The Watch Appreciation Thread (Reviews and Photos of Men's Timepieces by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Brei

[Cant kill da Rooster]

Everyone has a different philosophy on this. Mine is if it aint broke....meaning if it's keeping good time and all functions are working then don't bother.

This doesn't apply to dive watches though. If you are in the habit of taking your watches in the water, I would make sure they are under warranty.

 

[wurger]



Still indulging in my new purchase....

I spend some time try to understand how the annual calendar movement works, here is a good article from time zone. http://people.timezone.com/library/horologium/horologium0016

With their diagrams, I sort of understand how that works, is there a video animation of how that works?

Next step is reading about perpetual calendar movement, interesting that a perpetual movement only has 275 parts compare to 316 parts inside an annual calendar movement.

While reading the specs, the moon phase is accurate to one day off in 122 years! Again, puzzled about how that works, found a blog post on that, 135 teeth instead of 59, but is his explanation of how it works in the movement right?

http://mechmoveonwatches.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/astronomical-moon-phase-122-year.html

here is another wrist shot today. PP 5146G

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

anyone can provide some insight into those 2 questions?

 

[no frills]

His and hers for the weekend.

 

[Newcomer]

I'm surprised it is not hers and hers yet .

 

[no frills]



I'm surprised it is not hers and hers yet .

STFU Nuke! She might hear you!

 

[RFX45]

Something from the 70s today.

 

[Hayward]

Brilliant. I'm going to have to resume my search for one of those television shaped El Primeros.

 

[Dino944]

This is why grey market shops like Joma will not send you the warranty card no matter how much you beg for it.

Prestige willing to do it on Lange and VC gives me confidence just because they have been around for a while and wouldn't really risk their resources if it'll cause any problems. Their other watches liek Omega and JLC are warranted through their own warranty.

Realistically, you may never have an issue come up during the warranty. Over the years I've owned 20 or so nice watches, and only 2 ever went back to the manufacturer for warranty repairs. Its just something to consider, particularly on high ticket items where an out of pocket repair could be $1,000-2,000, which could eat up any savings a person may have gotten by going with the gray's price over an AD's discounted price.

Unless you actually encounter the issue, you won't know if the manufacturer will honor it. You can believe in Prestige, but in reality the manufacturers are not related to them and owe them and their customers nothing. Hopefully, you will have trouble free ownership regardless of whether you buy from a gray or ad...and then it will all remain theoretical.

In that sense, I never understood the added value of having an unexpired legit AD stamped warranty card when buying pre-owned.

I can understand how ADs supplying Grays could be frowned upon by brands. But unless another AD snitches, how do brands ever find out, esp if the overstock is dumped w/o papers and never goes back for warranty work? I imagine brands just close their eyes on the practice, well aware that they're part of the problem in the first place.

Besides, the difference between the discounted Ashford price vs MSRP was so significant that I could pay for a full Hamilton factory service myself if I wanted/needed to and still get away with paying less than MSRP. (It helps that Hamilton factory service is surprisingly affordable.)

Hi Wes,

The value in having so called open warranty papers (ones that have do not have an owners name or date), used to be that people could fill them out whenever they wanted and pretend the watch was newer than it was, and also if it were actually a pre-owned watch I suppose some people could pretend that they were the original owners. In the end manufacturers caught on and its probably tough these days for someone to show up with a 5 year old watch and pretend its only a year old, and covered by a warranty.

Companies have made it much tougher for ADs to deeply discount, and I imagine they have also made it tougher for companies to unload slow selling models on gray dealers. Years ago, one small AD I dealt with, would negotiate a discount with a buyer and just hand write "Rolex Watch" on the receipt with the discounted price. It didn't state new, pre-owned, or even a model. However most stores now use computers for inventory and for sales receipts. In addition, watch companies use computers to keep track of inventory and which watches went to each dealer. I can't confirm it, but I got the impression from on AD that on occasion they get audited by some watch companies, both for the purpose of keeping an eye on the level of discounting being done, and to make sure that sales are going to real people and not gray dealers. Its not impossible to do, especially with computers. It may simply be a matter of some companies caring more about it than others.

As for the difference between the Ashford price vs. MSRP, or any gray price vs. MSRP, thats not an accurate comparison because on most brand. Unless its a very hard to get model or very very tightly controlled brand, you can almost always get a discount from an AD. I can tell you of at least a few instances when both my dad (who used to collect a bit) and I were able to negotiate prices with ADs that were so good, that it was often as good if not better than what we could get from many well known grays. Today, with companies keeping tighter control on AD discounting, differences between grays and ADs may be greater, however I always think its helpful to see what the best deal one can get through an AD.

 

[jorijori]

Something from the 70s today.

Love the 70s except the sartorial style...
My 70s watch


Check out the groovy 70s tune... High Inergy's Heaven's Just A Step Away

 

[jorijori]

Have a nice weekend...

 

[jorijori]

To Dino944, RFX45 & other esteemed forum members,

Jomashop, good or avoid? I've fallen head over heels for a Zenith El Primero Striking 10th tri-color with leather strap (limited & discontinued model) and they have one for lower price compare to other grey sellers.

Any thought?

 

[RFX45]

Rolexes new warranty cards has a magnetic strips like credit cards now that ADs swipe upon purchase of the watch. I am not 100% sure but I don't think Rolex really knows which watches have sold in ADs until they get them in for service or warranty work and they see a stamped card but that will all change now once all Rolexes has the new card. It's been said that the name still isn't attached to the watch and that only info transmitted is just that certain serial being sold. I guess that prevents ADs from stamping the cards and then sending it out for someone else who sells them and then freely put a start/sale date on it?



In the whole scheme of things though, I do believe these companies see the grey market as a necessary evil. It's a way to move items faster in ADs so that they can order more watches and just keeps production moving.

 

[Tried and True]



In the whole scheme of things though, I do believe these companies see the grey market as a necessary evil. It's a way to move items faster in ADs so that they can order more watches and just keeps production moving.

The diamond market operated similarly for over a century while under the control of the Debeers cartel.

 

[Tried and True]



Jomashop, good or avoid? I've fallen head over heels for a Zenith El Primero Striking 10th tri-color with leather strap (limited & discontinued model) and they have one for lower price compare to other grey sellers.

Any thought?

I've purchased maybe a half dozen watches from them without incident. I have no qualms about buying watches outside the AD channel . Maybe I've been lucky but I've never needed warranty work done on any one of the fifty plus new watches that I've purchased. I've saved well over 100k (off the AD discounted price not the MSRP) using the grey market. So I'm a big fan. That said, I have a high risk tolerance so YMMV.

 

[RogerP]

Have a nice weekend...

Very nice - but I'd love a closer look at that watch.