Luxury Watch prices in a downtrend?

I have heard the same from dealers in the know.

 

I've noticed at retail outlets as well. Dealers are now taking big bucks off MSRPs where they wouldn't have even considered it a few years ago.



Mark

 

I looked at the Chicago Hindman results, and while there were a few deals(JLC tank for $850), the prices seemed to represent the actual values. Maybe I'm out of date, but a 34mm rolex precision date no box, papers, or service is at most a $1600 watch. The v72 GP chronograph for $7500 seemed high but I'm not in the trade. That being said, I've stayed away from the Hindman auctions for the past few years because I thought they were getting too much for their watches. I may go to the December auction just to see if prices really have dropped. I can only hope. As a side note, their housewares auction last summer was ridiculously cheap. My mother collects Waterford and got a set of 24 Shelia glasses 8 water, 8 wine, and 8 cordials for just over $400 with auction fees.

 

Manufacturers have raised cost on most of the high end brands and opened boutiques as well. Retailers who are doing this are just blowing out inventory in anticipation of losing those lines.

 

Yep, sign of the times.
A stroll through the haughty North Park mall in Dallas will confirm.
High-end brands are certainly going direct to their consumer via boutiques.

 

china slowdown, excess global inventory

 

I just saw on the local news two weeks ago that luxury watches are on the up and they predicted a 20% increase in sales over the next 12 months.

Not sure where they got their info from, but it said more and more people are buying watches now as fashion accessories.

Rolex had a price increase as of June 30 this year in Australia. They are also now giving a 5 year warranty instead of the normal 2 year warranty across all the range of Rolex watches.

 

The secondary watch market is softer for sure. I'm seeing that in my business first hand.

 

It's a result of the weaker euro.

 

Except that Switzerland is not in the Euro zone.

 

Except that the value of the Chf and eur have stayed practically the same. If you think the Euro doesn't dictate the value of the Chf, then this conversation is not going to end well.

 

It's mostly about global demand at the economy . These watches are not selling strong in the secondary market. There is a large gap between the buy and sell numbers.

 

Surely the market is also getting saturated. I see the market becoming similar to Harleys a decade a go. At some stage everyone who wanted a Rolex or Patek already has one.

 

Anyone have a link to a Patek for $3500?

 

I believe that.

Would have been nice if Rolex limited how many watches they made each year to sell.

They might have been a lot more exclusive if they went this way 50 years ago.

I just bought two Rolex watches for the Wife and I.

When we were at the dealer in July picking them up, 4 different people came in to make payments on their Rolex watches.

These were 4 of the most random people I have ever seen also. One guy looked 20, one lady looked 40. One woman in her mid/late 20's had a small child with her and one guy was in his mid 30's in a business suit.

I sat there looking at them thinking plenty of the 'average Joes' are buying Rolex watches these days. Just like myself, I am the average Joe.

I am not sure about the last 20 years, but it seemed in the 80's Rolex watches were a lot more exclusive and only the wealthy owned them.

I am looking forward to buying another Rolex or high end watch already.

 

Yes, which is why the wife's co now owns most of the AP and Hublot boutiques in So Cal and controls all the RM's in the US...

 

So the only way to any discount is through my good buddy, Darth

...who just might put in a word to his lovely wife, who wields the real power

 

She is now the Tag Heuer Ambassador as well as Omega.

 

I would love an AP Lebron Edition but they seem far and few between. Maybe your wife could set up an F chat discount

 

I've been looking at a few different watches as I want to add another one. I like the hublot ferrari rose gold and also like the ap. What kind of discounts are out there for those watches? The most I heard was 33% but that's only online and I don't know who to trust online. Rolex discounts seem to be fairly tough.

 

At 33% you will definitely be buying gray market with no warranty. The AP 44 rose gold is a waiting list item as of now so AD's can get full price in one day if they want so when they come up they go just as fast.

 

I should meet her, have a '58 Constellation and Speedy reduced that need some TLC. Friggin toys, kids, wife, all takin' my $$$$.....

 

Interestingly enough, one allocation came up today and I was told it could be available for FC (even with a slight discount) upon deposit but it was gone within 1 hour.