Quote:
Originally Posted by Helmi
These are valid points and I am thinking about the same. I put 20% deposit on ss 5712 six months back and expected delivery is spring which I suspect immediately after the increase is put in effect. That is not a good feeling. But does it make sense to increase only ss models? Then what happens to 5712r/g? They are cheaper than the new ss 5712 price. It is like saying, because BMW 3 series is very popular, we make it more expensive than the 5 series. Very confusing to me. And I don't think they will increase the production as well, because that will be shooting themselves in the foot as their most popular models will become unpopular or "normally" popular which I don't think they are that naive to it. Interesting times.
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I think the reality moving forward is that manufacturers are going to have to accept that the premium for gold over SS is going to narrow. It always seemed crazy to me that manufacturers were charging upwards of $20K for at most, $3-4K worth of gold in bracelet pieces (fine, you could quibble that gold may be harder to finish or work with), and the market has pretty much spoken to that.
See for instance the delta between a BNIB 116500 and 116509 - the SS is going for a premium while the WG is going for a substantial discount such that the difference is now around $8-10K, when the MSRP difference is more like $20K. Or the 5711 where SS is going for $40K while RG can still be had at the $51.5K MSRP when the gap in retail is more than $26K at the old prices.
It would seem bizarre if the 5712/1A is more expensive than the 5712R/G - but you could rationalize part of it in that the 1A has a bracelet which requires a lot of extra work assembling and finishing. I would expect an increase for the gold models - but not by the same 20%. The 5712G is a slow mover and you'll get taken to the cleaners on resale (the R does much better.)
There are many days where I've definitely turned my mind to the gold versions of watches I want as now they seem like comparative bargains to the SS brethren. Ultimately, I still end up going SS as it better suits my lifestyle.