Some “Not-so- Apparent” Benefits of Buying Watches From Authorized Dealers (AD)

Did you know that there are valuable and very tangible benefits to buying your Audemars Piguet, Breguet, F.P. Journe, Grand Seiko, Tudor or any other luxury watch at an authorized dealer; often referred to as an AD. These benefits aren’t typically advertised and you very well might not know about them. It’s true, and while our goal isn’t (completely) to tell people where to buy their luxury watches, there is an infrequently discussed story here to share.

As a consumer generally, your job is to get the most value for your money. Smart consumers spend less to get more. These natural tendencies of consumer behavior aren’t abandoned when it comes to buying luxury goods such as watches. The point of this article is to show certain “hidden areas of value” that might very well change why and where you make your watch purchase decisions.

There are official and unofficial places to purchase a watch. An official place to purchase a new watch is the authorized dealer that carries a range of brands. Unofficial ways of buying watches include a host of “gray market” dealers who aren’t authorized dealers but acquire timepieces in a range of ways. A discussion of the gray market and why it exists is really for another article. However, because gray market dealers aren’t bound by pricing policy rules from brands, they may discount a bit more, in certain instances, and actually charge more in other instances.

Watches purchased at gray market dealers do not come with official warranties, meaning that if there are issues with the watch, the consumer will be forced to pay for repairs that would otherwise fall within warranty coverage. In some instances, the grey market dealer will offer their own warranty, but parts and workmanship may very well not comply with manufacturer standards.

Are warranties the only benefit of purchasing from the authorized dealer for a brand? No. Over the years, I’ve learned of a lot of other interesting benefits that watch customers get from buying timepieces at ADs. These are benefits that come from buying from Swiss FineTiming/Atelier Jewellers-the Authorized Dealer.
Overall, the value of these things vary, and individually may not be of tremendous value; however, when added together, these things usually make sense.

Extended Warranties

For example, in addition to getting the basic 1-2 year warranty most timepieces comes with, buying an Audemars Piguet or F.P. Journe watch from Swiss FineTiming comes with an extended factory warranty. In the worst case scenario, a faulty timepiece can be completely replaced with a brand new one through an AD. Compare that with no factory warranties at gray market retailers. Most brands offer zero recourse to consumers who complain to them after purchasing watches from non-authorized sources.

Obtaining Hard-To-Get Watches

Looking forward to buying that hot new watch as soon as possible? Interested in getting your hands on a hard-to-get limited production timepiece? Swiss FineTiming keeps track of what their customers like and also keep waiting lists. They can also make specific requests from a brand’s headquarters when one of their customers makes it clear they want a particular model ASAP. This doesn’t just apply to when an impatient customer wants a new model, but also in instances when limited production or limited edition models are going to be very difficult to get. Brands like Audemars Piguet and Tudor are famously picky with who they sell their hard to get and limited pieces to and in many instances, they must “know” who their customers are. Many more brands now simply want to reward their frequent clients and authorized dealers. So if you are in the market for a hard-to-get new watch or want to be among the first to get something right out of production, you’ll want to purchase watches the official way.

You can learn more about the advantages of purchasing our watches from us as an Authorized Dealer. Daniel P. Jordan, our Managing Director, can further explain and assist you in this connection. He can be reached at .1.312.337.4700.