Throwing money away.

Have been looking around the secondary dealers to see what it is stock etc and I am always surprised by the amount of brand new recently purchased watches available. The sellers are obviously taking a big financial hit on the sale to the dealer even if at a trade in cost but why was in bought in the first place, worn for a few weeks if that and then sold on at the loss.

If I was spending thousands on a watch I would be ensuring that I really liked it and believe it would be with me for certainly more than a few months. Random example is the Audemars 37mm Royal Oak currently arrived at Watch club, purchased a couple of weeks ago with RRP of £19k with the dealer asking £18k. Knowing watch club, this watch was not bought it close to RRP so the seller has literally lost thousands in a matter of weeks. Numerous weeks old Heuer Monaco at WF with Rrp of nearly £5k and they are probably buying in at £2/2.5k.

Outwith the car market, I do not think their is another consumer goods market where you walk out of the store and literally throw thousands of pounds away, knowingly or not.

Most ADs are punting stuff out to grey market sellers just to keep their franchise though. Don't be too surprised about depurating assets however-the taxman wouldn't have coined the phrase if it wasn't at all likely!

Buy what you want to wear , it’s really that simple.

If you lose or gain value it’s not the end of the world man.

It has been known for people to buy say, a GS from an AD, on the promise that said AD will then sell them a Rolex. Buyer sells and takes a hit on the GS. Buyer sells the Rolex and makes more profit on it than loss on the GS. Therefore for an initial outlay they can make a very quick and very tidy profit.

Money goes to money.

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Originally Posted by TaketheCannoli

It has been known for people to buy say, a GS from an AD, on the promise that said AD will then sell them a Rolex. Buyer sells and takes a hit on the GS. Buyer sells the Rolex and makes more profit on it than loss on the GS. Therefore for an initial outlay they can make a very quick and very tidy profit.

Money goes to money.

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But seriously, would you be even bothered to go to all that effort?

It doesn’t have to be much effort at all. Buy both on a credit card.

Sell the GS on SC for £500-£800 loss. Sell the Rolex to Watchfinder for a £5k profit. Nice net profit and all could be done in a couple of days.

Do that two or three times a year and you’ve made £12k+ for very little effort.

Like I said, money goes to money.

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Originally Posted by robert75

But seriously, would you be even bothered to go to all that effort?

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Originally Posted by Flasher

If I was spending thousands on a watch I would be ensuring that I really liked it and believe it would be with me for certainly more than a few months.

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I really wanted a Navitimer, but knew an inhouse movement was imminent … and so held out!
By the time the new model was announced, I had gone off the Breitling somewhat.
Fast forward a few years, and I think the Navitimer is dreadful - A classic design, but just too busy!

So now I take time making decisions, the purchase may be impulsive .. but the writing had been on the wall some time.

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Originally Posted by robert75

But seriously, would you be even bothered to go to all that effort?

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It doesn't sound like a lot of effort to make what is presumably a few thousand pounds.

I keep telling people but I don't think anyone believes me. A fool and money are quickly parted.

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Originally Posted by xellos99

I keep telling people but I don't think anyone believes me. A fool and money are quickly parted.

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That conjures up an image of people who have no idea what they are doing. What about people who knowingly over pay for a watch in order to have it now rather than in many years time. Is that person making an informed decision that they are comfortable with or are they a fool?

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Originally Posted by TaketheCannoli

It has been known for people to buy say, a GS from an AD, on the promise that said AD will then sell them a Rolex. Buyer sells and takes a hit on the GS. Buyer sells the Rolex and makes more profit on it than loss on the GS. Therefore for an initial outlay they can make a very quick and very tidy profit.

Money goes to money.

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Would not expect too many Zeniths, Panerai and Heuers etc are being brought brand new from AD’s on the promise of an imaginary Rolex, yet the secondary market is full of recently purchased watches from these brands and many others with thousands lost to the seller. Just seems to be more an£ more of nearly new watches landing on the secondary market after the honeymoon period is over and maybe is is a reflection of our current spending patterns of needing the next retail hit and then moving on for the next hit but never finding real happiness.

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Originally Posted by xellos99

I keep telling people but I don't think anyone believes me. A fool and money are quickly parted.

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But how did the fool get his money in the first place...? ;-)

Personally, I’d only ever buy new from an AD if I knew I was going to keep the watch long-term. And beneath all of this is the fact that a watch is just jewellery, really - and the main thing should always be that you buy what you like, and like what you bought.

The 'buy a GS to get a Rolex'is perhaps a tad far fetched due to the fact that AFAIK the only AD selling both Rolex and GS is Watches of Switzerland (surely they should just be renamed 'Watches') and doubtful they'd do this as A sought after pieces get allocated at head office level and B the price to play is more than a GS these days it is 'buy a Day Date and you can buy a Sub' and of course a Day Date will lose more money than a Sub would gain.

I think don't forget that often people are buying some of the less value retentive brands at a discount anyway (eg Ulysse Nardin, Panerai etc where you can routinely get 30% off in the EU or the US) and so they aren't losing that much. Else, losing a grand or two to a lot of people (particularly City of London finance and tech workers) isn't that much money. Most people with car or boat hobbies will routinely lose more than that.

I have sometimes bought from a local AD even though I knew I could save £750 or so by going online as the priority was to have the watch today so I'm sure there are a lot of people like that also.

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Considering the example at the start, there is a VC Overseas ‘small model’, the 37mm mentioned, on Chrono24 that’s listed as new for £13,591 (presumably €16000 converted). So at that price, in theory someone could try it, change their mind and sell it on to Watch Club without losing a penny (depending on how low their offer is in practice anyway), and Watch Club still make a good profit. The mystery would more be why someone would spend £4.4k more than they need to, but then some people are bound to prefer the reassurance, experience and convenience of buying from a shop in Old Bond Street, can easily afford it and it’s not worth their time to hunt for a bargain. They’re probably not bothered about the parking ticket on their Lambo either. Though oddly, they still have to decide to save just £1k by not buying it from the actual VC boutique, which is literally just round the corner.

Plenty of watches out there you blow money selling not long after purchase tag heuers being one of them.

Rolex has always been good residual value but last 3 years over Rrp for your sub or premium sports, I remember when subs was £5600 ish new used touch over 4k in sales section.

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Not sure why people do it but agree with some other comments, in that there’s a whole bunch of people out there who think nothing of throwing large chunks of money at their hobbies. Cars, boats, bikes, horses (literally!), watches. Sometimes for enjoyment, other times just to keep up appearances. Once bored/not keeping up fast enough, often very quickly after purchase, it’s time to move on to ‘the next big thing’.

Strange but also quite good for those of us with a genuine desire to get our hands on something used but nearly new and at a reduced price.

It takes all sorts I suppose [emoji6]


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Personally I despise losing money on luxury material items, this goes hand in hand that I like owning rare or hard to find things, yes they cost money but in general most of my watches and other hobby items are worth more than I paid for them.

What isn’t so good is that I find it very very hard to sell anything, so in reality it’s not worth more than I paid for it as I can’t sell anything!!

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Originally Posted by TaketheCannoli

It doesn’t have to be much effort at all. Buy both on a credit card.

Sell the GS on SC for £500-£800 loss. Sell the Rolex to Watchfinder for a £5k profit. Nice net profit and all could be done in a couple of days.

Do that two or three times a year and you’ve made £12k+ for very little effort.

Like I said, money goes to money.

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Oh yes. Or sell the Rolex on a forum, a bit cheaper than current grey retail prices and be a nice chap!

Maybe some people are buying expensive watches on credit, struggling with repayments/changing their minds and then selling the watch without really considering the financial consequences of the whole cycle.

At least two younger people that I know have done that in the last 12 months, both with Omegas.

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Originally Posted by alfat33

Maybe some people are buying expensive watches on credit, struggling with repayments/changing their minds and then selling the watch without really considering the financial consequences of the whole cycle.

At least two younger people that I know have done that in the last 12 months, both with Omegas.

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When I see a couple of month old or brand new Heuer, Omega, Breitling and Cartier etc showing up at WF etc, Alfat’s comments above probably capture the market at the moment, with cheap Credit fuelling and maybe even propping up the watch market presently.

I think the bigger question is why does it matter to you - I’ve never cared to ask someone why they’re selling something. I just want to know if I can get what I want for a price I’m comfortable paying! Perhaps I’m just selfish!


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