Thread: What types of watches do you like?

If you purchased grey market you have no factory warranty whether the card is there or not. Normally grey market dealers have their own warranty which matches the factory one. If you have a valid factory warranty it ain't grey market.

You just need to be careful because if you buy a watch with an unusual or in house mvmt and you need service the grey market repair outfit will never be able to get the parts or at least the original parts, maybe chinese knockoffs. Also, the quality of some grey market repair outfits can be a big issue.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

If you purchased grey market you have no factory warranty whether the card is there or not. Normally grey market dealers have their own warranty which matches the factory one. If you have a valid factory warranty it ain't grey market.

You just need to be careful because if you buy a watch with an unusual or in house mvmt and you need service the grey market repair outfit will never be able to get the parts or at least the original parts, maybe chinese knockoffs. Also, the quality of some grey market repair outfits can be a big issue.

I purchased my Tudor from a dealer thru Chrono24 and the watch was purchased from the international Airport in Greece ( that is what is on the warranty card ) but no name on the card.

I specifically asked the seller ( watchshopping.com ) if it had a factory warranty and they advised I had the remainder of the factory warranty and I purchased in April and warranty card dated 1-27-19, upon getting the watch it was NIB with all tags and protection in place and had never been worn ( they only sell new ) and I took it over the to local Rolex AD to inquire about service and they advised after seeing the warranty card and watch they would take care of any issues during the remainder of the warranty and I said the card has no name on it and they said it does not matter as long as the date is there and I have the card, so if this is not a Grey Dealer what is it considered to be.

Grey market can mean several things. Big Grey market outfits like Jomashop get all their pieces directly from the manufacturer. Usually it's overstocks or discontinued models. Those watches are factory fresh with all boxes and papers and tags intact. Usually there is no factory warranty card, they remove it and replace it with theirs. Some Grey Market outfits deal with watch stores and take whatever they can't sell. it could be a demonstrator or a loaner or a watch sitting in a hot display for a couple of years. Those may come with papers or may not and will once again have a dealer warranty. Some Grey market outfits grind the serial numbers off and those you should never buy because the manufacturer will never repair that watch even if you pay full service costs yourself.

You say your authorized dealer will take care of it. He probably has his own service.Call Tudor and ask if they will honor the warranty at their factory service center and that is how you will know. If they say yes then you know it is not Grey Market. If they say no then you know it is.

As I recall Chrono24 acts more like an agent to sell used watches. They may or may not sell new pieces but from what you describe it sounds Grey market and the shop in Athens just had this excess inventory.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Grey market can mean several things. Big Grey market outfits like Jomashop get all their pieces directly from the manufacturer. Usually it's overstocks or discontinued models. Those watches are factory fresh with all boxes and papers and tags intact. Usually there is no factory warranty card, they remove it and replace it with theirs. Some Grey Market outfits deal with watch stores and take whatever they can't sell. it could be a demonstrator or a loaner or a watch sitting in a hot display for a couple of years. Those may come with papers or may not and will once again have a dealer warranty. Some Grey market outfits grind the serial numbers off and those you should never buy because the manufacturer will never repair that watch even if you pay full service costs yourself.

You say your authorized dealer will take care of it. He probably has his own service.Call Tudor and ask if they will honor the warranty at their factory service center and that is how you will know. If they say yes then you know it is not Grey Market. If they say no then you know it is.

As I recall Chrono24 acts more like an agent to sell used watches. They may or may not sell new pieces but from what you describe it sounds Grey market and the shop in Athens just had this excess inventory.

If you buy a watch from a Grey while it's still under factory warranty, at least in the case of Rolex, warranty follows the watch (if they haven't "Frankenwatched" it, something to always be careful of), not the owner, believe that's the case with most brands.

Always, "Buy the seller, not the watch", as they say....

But the Grey's that offer a warranty, do so usually because the original warranty has expired, and it's their way of standing behind their product I guess. No matter what you buy though, if you choose to take your watch to an authorized service center, they'll charge you the same as anyone else whose watch has left the warranty period.

Just had my 2008 Submariner "Bluesy" serviced which I bought from a Grey, I have the original warranty from Rolex (expired 2012), it now has a new Rolex 2 year warranty, if I was to sell it tomorrow, the new owner would have that warranty, with the Green card, plus the serial numbers authenticating the watch, original papers, box etc.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Grey market can mean several things. Big Grey market outfits like Jomashop get all their pieces directly from the manufacturer. Usually it's overstocks or discontinued models. Those watches are factory fresh with all boxes and papers and tags intact. Usually there is no factory warranty card, they remove it and replace it with theirs. Some Grey Market outfits deal with watch stores and take whatever they can't sell. it could be a demonstrator or a loaner or a watch sitting in a hot display for a couple of years. Those may come with papers or may not and will once again have a dealer warranty. Some Grey market outfits grind the serial numbers off and those you should never buy because the manufacturer will never repair that watch even if you pay full service costs yourself.

You say your authorized dealer will take care of it. He probably has his own service.Call Tudor and ask if they will honor the warranty at their factory service center and that is how you will know. If they say yes then you know it is not Grey Market. If they say no then you know it is.

As I recall Chrono24 acts more like an agent to sell used watches. They may or may not sell new pieces but from what you describe it sounds Grey market and the shop in Athens just had this excess inventory.

Yes sir the Rolex AD I took the Tudor to here in Houston advised after looking at the watch and warranty card that if service was needed during the warranty period it would be sent to the RSC in Dallas as that’s the closest service center for Rolex and Tudor.

As far as the dealer I purchased from thru Chrono24 here is a description of what was sold to me




As far places like Jomashop they clearly state that there is no factory warranty as well as several other sellers but this particular seller stated that they have “Agents” that shop for them so my guess is that a particular AD is selling off inventory that is not selling and it’s new and I have also heard about “ flippers” and these are ppl that purchase a watche or watches from overseas AD’s at a bargain price and then resell at a marked up price.

Here is another example, my wife purchased my Rolex DJII from Bob’s Watches and when it arrived it was NIB and had all tags and stickers still intact and had all protection still covering the watch and had been purchased a year earlier from a Ben Bridges in California and had never been worn so my guess is someone purchased the watch and then a year later sold the watch as the warranty card was dated 11-17-18 and I received it a year later, we’ll shortly after getting it was running 7-8 SPD fast so I took it to a Rolex AD and they promptly sent it to RSC after looking at the warranty card and I asked how much it would cost and they replied nothing it’s under warranty and someone else’s name was on the warranty card and I was informed that they don’t care who’s name is on the card as long as you have the card

If you buy from an authorized dealer yes the warranty follows the watch in most cases. There are some manufacturers that state the warranty is for the original owner only but those are in the minority.

Rolex is always an outlier. Rolex has an iron grip on their distribution of their watches and parts. My local watch guy services them but can't access parts. He has a deal with a guy in Germany and gets parts from him. Rolex will tell you Grey Market doesn't exist for their watches and sites like Jomashop sell them but there is little if any discount. Also with Grey Market if they say the watch can be obtained within X many days head for the hills because that means they don't have it and you could wait many many months if you ever get it at all (ask me how I know).

Usually with Rolex they get the watches from other markets like South America or Hong Kong. Manufacturers don't like that and that's what the whole fiasco between Costco and and Omega was all about.

Always likes the look of the Rolex, and now grand Seiko watches.
Going to have to google grey market cause I’ve never trusted online watch shops but could never afford a new watch and don’t mind used. Just have to have confidence in the package.
This thread is taking me down a different rabbit hole.

You won't find Rolex or Grand Seiko via Grey Market. Yes Jomashop sells Rolex and the discount is tiny. You might wait a long time to get it. I don't think it's worth the Grey market purchase. Seiko forget about. Some of the Japan Based sellers will get you at least 20% off list price.

Check out the classifieds at Timezone. Many if not most of the guys there are watch aficionados and they baby their watches and routinely sell after a year or two of purchase.