![]() For example, Rolex reportedly makes 1 million watches new watches every year. ![]() Company handleĮvery year, only a small number of watches are produced by Luxury watchmakers. In case you plan to purchase one of them, this article will be of great help. However, the demand for Luxury watches like Rolex and Patek Philippe has increased multi-fold in the last few years. There is no easy way to get a hold of the latest watches from an authorized dealer. Biver said in the letter, which was seen by The Times.Īt least one luxury watch brand - Rolex - has been at the center of a yearslong legal battle with a gray market merchant.If you are one of those who like to own a high-end watch, you know the struggle is real. “TAG Heuer understands the importance of protecting the exclusivity of its distribution network, and is taking positive steps to ensure that its dealers honor their contractual commitments,” Mr. Randall to remove photos of the company’s watches from and “refrain from using our client’s protected material in the future,” according to a copy of the letter that he provided to The New York Times.Īlso, Tag Heuer’s chief executive, Jean-Claude Biver, said in an April letter to the company’s authorized dealers that the watchmaker was “taking aggressive action”: A planned 2 million Swiss franc buyback of watches this year from what he called “unauthorized” stores, websites and dealers. Watch brands appear to perceive gray-market businesses as adversaries - even if some dealers maintain that brands quietly appreciate how their sites help to offload inventory.įor example, a lawyer for Breitling recently ordered Mr. “It all pretty much balances out,” he said. Grant said his site offers a warranty that he described as sometimes better and sometimes worse than brands provide. “That’s a key to establishing consumer comfort,” he said.Ī common customer complaint about gray market sites is that their watches do not come with the brand warranties, the repair and support pledges that are a hallmark of many top-end Swiss makers. Grant said some prospective clients still fear buying a fake watch online but that such concerns have faded over the last decade as has built its reputation, in part by gaining authorization to sell through Amazon Prime and other online sales channels. ![]() “Only here will you gain the full value of a complete range of products, a professional and knowledgeable boutique service and, above all, the absolute assurance of authenticity.” “One of Omega’s great strengths is the customer experience that is guaranteed through the brand’s own official channels,” he said. Aeschlimann said the customer response - 2,012 models reserved in around four and a half hours - illustrated the strength of the company’s internet presence. In January Omega, part of the Swatch Group, sold a limited-edition Speedmaster “ Speedy Tuesday” watch online after marketing it exclusively on Instagram. In an emailed statement, Raynald Aeschlimann, Omega’s president and chief executive, said the company has been developing its website to ensure that it becomes the first destination for what he described as “discerning buyers.” (The site has a store locator tool but does not sell watches directly.) Breitling did not respond to emails seeking comment. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which owns watch brands such as Tag Heuer, Zenith and Hublot, declined to comment on the market, as did Cartier and Rolex. Randall, who said his company was not among the gray market’s primary sites, said that it still would earn about $8.5 million to $9 million in revenue this year, with a 7 percent profit margin. It identified the four major gray sites as Chrono24, based in Germany Jomashop and Ashford, both based in New York, and AuthenticWatches. The L2 report said gray sites sell genuine products for average discounts of 28 percent to 49 percent off retail prices, and that savings typically are largest for watches worth $1,000 to $5,000 and $5,000 to $10,000, including models by popular brands like Rolex and Omega. Randall said: “Companies that show their brands and don’t put prices on them: What are you, not in business?” Others do not list prices online, it added, allowing gray sites to “intercept frustrated shoppers.” Others buy watches in one country, sometimes at full retail value, and sell them in another, profiting off asymmetries in currency conversions or brands’ global pricing strategies.īut pricing is not the only reason that brands are being undercut by online dealers, according to an April report on the watch trade by L2, a business consultancy based in New York.įew watch brands invest in search-engine marketing, allowing gray sites to dominate online sales, the L2 report said. Some gray merchants buy watches at a discount from authorized dealers, often through middlemen, and resell them to consumers for less than the brands’ official retail prices.
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