Shreve in San Francisco/ Palo Alto lost Patek status

[cbalster]

The watch industry really underserves San Francisco. One can only hope that someday there will be enough wealth in this part of the country to attract Patek, AP, ALS, and VC to support boutiques. We do have Hublot and Bulgari at least.

[cbalster]

Patek still sells watches out of a small coat closet underneath the stairwell at Tiffany's in San Francisco.

[Watchdoyouwant?]

Originally Posted by cbalster

The watch industry really underserves San Francisco. One can only hope that someday there will be enough wealth in this part of the country to attract Patek, AP, ALS, and VC to support boutiques. We do have Hublot and Bulgari at least.

Too many apple watches.

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by cbalster

The watch industry really underserves San Francisco. One can only hope that someday there will be enough wealth in this part of the country to attract Patek, AP, ALS, and VC to support boutiques. We do have Hublot and Bulgari at least.

I inquired if there will ever be a FPJ boutique in SF. And the answer was a quick no, the reason being that they don’t have enough watches to sell already. I am sure it is the same case with AP, VC and Lange.

My guess is that if you want a piece badly enough, you can always travel to SoCal to show your “dedication”. In most cases, the piece you want to see would not be in store anyway and if you are lucky, the boutique can arrange to have one transferred from another store for you to try on. So having a local store here is minimal benefit to the brand.

Another interesting fact I found out this weekend. VC has 31 boutiques (not AD) in China. And just within Shanghai, there are 4 boutiques and countless ADs. And there are only 5 boutiques in the entire USA. I found it shocking…

[mykii]

Originally Posted by llngoc

I inquired if there will ever be a FPJ boutique in SF. And the answer was a quick no, the reason being that they don’t have enough watches to sell already. I am sure it is the same case with AP, VC and Lange.

My guess is that if you want a piece badly enough, you can always travel to SoCal to show your “dedication”. In most cases, the piece you want to see would not be in store anyway and if you are lucky, the boutique can arrange to have one transferred from another store for you to try on. So having a local store here is minimal benefit to the brand.

Another interesting fact I found out this weekend. VC has 31 boutiques (not AD) in China. And just within Shanghai, there are 4 boutiques and countless ADs. And there are only 5 boutiques in the entire USA. I found it shocking…

AP there is definitely no stock, Lange surprisingly has always been very available when I've made inquiries (never bought - watches are too thick and too top heavy IMO). VC has stock sans the OS. I think you're otherwise right.

The 31 VC boutiques in China vs 5 in USA is indeed a telling statistic.

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by mykii

AP there is definitely no stock, Lange surprisingly has always been very available when I've made inquiries (never bought - watches are too thick and too top heavy IMO). VC has stock sans the OS. I think you're otherwise right.

The 31 VC boutiques in China vs 5 in USA is indeed a telling statistic.

At AD, both Lange and VC are very low stock. My Lange AD told me that he did not get anything invoiced but Lange since November. Agree that at the boutique, most references are available except a few of the hot ones.

It seems like Richemont is really trying to kill their ADs.

I am always amazed at how NorCal is being ignored by many brands when it is a relatively affluent area too.

[zhangster]

Originally Posted by llngoc

I am always amazed at how NorCal is being ignored by many brands when it is a relatively affluent area too.

Most people here have their millions of dollars tied up in their 1600-sqft homes, or aren't interested in anything analog anyway.

[eanzenberg]

Originally Posted by zhangster

Most people here have their millions of dollars tied up in their 1600-sqft homes, or aren't interested in anything analog anyway.

There is a lot of interest in watches in the Bay Area. But we also travel a lot and end up buying in LA, NYC, Hawaii, etc.

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by eanzenberg

There is a lot of interest in watches in the Bay Area. But we also travel a lot and end up buying in LA, NYC, Hawaii, etc.

I dealt mostly out of the country as there are too many whales here in the Bay Area. Try to get on a 5167 waitlist and you will find out.

Even SoCal is too intense for me.

[Rock Strongo]

Originally Posted by cbalster

The watch industry really underserves San Francisco. One can only hope that someday there will be enough wealth in this part of the country to attract Patek, AP, ALS, and VC to support boutiques. We do have Hublot and Bulgari at least.

The Bay Area is the wealthiest part of the US. The watch scene is pretty strong and only growing, but I agree it's underserved. Lots of high-end watch fans in big tech.

I think historically luxury watch retailers were supported by the industries where people still have to wear dress clothes (government, finance), so they have roots in those metro areas.

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by Rock Strongo

The Bay Area is the wealthiest part of the US. The watch scene is pretty strong and only growing, but I agree it's underserved. Lots of high-end watch fans in big tech.

I think historically luxury watch retailers were supported by the industries where people still have to wear dress clothes (government, finance), so they have roots in those metro areas.

Which is really a big loss for the industry. I ran into a guy in ripped T-shirt, sandals and shorts (I.e. your typical tech guy) and he came into the store which happened to have a Datograph Perpetual in stock. And this guy just bought it right away without a second thought and was not even pre-planned.

I am quite sure per-capita income in the Bay Area should be higher than SoCal.

[rolexandlange]

Originally Posted by llngoc

Which is really a big loss for the industry. I ran into a guy in ripped T-shirt, sandals and shorts (I.e. your typical tech guy) and he came into the store which happened to have a Datograph Perpetual in stock. And this guy just bought it right away without a second thought and was not even pre-planned.

I am quite sure per-capita income in the Bay Area should be higher than SoCal.

that is funny, given what he was wearing i know this did not happen in san francisco, because you can never dress like that here.

[pav333hp]

Originally Posted by llngoc

Which is really a big loss for the industry. I ran into a guy in ripped T-shirt, sandals and shorts (I.e. your typical tech guy) and he came into the store which happened to have a Datograph Perpetual in stock. And this guy just bought it right away without a second thought and was not even pre-planned.

I am quite sure per-capita income in the Bay Area should be higher than SoCal.

100% agree! There is so many people with lots of disposable money in SF Bay Area.

[Cmmatthews]

I was at Shreve as they were ripping out the Patek display a couple weeks ago. Sales person tried to put a positive spin on it by talking about all the great brands they carry. Unfortunately, the Rolex display was empty, the Lange display was empty, and only the IWC and Panerai areas had anything of interest.

At this point I have a better relationship with Bucherer in NYC, where I was offered a Sub a week after inquiring about it. They don't do phone sales so I had to send a friend in NYC to pick it up.

[Incroyable12]

The Bay Area is one of the richest places in the world.

My impression is that most of the watch brands were once fairly available at mom and pop jewelers that have since gone out of business. Places like Kern's are the only ones left. However I'm not quite sure why the brands have never opened up shops as they have NYC.

My guess is that there's relatively less foreign wealth here than NYC.

[RoscoPico]

Yes it's definitely counter-intuitive to move towards less representation here. We don't have watch buying statistics but the money is here

[Calatrava r]

Still 60 ADs in the US per the Patek website. I thought the number was less.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by Incroyable12

The Bay Area is one of the richest places in the world.

My impression is that most of the watch brands were once fairly available at mom and pop jewelers that have since gone out of business. Places like Kern's are the only ones left. However I'm not quite sure why the brands have never opened up shops as they have NYC.

My guess is that there's relatively less foreign wealth here than NYC.

Not much in terms of tourists I’d assume relative to NYC. Also do the rich tech guys give a crap about watches? I have no idea I’m seriously asking.

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by GB-man

Not much in terms of tourists I’d assume relative to NYC. Also do the rich tech guys give a crap about watches? I have no idea I’m seriously asking.

I believe GaryG and his group is NorCal based.

[indianmachine]

Originally Posted by GB-man

Not much in terms of tourists I’d assume relative to NYC. Also do the rich tech guys give a crap about watches? I have no idea I’m seriously asking.

Not all, but some definitely do [0]. That said, I lived in NYC and now am based in the Bay Area and definitely see fewer nice watches day-to-day in the office or while out and about.


[0] e.g. https://www.hodinkee.com/magazine/jony-ive-apple

[Incroyable12]

Originally Posted by indianmachine

Not all, but some definitely do [0]. That said, I lived in NYC and now am based in the Bay Area and definitely see fewer nice watches day-to-day in the office or while out and about.


[0] e.g. https://www.hodinkee.com/magazine/jony-ive-apple

It's definitely not like Miami which is where one sees the most high end watches in the US from my experience.

The Bay Area culture just doesn't value fashion and flashiness.

[rolexandlange]

Originally Posted by Incroyable12

It's definitely not like Miami which is where one sees the most high end watches in the US from my experience.

The Bay Area culture just doesn't value fashion and flashiness.

I think but am not sure that the bay area watch scene tilts towards vintage. I get the sense hq milton and tropicalwatch sell a lot of pieces to the silicon valley tech crowd.

n terms of the norcal gang of 6 and garyg, those guys have global relationships with the brands. gary g just bought a white gold nautilus perpetual calendar from the geneva boutique, local pick up. Also, stephen silver is in menlo park doing business in independents with a lot of VC guys in the Valley. I think if you're hanging out at the Rosewood on Sand Hill you wont see someone trying to flex a skydweller on Thursday night at the bar, but you might see someone with a Gruebel Forsey.

[whiskyrolex]

Interesting development. As for the remaining ADs, I feel Kern's is more likely to lose Rolex than PP at this point.

[Will_L]

The latest 'victim' is La Viano Jewelers in Westwood. And that is number eleven this year to be discontinued by Patek

[Incroyable12]

Originally Posted by rolexandlange

I think but am not sure that the bay area watch scene tilts towards vintage. I get the sense hq milton and tropicalwatch sell a lot of pieces to the silicon valley tech crowd.

n terms of the norcal gang of 6 and garyg, those guys have global relationships with the brands. gary g just bought a white gold nautilus perpetual calendar from the geneva boutique, local pick up. Also, stephen silver is in menlo park doing business in independents with a lot of VC guys in the Valley. I think if you're hanging out at the Rosewood on Sand Hill you wont see someone trying to flex a skydweller on Thursday night at the bar, but you might see someone with a Gruebel Forsey.

Yes, I think there's more of a vintage Rolex/Omega crowd in the Bay Area as well as independents. When you go down to Southern California it's more the Miami stuff.

I imagine independents are popular because they resonate with the tech crowd's mantra of "thinking outside the box".

[Flyingpoint]

It is a truly sad news to me. I was lucky enough to got my first Rolex/Pepsi from Shreve half year ago. I was very pleased by the SA over there, and always wanted to work the way up approaching a PP one day. Guess I will have to figure another way for my dream of PP. However, I still keep visiting Shreve for needs of jewelries and Rolex.

[MrGrayD]

On Patek - took 5711 and 5712 in for link removal...asked about an Aquanaut (and this was years ago) and the manager (Palo Alto - Jeffrey or Geoffrey) suggested buying lots of jewelry would *help*... of course he did lol

In SF they were even less interested ...gave Patek lady (I think she was called Alison) there my details for a couple of non sports watches ..she seemed keen, and ...tumbleweed after taking name/email/cell etc

No big loss I go to Kerns now

[edyu]

Originally Posted by Incroyable12

Yes, I think there's more of a vintage Rolex/Omega crowd in the Bay Area as well as independents. When you go down to Southern California it's more the Miami stuff.



I imagine independents are popular because they resonate with the tech crowd's mantra of "thinking outside the box".

Most tech people or even VC don't care for watches tbh. Of course, there are always oddballs such as myself. :) And nope not interested in vintage stuff at all. If I can't get a watch from AD then I don't care for it.

[eonflux]

Originally Posted by rolexandlange

I think but am not sure that the bay area watch scene tilts towards vintage. I get the sense hq milton and tropicalwatch sell a lot of pieces to the silicon valley tech crowd.

n terms of the norcal gang of 6 and garyg, those guys have global relationships with the brands. gary g just bought a white gold nautilus perpetual calendar from the geneva boutique, local pick up. Also, stephen silver is in menlo park doing business in independents with a lot of VC guys in the Valley. I think if you're hanging out at the Rosewood on Sand Hill you wont see someone trying to flex a skydweller on Thursday night at the bar, but you might see someone with a Gruebel Forsey.

Isn’t that cougar night there?

[Apheaven]

Originally Posted by eonflux

Isn’t that cougar night there?

100% accurate. Hilarious!


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