SDC Weekly 160; The Best and Worst of Buying Watches
Collectors from around the world discuss the worst and best they've been treated by ADs and boutiques. More about Diderot's dressing gown, Cottier's legacy, Scheufele family on chiming, and more!
🚨 Welcome back to SDC Weekly! This week’s edition is a little different… no split sections and no analysis - just one long section made up of other people’s stories about walking into watch shops. Which is why I figured it would be better as a Sunday read instead.
I’ve also included a fun little deep-dive pdf regarding that recent stolen AP scandal we saw on Instagram this week. We end off the edition with a little story about Diderot’s dressing gown which went on a little longer than planned. Grab a beverage, and enjoy the ride.
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But quickly, before we get started… remember that new electric Ferrari everyone hated? Turns out, someone paid $40 Million for one. Granted, this was for a charity auction, and this particular vehicle was ‘chassis 0’ which means it is literally an opportunity which cannot be repeated. So while this might be a a flawed data point, it’s still a remarkable one.
Admin note: The Unofficial Editor skipped this one. We’d say his standards have slipped, but that would imply he had some to begin with. Please tap the title of this post or click here to ensure you read the most recent edition, which may include corrections made after publishing.
If you’re new to SDC, welcome! When you have some time, check out prior editions of SDC Weekly here, or peruse the archive here.
Estimated reading time: ~40 mins
In case you missed these recent stories:
🎙️ Collectors discuss experiences at authorised dealers
Honestly, this involved minimal input from my side… I downloaded some WhatsApp Chat history and pulled out the relevant quotes from collectors around the world, and then sorted it into individual stories. Everything which is block-quoted (orange line along the left) is someone else’s story (I may have edited typos here and there, but nothing major).
Disclaimer: everything shared below is a direct quote from a human, and I wasn’t there to witness any of the stuff they are talking about. I have no way of verifying anything, but bear in mind this was all shared in a private group conversation where there is no obvious motive for anyone to make up these stories. Ultimately, I see all of it as a retelling of people’s personal experiences and, as someone later alludes to in the chat below, sometimes person A can have a horrible experience and person B can have a wonderful experience… at the same place.
So, if you happen to work at any place mentioned below, and you want to share your own perspective on a story shared below, please reach out and I will happily publish your side as well. There are always three sides to every story, and the stories below are merely one side… misery loves company!
How it started
you should do a special SDC episode about the worst and best story collectors had at their AD, I am sure that with all the collectors here, it would be very interesting to say the least
Haha, can’t wait to share my Tudor story publicly 😅
Horror Stories
Two brands, same answer
Rolex London: greeted me at the door and said we don’t have watches. I told them I’m the AD in Saudi Arabia. I’m not the AD, lol.
Separately with AP in Saudi: As I opened the door, he said that we don’t have watches, didn’t even get out of his seat. I just looked at him and walked out without saying anything.
Went to a Rolex AD
We had a good year and I went to potentially buy a DD36 YG, if I liked it on the wrist. Rang the doorbell; older woman came out blocking the doorway to prevent me from entering (never had that happen..):
“What do you want?”
uhm , hi? I was here hoping to have a look at a DD36 in YG and see if it would be a good fit
“We don’t have any Rolex available” ..
Yeah I was thinking you maybe had one to try on, even if not to buy?
“We don’t”...
Okay?? ..me waiting for her to follow up with something more..?? .. awkward nothingness.... then told her “great service” and left.
Not so much horrible as it was weird. I couldn’t think of a worse way to treat potential customers from a business point of view. This was an AD with multiple other brands + jewellery.
I almost forgot: the worst part of this was her pronouncing Rolex as “Rollex” with a thick German accent
AP in Vegas
My worst was corporate Vegas AP, was a group of 4 collectors, we approach store, it’s empty except one security guard and 2 or 3 sales folk looking at their phones (you see inside through windows)…… guard opens door, we say “we’d like to look at some watches”, he shuts door, sales lady comes and opens door “we’d like to look at some watches”, her answer “you need to make an appointment online please”, we say “ah ha” and she closes door and walks back in 🤷🏼♂️ (again, EMPTY Boutique 🤣)
Follow up: Standard behavior of rolex boutique run by Carollinum in Prague. Empty store but you need appointment to enter
Bucherer Berlin
Reminds me of my local Bucherer with whom i have ~$100k spend history with. They had refurbed the store and decided to pop in to take a look. Was stopped at the door and aggressively asked what i want. I said i want to look around. The response was ‘we don’t have any Rolex available’. Decided not to bother with them anymore after that
That’s a very typical Rolex* Berlin (KaDeWe) experience 😂
*edit: I don’t remember if the Rolex store here is an extension of Bucherer - but yeah, that experience is very typical there.
Patek London
My worst was - when security guard would not let me into my AD - where I was picking up my min repeater. Guess I looked too poor for Bond St.
Patek London
Took my 19 year old son with me to Patek Bond Str to have a look at the 5370r and was told it’s an application watch and not possible to get one. I did not ask to buy one but just wanted to look at it. Left without viewing it but it left an impression on my son seeing this kind of attitude and service. We went around the corner to the Journe boutique where the experience was completely different. Jimi and Edward have always been great. Jimi took the time to explain the different complications and materials to my son and allowed him to try on a couple of watches. My son said his goal is buy and FP Journe after that experience. By the way I am not a client of the Journe boutique in London but enjoying popping in just for the conversation.
I am very sad that your son did not have a good experience at Patek.
They should be happy that young people want to have a look at 5370R
Journe USA + Geneva
A close friend is an FP customer in the US, was allocated by them ~18 months ago. He planned a trip to Europe last year, including Switzerland. He asks his US SA to arrange a Geneva store visit. The SA arranges and confirms, as I’m a Swiss resident I join my friend for the agreed date and time at the Geneva F.P. boutique.