Reply With Quotepatek does ladies quartz models for well over double that. Most ladies dont care how it works inside but whether it looks good.
That said you will take a pasting on any new bought ladies watch come resale time with very few exceptions.
So I'm looking to buy a watch for my wife for her 30th... She wants one particular omega constellation and I am comfortable with money for it but what I just cannot get out of my head is that his is still a quartz watch and not an automatic. I know it will not make any difference to her (being a woman) but I somehow feel like VFM isn't there... Also I know it will lose some value straight away (i.e. I wouldn't sell it on for the same money week later) but realistically how well it may keep its value? From other brands like Tag you can have automatic with power reserve for same money or Longines automatic which will be even cheaper. Problem is she didn't like the look of them.
Watch has RRP of £3230, I can buy it from AD for £3000 and potentially could negotiate further £100 or £200 off (I would want at least 10%)....
http://www.omegawatches.com/ladies/c...12315246001001
patek does ladies quartz models for well over double that. Most ladies dont care how it works inside but whether it looks good.
That said you will take a pasting on any new bought ladies watch come resale time with very few exceptions.
Is £3K a decent price to make your wife happy? :)
M
Discount of 20% are achievable on popular SS sports POs. I'd be wanting a minimum of 30% off that watch.Originally Posted by mac83
Three grand also seems to me to be excessive for a stainless steel quartz watch. Especially when you consider what £3000 pounds could get you elsewhere.
How badly does she want this watch?
any price will be worth it to make my wife happy is the right answer ;-)
hm that's interesting. Just after my question he said they could discount it to £3k so I'm interested how I could negotiate such a high discount? 30% is £1000 off the price! Two dealers who have it who I could get bidding against each other are Laing and Hamilton and Inches in Edinburgh... so not mainstream jewellers...
And few hundred extra gets you into Rolex territory, especially if you buy from WoS or M&W at the airport. At least your then getting an auto with good resale - not that you'll ever need to of course:-)
she likes small watches, brushed steel with some diamonds. So choice is quite limited.... and Rolex is a no go...
There was a thread on here only a couple of weeks ago about discounts achievable on Omega. As I said the conclusion was 20% is achievable on a ceramic PO. That's not far off £800, and is a very sought after model. The model you propose is a lot less popular in the mainstream, hence the reason I'd be looking for more.
I'm on my tablet and can't find the link, but do a quick search or I'm sure someone will add the linky
Edit - Found the link. Maybe 30% is pushing it, but 25% could be doable
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...Omega-Discount
Last edited by noTAGlove; 23rd January 2013 at 16:30.
Most ladies care more about thát it works no worries on the dot.
Thus a well made quartz controlled caliber is actually a góód thing.
A dear friend of ours was displeased to no end when she discovered that her ladies Rolex DateJust would be off by mínutes when setting the date every other month. When consequently looking to change it for something quartz accurate, she was even more shocked about the resale value
Imo a nice quartz engined Omega is a choice that will provide many years of no worries wearing the crap out of it.
Just find yourself the best deal and make her happy!
If my experience is anything to go by you're looking at this from a male perspective.....put yourself in her shoes and you'll see "it's got diamonds on it, nothing else matters!!"
I'd agree with this. Have always bought my good lady quartz TAG's which she never needs to set. She just likes the designs, and isn't worried in the least about what makes it work.
well I must say if I managed to get the price down to £2500 - £2200 it would certainly be more appealing... :-)
Well, actually most women dó worry about the working but from the functional side of it. My gf is very much interested in technoly and thus does expressly nót want bothersome inaccurate technology in any of her watches.
She gets my appreciation of vintage regualtors but for wéaring is totally over the moon with awe by her old Kinetic that resets itself to the correct time after mány months of hibernating. She totally gets the annoyance of her friend with the automatic DateJust that is not only inaccurate but which also stops after a day in the drawer.
If I were to buy her a higher end watch, she would expect it to be at léast as no worries as her old Kinetic. If you look at that without wis fashion tinted glasses she does have a point.
Remember that for the girls the resale value is a non issue. They want a nice piece of fashion accessory telling no worries accurately kept time. Boy do I lóve their common sense.
Last edited by Huertecilla; 23rd January 2013 at 16:51.
I'd like to hear if anyone has ever got 30% discount from an Omega AD recently. I've spent a lot of money in one AD recently and could not push them for more than 20% because in their words they would love to give me that discount for being a good customer, but are forbidden to go above 20%.
I bought my wife a constellation for Christmas, the small diameter mother-of-pearl dial with diamond markers. RRP was £2160 and I got 20% off.
This shows how crazy Omega prices have become!
4 years ago I bought my mrs the equivalent (previous model) watch to this, black dial quartz Constellation with diamond bezel, a nice classy looking thing with quartz movement. List price was around £1850 but I got one form a grey market dealer for £1395 brand new with Omega warranty.....and I thought I`d paid a lot for a quartz ladies watch! Around £3000 for the current version is insane, they can`t even try to justify it on the grounds of the ''awesome'' co-axial movement. I`ll bet the current (ETA-based) movements are unchanged. As far as I can see, the only difference between the standard ETA movements and Omega's offerings are the stamping on the baseplate and the finish (rhodium plated instead of gold).
The OP's in a quandry, same as I was 4 years back, but unfortunately he'll be spending a lot more than I did. Tried to persuade mine to have a second-hand Rolex for the same money but she wasn`t having it.
If it's any consolation, the batteries seem to last ages on these. I've yet to fit her a new one!
Paul
Tricky with gifts that you don't fully approve of - you need to get a price you're happy with, but accept that the watch is worth more to her than you.
Here is my advice that I hope will be helpful. If you were to go ahead with the purchase even at the 20% off mark, this might be OK for the general non-WIS public, but if I was in your position, I would not be happy. Knowing that my wife would be happy is not quite enough, as ultimately it is your cash so I think both the husband and wife should be happy.
Would it not leave a slight bad taste in your mouth knowing "what else you could have bought for the same money".
It may take a while longer but I would suggest you make a list of alternatives that your wife could choose from and sit down with her to discuss the possible options, which is a a lot of fun in itself....maybe (depends on your wife in which case she will be adamant and will just want the Omega and I will shut up)
My Mrs bought herself an Ebel Brasil for £1800 a couple of years ago, she loves it. Its Quartz and a bit blingy.
haha I see where you're coming from. For that money I could have entry level Panerai for myself but I think at the end of the day its her gift, she has seen couple of other watches but is quite picky when it comes to fashion so I think I'll just try to get it for £2500 or thereabouts and I will know she will love it.Here is my advice that I hope will be helpful. If you were to go ahead with the purchase even at the 20% off mark, this might be OK for the general non-WIS public, but if I was in your position, I would not be happy. Knowing that my wife would be happy is not quite enough, as ultimately it is your cash so I think both the husband and wife should be happy.
Would it not leave a slight bad taste in your mouth knowing "what else you could have bought for the same money".
It may take a while longer but I would suggest you make a list of alternatives that your wife could choose from and sit down with her to discuss the possible options, which is a a lot of fun in itself....maybe (depends on your wife in which case she will be adamant and will just want the Omega and I will shut up
Main thing for me is that she doesn't want it because its "omega" but because she genuinely likes the looks of this watch (and I think its quite smart as well).
I suspect they will, but if your local AD won't discount 20% you could use someone like swisswatchesdirect.
I bought my wife a Rado quartz watch with diamonds. She loves it, I don't. But I don't wear it do everybody's happy!
My wife wants a quartz reverso on a bracelet and WoS offered one for £3000, which I think is more palatable than the omega, but still quite steep.
Why do you consider that steep?
Í consider it a bargain. The fact that there is a reliably accurate instrument keeping no worries time in it, gives you a serious discount on the rest.
Good for her.
For you too as convincing her to accept the Rolex would have brought upon yourself no end of moaning about it having stopped agaín or being mínutes off. I would need service too and given the lead times of that (never mind the cost) you can imagine the moans thát would give.
Only if, and on her own initiative, your gf/lover/mistress/wife/etc regularly checks the oil level of her car should you contemplate a mechanical watch for her.
20% can be easily had on these as well, speaking from my recent experience
What is worth the £ anyway? It's for the wife, get her what she wants all this trying to save a few £ here and there nonsense and trying to talk her into getting a watch you like?
Blah......
Quite.
Thanks for wording that thought.
Fair point.....but I do service watches myself so I wouldn`t be too worried on that score.
There's no point trying to persuade women to adopt your taste; a second-hand Rolex didn`t appeal to her so there was no point buying her one. Over the past couple of years I`ve bought her a couple of Armani ceramic watches (one black, one white) which she loves!
Paul
Some people have made some good points on here. Its not for the OP - its for his wife, and shes been good enough to allow him unhindered to pursue his passion for mechanical watches, so he should probably just bite the bullet and get her what she really wants (after some in-shop haggling of course!).
As for the "vfm" element - well, youre never going to get value where luxury goods are concerned - its just a matter of HOW MUCH theyre shafting you, and if you care.
What is sad though is the growing feeling Im getting that this thread is about to turn into another opportunity for an obsessive pro-quartz-anti-rolex torrent of intensely boring repetition.
Please no. Just this once NO. Its so, so boring. And desperate.
I honestly can't believe that you're considering resale value when buying your WIFE a watch that SHE wants. If she likes it that much, then why would she want to resell it?
Negotiate on the price and get it bought. It's for your wife not you.
Amen. So thanks everyone for chipping in, I think I made up my mind and that has helped a lot. Omega it is ;-) it's just a matter now of getting a good discount on it so I save some money for Fat Duck booking I've arranged for us for her birthday as well ;-)
thanks, I've seen this before - is this shop reputable source? are these UK stock or grey imports?
I've always bought my wife men's size watches as I think they look good even on her slim wrists. I don't see how you can read the time or date on those tiny 'old ladies watches' that lots of women wear!
If your wife wears the same watch daily, a good auto keeps very good time - and I've found that a plain Rolex Explorer gets a bit more kudos from my wife than a diamond encrusted Tag (but I think some of my WIS brain has rubbed off on her) - I kind of agree, a tiny £3k quartz just makes me feel like I'm being ripped off. My wife got bored of the Explorer, so I sold it for the same amount I'd paid for it 3 years earlier, now she wears a men's tag aquaracer quartz I got in a sale brand new for £300 - and the money left over went back into the bank. Result!
Lastt year I sold my smp qaurtz as although it was a lovely watch I just couldn't resolve myself to having spent all that money on a watch with a £50 eta quartz chip in it.
I now wear an auto that is accurate to 6 secs a day (I could probably do better but tend to wear my watches 24/7). This equates to a minute a week and 4 minutes a month. I know that this accuracy drift baffles my wife as she wears the £200 quartz that I bought her 6 years ago and is unfailingly accurate.
In your wifes eyes she will want a high quality watch that is accurate and needs no serving. If she likes the Omega and you can afford it then its the right one. The value is subjective and to her it will make perfect sense. If you can get a discount then so be it, but the value of a happy wife is priceless!
Personally I don't think I could justify that cost for a quartz watch. I love the idea of the level of engineering and ingenuity that has gone into automatic watches and that's how I kind of justify the high cost to myself. Although that's probably a very naive POV!! ;-)
Whereas if I bought a watch for £3k that I had to replace the battery of every 12 months, I think it would make me feel just a little bit unhappy. Having said that, it looks like the watch you're buying is at the price point more because of the diamonds than the internal workings of the watch.
I think 3-4 years is a more realistic timescale.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Omega really have some nerve charging so much for their watches, but what can a "poor" boy do ;-) Going forward maybe you can try interesting her in vintage Omega quartz watches, they really made some lovely ones over the years, that's what I got my missus last year, a superb two-tone (real 18k YG) Cal 1343 Chronometer.
Again; why single out Omega. Several of their Swiss collegues have more nerve charging more.
Things like this only sting right at the time you are paying. After that it fades away.
Get the lady the watch she wants. Trust me, telling her that you are not happy paying that much for that particular watch and yet you need a box with 10 or 20 watches in it for yourself isn't a very plausible aurgument.
Check this one: http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/shop...uboussin.shtml
Really cheaper than this omega, and broadly looking has good.
I second dtdudok.
Al this moaning about price and resale value is not luxury but miserly.
She expects a 3 grand watch. You turn up with a 300 quid watch. That will not end well.
As do Seiko. Credor JURI GBBX998 anyone?
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
haha :-) true!
anyway, another query - do people normally just buy a watch in stock that's been out on display or would you request new one to be ordered in?
I haven't read there's was a minimal price to beat, but then, instead of this omega, tag heuer and breitling are producing nice models (diamond +/- mother of pearl).
Or at least a very classical one: Cartier Tank. Simple, efficient, reliable. A women's classical (maybe too much ?).
+1. My wife decided a few years back that she wanted a Rolex, because "they are the best" etc, etc. So we got a tiny ladies automatic Rolex from the local dealer, which she felt was satisfyingly expensive.
It gains about a minute per week.
Now, about every month / 6 weeks or so, she hands me the watch and says "its a few minutes out, and can you set it for me?"
If I were foolish enough to attempt to say "I told you at the time it would drift a little because it's mechanical" then I would inevitably be mis-construed as a mean, miserable git who is trying to deny her her one pleasure in life......
....... And of course the concept of a quartz watch would be completely unpalatable.....
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