Re: RM is losing credability with me ...and others?

This is a problem that is quite common. Yet here are a couple of points on your concerns;

1.- It is quiet normal to see a sudden rise in certain available models just before Basel. That is completely normal. Many people trade and sell their watches to upgrade and purchase the newest models.

2.- I can assure you that I can get bigger discounts on Patek, Rolex and certainly Journe than I can get on RM. I am certain that many on this Forum can corroborate.

3.- there is NO WAY that any manufacturer can control the discounts that Retailers make. It is possible though that a Brand might use the discount "problem" as an excuse in order to take the brand away from a dealer that is not performing well. This is actually their excuse to start opening "boutiques" and getting a bigger share of the pie, which in the end is their goal. If you where a dealer and had a customer that buys Jewelry for thousands even hundreds of thousands of dollars, would you tell him that you can't give him/her a BIG discount on a 10k watch? Be realistic...

Your concerns are VERY well founded yet the point that I do not agree on is that you singled out several brands as a good example when they are exactly the opposite. All manufacturers are guilty of the same flaw. Manly producing un-sellable crap that is imposed upon Importers/Retailers. Rolex happens to be the perfect example, on one side you have their steel sport models that do very well and on the other you have gold day-dates that nobody wants. If you where a retailer and had quite a large stock of those you would be much more flexible in order to free money for other more sellable items. believe me, if Rolex retailers had the choice they would all take Submariners and Daytonas, but very few day-dates. Just like the AP dealers would like to have only steel Royal Oaks and not Jules Audemars or Eduard Piguets. Unfortunatelly this will go on utill manufacturers stop producing stuff that people don't want (in high qualities). As a mater of fact, I know of an importer that is stoking millions of dollars of unvanted models in order to keep importing the Brand. What will you think will happen once he decides to get some cash back from that huge stock? Scary.

Back to RM. All RM's are sought after models, actually they do much better than others. take a look around the net and I will guarantee you that finding only 4 RMs on eBay is nothing compared to the amounts of Rolexes and Pateks...

In any case you are right to bring up the subject. This is actually one of my main concerns and discussions when meeting manufacturers. Over time I have come to realize that the problem is industry related and not Brand related.

D.

P.s. Don't worry, there will always be somebody else that payed less for the same watch you are wearing... I have stooped comparing a long time ago ;-D