This is Watch Your Style.
Today we're gonna be going over a topic that seems to be very common in this day and age.
Being the way that the current watch market is going and is: It's it worth paying over
retail?
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So you can tell nowadays with the new watches that are coming out by Rolex and some of the
discontinued models from the other brands, the prices are all over the place.
Now there's some watches that tend to just always be in that standard range with depreciation
and stuff like that, but there are some watches that the prices are absurd at the moment.
And the watches that are really falling into that category are: either a) discontinued
models or b) low supply, high demand models.
And those are the two categories that I like that split this conversation into because
it's two total different spectrums.
For example, I like to start with the discontinued models.
Now, most watches when they come out and they're brand new releases, sometimes they're not
really that hot at the moment and they kind of just sell pretty normal.
People buy them retail at the ADs.
They can pick them up in the gray market for below retail, stuff of that nature.
Preowned ones are flowing.
So they kind of start off kind of high.
They kind of do a dip down.
By the way, this thing I do it with my hand here, I like to call it �the curve� because
this happens with these watches.
There's a curve that occurs.
They kind of come out at first and they're selling at full retail, little bit under.
They kind of dip down a bit as the 3, 4, 5 years go by, but then all of the sudden they
get discontinued and that's when the curve starts to go up.
So it's like, released, they start dipping down a little bit, 5, 6, 7, 10 years then
it's discontinued, �BAM!�...back up.
That's when you have no other choice but to pay over retail.
Those are the watches that are the biggest problem because they're not gonna make them
anymore.
The chances are the prices are not gonna go down.
So that's something we have to look at.
It's discontinued versus low supply, high demand watches.
So some of the examples for these discontinued watches that I like to use is, one of the
best ones of all, is the Patek 5711.
The watch has a retail of $24,700.
I mean, I remember that that watch I used to sell them for around $28,000.
They were already...again, BAM, came out, did that, but they were already a little bit
over retail.
Nowadays, they're going for $50,000....$48k, $45k, $50k.
That's a watch, for example, that you either want it or you don't.
You're not gonna ever get one again at retail.
Yes, of course, there's this miracle guy, is those that friend of the friend that somehow
knows this AD and is the only one left in the world.
Whatever!
For the general market, if you want a 5711 stainless steel, you're gonna be paying over
retail, so this is one of those certain areas where, fine, it's OK.
If you want it, it's OK to pay over retail, because chances are it's not gonna dip down
below retail.
Another example is the Patek 5980 in steel.
Retail was $51,000.
I sold those things maybe five years ago for $38,000.
Nowadays you can expect to pay $60k+, over retail.
I don't see them.
I don't see them coming out any cheaper.
I don't see them going down in prices.
That's a watch that's gonna stay there.
My prediction is gonna stay there, keep climbing or just hold there.
So if you want one, you gotta pay over retail.
So the other side of the spectrum would be the low supply, high demand watches.
Now, this is for those new releases, introducing the ceramic bezel Daytona.
You know, people are paying $5,000 over retail.
I've had somebody tell me that the waiting list is like 5 years.
I mean, �Five years?!� Five years from now I don't even know if I want the same damn
watch.
Five years from now, who knows what the heck happens in five years?!
But some people are actually in that line waiting to get that watch.
Five years from now, they might be available below retail because we don't know where that
one is gonna go.
So, for the low supply, high demand watches is a little more volatile and which really
brings the biggest question in all of this is, �How bad do you really want this watch?�
That's something you gotta ask yourself, because for the ceramic bezel, stainless steel Daytonas,
the retail is like fourteen thousand and change or what not, in that area, whatever.
But they're going for $19-$20,000, so how bad do you really want it?
Do you wanna wait for the prices to go down?
Do you want them to start shipping more merchandise?
Or if you really want it now, you gotta pay up.
So, there's another scenario where, is it worth paying over retail?
Well, it depends how bad do you really want it.
If you really want it now and you don't wanna wait, life is short.
Sometimes you just gotta do it while you can.
What the hell?
Why not, and just pay over retail?
You know?
It is what it is.
One good example of a watch that for me tends to be kind of like a hybrid between these
two topics, between the discontinued and the low supply, high demand is the Hulk.
Rolex Hulk has a retail of $9,050.
I remember I couldn't sell them for $7,500 five years ago.
Now, Oh my God!
They're going for $11,500.
I wouldn't pay that for them, but they're over retail because there's like this craze
for them, you see?
I don't know man.
That's one of those models that for me that I'm not sure yet if it's discontinued.
If it's not.
It doesn't fall into the category yet.
I wouldn't put it just yet in the category of the 5711 steel or the 5980.
Another good example is the Batman.
Still available at your local AD.
Has a retail of $8,950 or something like that.
And what happens is, there isn't any.
Waiting list.
Two years.
You gotta 100 people ahead of you in the AD.
So, the good thing about the Batman is they're going in the pre-owned market, in the gray
market, a little bit over.
It's not so exaggerated the prices over retail.
So you go over that main question again, How bad do you really want it?
So when you're thinking about these watches that you're obsessed about and they happen
to be going over retail, you have to think about what I'm talking about, that curve.
You see, the discontinued watches have a different curve.
They kind of start off at retail, start creeping down and then they shoot up, whereas in my
opinion, the low supply, high demand watches start right at the gate high, but from there
I can only see them going down.
So you gotta ask yourself that question I told you already a couple of times, �How
bad do you really want it?�
If you really want it, life is short, shop well and buy it.
So feel free to comment below how you feel if it's worth paying over retail for watches.
And if you liked this video, please like and share.
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My name is Eric, Watch Your Style!
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