Quote:
Originally Posted by texascrane
I apologize up front for this mini-rant. I’m sure this topic isn’t new.
I’ll start off by saying that I’m not a big “watch guy”. I’ve owned a few watches over the years, and I’m familiar with a few of the nice watch brands, but I’ve never spent much time on watch forums, sites, blogs, etc.
About a month ago I decided I’d like to get a Submariner with date. I want to buy it from an authorized dealer. I almost bought one about 15 years ago and had no idea how much things have changed. Obviously the pandemic has complicated things, but I didn’t realize how difficult it seems to be to actually walk into a dealer, hand then $10k and walk out with a watch.
I’ve called several dealers (and gone into one) and get everything from we’ll put your name on a “list” with no idea of when they’ll have a watch for me, to “sorry, we don’t have any and our list is really long”. It doesn’t help that I live in Austin which isn’t exactly swimming in dealers. I’ve got to say that the lack of transparency is pretty frustrating. I get that they can’t sell me what they don’t have, but it feels like I should be able to give somebody a deposit and a rough expectation of when to come pick up my watch.
I admittedly don’t have a relationship with any jewelers. My wife doesn’t wear jewelry except for an inexpensive necklace I bought her 20 years ago and her wedding/engagement rings. I quit buying her anything else since she never wears it. I’m not sure how to convince a dealer that I’m not a flipper if for no other reason than it wouldn’t be worth my time.
It honestly feels like I’m trying to play a game where I don’t really understand all the rules. I’m not interested in the grey market because I don’t feel informed enough to ensure I’m buying an authentic watch. I guess this approach is working well for Rolex, but it sure is frustrating - which I can’t imagine is a word that any brand wants associated with their purchase experience. I wonder if there’s a point in time where this approach comes back to bite them.
If one of the dealers calls me back and tells me they have a watch for me, I’ll go buy it, but honestly I’m also sitting here thinking that $10k would pay for a really nice new mountain bike and trip this fall.
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I live in Arlington with an 8.5% sales tax. I assume that is the same, or higher in Austin. The price of a Sub Date from a Texas authorized dealer is going to be $9710.75 with sales tax. You can get a like new in box Submariner Date with all papers for 10,400 fairly easily from one of the gray market dealers on this site with overnight shipping included and no sales tax if the seller is out of state. Of course it depends on your budget but if I really wanted the watch, I'd go gray.