Guide to Buying a Watch
Retail boutiques, malls, internet auction houses- there are many places you can buy a new watch. Keep in mind the only approved and recommended way to purchase a watch is through an authorized dealer like Westime.
The other way you can buy a watch is through the "Grey Market" or unauthorized dealers. Usually people choose to buy from this market because they think they can get a better deal or a lower price. Watch manufacturers do not guarantee the genuineness of the watch purchased from somewhere other than an authorized dealer. It can be counterfeit, have a fake movement, or have an altered serial number. Also, a buyer should keep in mind that more than 90% of watch manufacturers strictly forbid selling new watches through the Internet. The following is an article from the National Jeweler magazine:
Convincing Replicas
Some of the replicas are convincing. Patek Philippe gets calls from watch collectors who are fooled by the fakes and call the company to ask if they somehow missed hearing about the introduction of a new model. Recently, a knockoff Patek Philippe listed simultaneously in auctions on both Yahoo! and eBay looked good enough in photos to fool some watch industry surfers. Advertised as a "Patek Philippe Geneve Calatrave Chronograph" (the genuine watch is spelled "Calatrava"), the watch was selling for $177.50 and the seller boasted that "I have many available, like 10".
A travelling representative for Patek Philippe said, "The tip off when you look in this particular dial is that we generally don’t put the Calatrava cross over the name Patek Philippe. This is an interesting watch, but we could not offer a chronograph at the level of Patek Philippe quality for anywhere near this price".
A comparable watch from Patek Philippe would retail for about $27,500.
There are many reasons why you should buy a watch from an authorized dealer like Westime. They have a straight connection to the watch manufacturer’s market so if there is a problem with the watch these dealers can send the watch back to the manufacturer free of charge as long as the warranty still valid. When it comes to servicing the watch, authorized dealers usually provide a free service charge as long as the warranty valid. Authorized dealers will not service a watch purchased through an unauthorized dealer. If you purchase from an unauthorized dealer and need to have your watch serviced, you will end up paying a lot of money. For more information look at Mechanical Watch Care & Maintenance or Quartz Watch Care & Maintenance.
Westime is also a proud member of the American Watch Guild. The American Watch Guild is an unprecedented way to recognize those quality retailers, manufacturers and affiliated service companies whose standard of excellence has set them apart in the fine watch industry.
Price Points: Why Fine Swiss Watched Cost More | Next
