'll find valid warranties on older models in the grey market.

There are also cases of ADs terminating their relationship with Omega (by choice, by force, going out of business, etc) and in those cases they won't care about repercussions from Omega. Those ADs will gladly activate the warranty on all their watches and offload em to some grey dealer.

Rule of thumb for the grey market: everything is questionable, every dealer is different, every watch from each dealer could be different, and its all a risk.

 

Not on every watch, there are still grey market watches out there even today ie some do not have a valid warranty. I personally wouldn't depend on any kind of implied warranty on a watch where I didn't know who bought it first, unless it had been confirmed either buy some kind of proof of purchase or other indication of warranty.