Brand name watches

[Chris1]

There are many jewelers in the Los Angeles jewelry district in downtown Los Angeles who sell brand name watches such as Cartier, Tiffany, Patek Philippe, etc. at 25% to 30% off of retail prices that one can find at the local Cartier store or a Cartier authorized dealer in the mall for example. Has anyone on this board bought a brand name watch from a discound jeweler in a jewelry district? Are these watch dealers legitimate? Please advise!

 

[valeria101]

Are they new?

 

[Chris1]

Hi Valeria101 again,




Since this post is not about diamond, I figure I post it here, even though there are more traffic on Rough Rock forum.




Many of these jewelers have manufacturer catalog and said they could order any particular watch model.

 

[valeria101]

Oh... than you must be shopping in a farely expensive city. I am disaster in the watch-shopping domain: I'd just get a farely good one and wear it into the ground and start all over in a few years with nothing much inbetween and no shopping around. This pattern broke in London where I was amazed to discover a phenomenon simmilar to what you have described. Not only one would pay a premium for the brand name, but also for the location of the store where you get it. No idea how much of a difference it was, but definitely more than 10-15% or so. Also, the top brand stores would display the latest models while these catalog-based sales would have the last year's too, which makes a difference for those trendy shapes. All in all I was so desperate about these price variations that at some point I just decided to waste no more time on them and buy what I want from anywhere else but the brand's store. Not sure this helps... but this is all I know.

BTW: what happened with those out of this world sapphires?

Now that's a topic I'd never tire about

 

[fire&ice]

I'd be careful. It may void the warranty & Cartier may not work on the watch. I know this was the fact w/ Cartier (not their fashion watches - the classic tank) 14 years ago. I recently purchased a Rolex. The Rolex *must* come from an authorized dealer or the warranty is void.

 

[chris-uk04]

I bought a Bulova over the internet and it was legit.... much cheaper than at a store, but Bulova is not in the same league as Cartier. Just food for thought.

 

[fire&ice]

----------------
On 1/19/2004 11:31:55 AM chris00nj wrote:

I bought a Bulova over the internet and it was legit.... much cheaper than at a store, but Bulova is not in the same league as Cartier. Just food for thought.----------------

I'm not sure *still* about Cartier; but, some watches are only carried by "authorized dealers". It is a way of keeping certain "panache" - but more importantly controlling price. Rolex is one such brand. Cartier used to be.

My judge as to which brands are controlled - I look at what Costco carries. Movado, Tag, Longiness, Weil, etc - but I noticed they do not carry all designs.

 

[sfbayarea]

it is possible to get discounts on certain watches that claim to be 'price-controlled.' do make sure that whoever you are buying from is an appropriately authorized "name of watch" dealer so that warranties are still in effect. doesn't hurt to call respective companies to verify the serial numbers on any watches that you purchase either. i can only speak from my own experiences so i will share those with you.

for example, i got my tag from a local authorized tag place at about a $500 discount. the only thing is that you need to be more careful and trust the place that you are buying from. make sure there is an adequate return policy if you there is something that you are not comfortable with. check to make sure serial numbers are engraved on the watches in the appropriate places (a lot of fakes will have the 'serial number' in the wrong spot) and that certificates match. i initially bought a tag from a 'reputable' internet dealer but returned it after i discovered that they had buffed the serial number off the back in order to sell for below msrp--kinda fishy so decided not to deal with that. after my return, they added a disclaimer onto their website explaining what they did in terms of buffing out the serial number.

 

[sfbayarea]

but when i was searching for rolexes, the best deal i could get really was to get the tax discounted. with rolexes, serial numbers are engraved in such a way that you need to remove the band. make sure the place is careful when they do this so they do not cause little scratches. also, an easy way to spot a fake rolex is to look at the date window (if your model has a date) and see if the numbers appear small, meaning it is fake. the sapphire glass that is used in authentic rolexes should cause the date numbers to be enlarged. the second hand should technically tick 8 times a second as well in an authentic rolex.

so basically, if you're looking for good deals, in some cases they can be found...but you do have to be persistent. hope this helps.