Quote:
Originally Posted by shafran
From watchbox and others. The issue is that all new Journes are out of stock and need to be ordered. Due to limited production, there is a wait from everything at the boutique right now. If you dont mind preowned under warranty, it is available. There is surely a Journe bubble. I traded out of 1 of my Jounres way too soon, the other just a little too soon. I still have two though. Lange( I have both Lange and Journe) is a better deal now, but somehow I find the Journe watches sublime.
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Depends on how you define a bubble I suppose. I think it is quite possible that this is just the new normal for FPJ. When you only make around 800 watches a year, all it takes is a small uptick in demand to really affect inventory. FPJ has gotten much more popular across the board the last year, and we are really seeing that play out in availability. It isn't hard to squeeze it with such low production.
And the good news is outside of the totally "unobtainables" like the CB and new Dubai, most things can still be had with a wait of a year or under. I think Havanas are around a year, same with Elegante. Unsure on CS but my strong guess speaking to the Boutique weekly is less than a year. If you want something from the higher end of the range, particularly in a low run color, then yes, you might be waiting awhile, but for the most part it's easier to get your desired FPJ than it is to get any Patek sport model (assuming same level of "relationship with the boutique").
Black label stuff has become a kind of application piece now, that they usually special order and have built for you, unless one is on the yearly build list and not pre-sold, so if you want a black dial anything it could be a wait (and of course requires previous FPJ ownership history now).
edit: Shafran, I do strongly agree with you that FPJ is no longer the incredible value it was over a year ago, but I think when compared with Patek (and VC, AP, Breguet, etc.) FPJ is still providing strong value when viewing complication, build quality, value retention and pricing (to acquire). I have several FPJs ordered and coming in sometime during the next year or so, and feel like dollar for dollar, even purchasing brand new, I am getting more watch for my money then I could from pretty much any manufacturer (eye of the beholder of course).