Starting to lose my resolve
Discussion
jdwoodbury said:
I am now 16 months into waiting for my Yachtmaster from an independent AD (they told me it would be 6 and I was top of the list). I have purchase history from them of 2 watches (including another Rolex). To be fair I have not chased them up, but I am getting a bit bored of waiting.
Bought my Rhodium dial YM a few years ago , walked into the AD and asked to try one on , they didn’t have one but would chase one up and get back to me , about three weeks later got the call to go in and try it on , did a deal including a Panerai going in as px , all done and dusted within a month.jdwoodbury said:
You are not making me feel any better 
Had the chance to buy a YM many years ago in Dubai, got the AD down to £3300 but hesitated and didn’t buy.Kicked myself for quite a long time afterwards.
Fast forward to the Rhodium dial YM , imho the best combination of them all, had no hesitation when I had it on my wrist , I’m sort of glad I didn’t buy the original years ago.
VEX said:
Has anyone tried Timetofind.com
Run by an old clients son of mine with a lot of very very good watch connections.
Not an advert, no dealings with them personally or professionally. Just could be good, although on something with so little supply could still be a challenge.
V.
Never heard of them - I have just signed up and requested through their concierge. Let’s see Run by an old clients son of mine with a lot of very very good watch connections.
Not an advert, no dealings with them personally or professionally. Just could be good, although on something with so little supply could still be a challenge.
V.
So they have direct relationships with these ADs who say I can’t buy one unless I have “history” to make sure I am not a flipper and a “real” customer?
Or the grey dealers have relationships with punters whom ADs think are regular customers and not flippers but just happen to buy a submariner once a month?
Whatever the route, it really doesn’t sound like the system is working for people who save up to buy a nice watch?
Or the grey dealers have relationships with punters whom ADs think are regular customers and not flippers but just happen to buy a submariner once a month?
Whatever the route, it really doesn’t sound like the system is working for people who save up to buy a nice watch?
panholio said:
So they have direct relationships with these ADs who say I can’t buy one unless I have “history” to make sure I am not a flipper and a “real” customer?
Or the grey dealers have relationships with punters whom ADs think are regular customers and not flippers but just happen to buy a submariner once a month?
Whatever the route, it really doesn’t sound like the system is working for people who save up to buy a nice watch?
A grey will have many sources: Customers of AD's who 'can' get them; other Grey's who have it; straight from SA's from AD's ( common in HK).Or the grey dealers have relationships with punters whom ADs think are regular customers and not flippers but just happen to buy a submariner once a month?
Whatever the route, it really doesn’t sound like the system is working for people who save up to buy a nice watch?
But going in to an AD and buying it, to then sell to the customer will not be one of them.
Unfortunately, with the advent of social media, this is home it is with brands that are hot in the social media world. It's not just watches, for the girls, it's handbags. Try and get a Birkin handbag from Hermes. Just like trying to get a Daytona.
raceboy said:
There's a 124060 popped up on TZ, £9250
Still a £2k premium, but less than the £12k someone like Watchfinder are asking.
Sticking to the £7k ish budget there is a 14060 on TZ at £7700
No connection to either seller just spotted them on my usual browse on there.
My 14060M is easily my favourite watch!Still a £2k premium, but less than the £12k someone like Watchfinder are asking.
Sticking to the £7k ish budget there is a 14060 on TZ at £7700
No connection to either seller just spotted them on my usual browse on there.
raceboy said:
There's a 124060 popped up on TZ, £9250
Still a £2k premium, but less than the £12k someone like Watchfinder are asking.
Sticking to the £7k ish budget there is a 14060 on TZ at £7700
No connection to either seller just spotted them on my usual browse on there.
I don’t know TZ - what am I missing? What’s the link to the watches for sale?Still a £2k premium, but less than the £12k someone like Watchfinder are asking.
Sticking to the £7k ish budget there is a 14060 on TZ at £7700
No connection to either seller just spotted them on my usual browse on there.
Ed T said:
I don’t know TZ - what am I missing? What’s the link to the watches for sale?
Sorry TZ is a watch forum, it can sometimes be a bit tricky to join as a new member as its run by a single individual and sometimes has periods of not accepting new members, and even if you do get in you need to serve an apprenticeship before you can see the sales section, worth putting the work in though. https://forum.tz-uk.com/forum.php
Ninjin said:
If you take the adverts on chrono24, most of the advertiser's don't have a physical watch. Once they get a buyer willing to pay the premium, they'll go around trying to source one. If you look closely, they'll state a delivery time. If it's in weeks, they don't have it physical.
There’s a little coloured ‘dot’ on each listing showing availability. Red, amber, green - green being available for immediate dispatch.panholio said:
How do the grey market dealers get hold of so many brand new unworn ones?
They had the 41mm sub the day it came out.
If you watch YouTube channels such as ‘The Timepiece Gentlemen’ then you can get a really good behind-the-scenes look at how grey dealers operate, as they show the whole process, including prices, and who they buy from.They had the 41mm sub the day it came out.
Mostly the grey dealers get daily phone calls from ‘Preferred customers’ of AD’s who have just walked out of a shop having been allowed to buy a few desirable models.
The customer then calls the grey dealer straight away and asks for their best prices to buy the desirable models off them that same day.
So essentially the preferred customers/big spenders are buying handfuls of watches every few months from AD’s, and selling most of them to grey dealers for a profit and keeping the odd one for themselves.
Grey dealers also source from other grey dealers and suchlike.
In the Timepiece Gentlemen they are quite careful not to show you the names or any details of the preferred customers who sell them watches, presumably because the AD’s would stop selling to them if they knew they were walking straight to grey dealers to sell.
Or maybe the wouldn’t care?
Lord Marylebone said:
If you watch YouTube channels such as ‘The Timepiece Gentlemen’ then you can get a really good behind-the-scenes look at how grey dealers operate, as they show the whole process, including prices, and who they buy from.
Mostly the grey dealers get daily phone calls from ‘Preferred customers’ of AD’s who have just walked out of a shop having been allowed to buy a few desirable models.
The customer then calls the grey dealer straight away and asks for their best prices to buy the desirable models off them that same day.
So essentially the preferred customers/big spenders are buying handfuls of watches every few months from AD’s, and selling most of them to grey dealers for a profit and keeping the odd one for themselves.
Grey dealers also source from other grey dealers and suchlike.
In the Timepiece Gentlemen they are quite careful not to show you the names or any details of the preferred customers who sell them watches, presumably because the AD’s would stop selling to them if they knew they were walking straight to grey dealers to sell.
Or maybe the wouldn’t care?
The AD’s tell you what they want you to hear , in reality they get the sale the day they received the watch delivery.Mostly the grey dealers get daily phone calls from ‘Preferred customers’ of AD’s who have just walked out of a shop having been allowed to buy a few desirable models.
The customer then calls the grey dealer straight away and asks for their best prices to buy the desirable models off them that same day.
So essentially the preferred customers/big spenders are buying handfuls of watches every few months from AD’s, and selling most of them to grey dealers for a profit and keeping the odd one for themselves.
Grey dealers also source from other grey dealers and suchlike.
In the Timepiece Gentlemen they are quite careful not to show you the names or any details of the preferred customers who sell them watches, presumably because the AD’s would stop selling to them if they knew they were walking straight to grey dealers to sell.
Or maybe the wouldn’t care?
I’ve seen watches for sale at a grey dealer locally that have been supplied originally by their closest AD , a friend who works for a different retailer knows of people who have had up to 5 sports models in a year.
It’s all a big game , the AD’s , the grey dealers and the customers are all playing a part in it.
Some manufacturers are beginning to care as they want relationships with clients and not a non repeat client buying their hot models only. A couple like Patek are now making AD's fill out details about who is ordering specific in demand models and these models will now only be granted to dealer on approval, basically they are doing regional allocation at the manufacture level. Others like AP moving to boutique only. I heard Richard Mille are only selling to previous buyers and actually setting up skype sessions on people ordering to make sure they haven't flipped their previous pieces. Problem with Rolex specifically is much larger production and so many AD's makes it hard to control.
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