They’re usually located online, whether it is their on their own website, or on a platform like Amazon, Chrono24, or Ebay. So what is the gray market? The gray market refers to non-authorized retailers of various watch brands. So today, I’d like to talk to you about the gray market, one of the most influential parts of the watch market, and why you should care. However, I don’t think I’ve seen many good guides on the many nuances to actual watch buying. Many are many very good guides on how to pair a watch with your outfit, and threads that recommend good watches. Oh and by the way - no reason to think that you sound dull - if people didn't ask questions then this would be a pretty boring place! That's how we all learn.Here on r/malefashionadvice, one of the most commonly discussed fashion accessories is the wristwatch. We would need someone familiar with a disassembled Breitling to speak to them specifically - I don't fell like taking any of mine apart right nowĪnd yes, stolen watches might well have the serial number removed as well - I guess the argument is that there is no good reason why a serial would be removed. That won't be the same as the watch serial number but would presumably allow for identification. I can't say for certainty with Breitling but many watches have serial numbers on the undersides of some bridges and plates. Sorry to sound dull (Again ) But I assume they will not service or repair the watch as it may be stolen as well as just from a Grey dealer, but surely there is some other way to identify the watch internaly? Or is it just the case that has the identification numbers? The only watches that actuall have to be registered with end consumers are the Emergency / Emergency Mission, although of course the US baseball cap thing is all about ensuring that BUSA has the buyer's name and address. The idea of servicing charges being high is not true as Driver8 said - the whole point of not providing a warranty is to protect the AD who sells the watch to the grey market dealer and prevent Breitling from finding out whether a watch is grey market.īreitling will of course refuse to service a watch where the serial number has been removed.Īs for registering the watch with Breitling - Breitling know which distributor every watch was sent to, and the distributor (which in some countries is Breitling owned and in some countries independent) will know which AD gets the watch. watches not originally distributed to a US AD), but I think that stopped pretty quickly as obviously there are a huge number of watches in the US that were bought from ADs, but not US ADs. You just need to be 100% certain that you know and understand what you are (and more importantly, what you aren't) getting for your money.Īrmed with what I know about watch buying, I personally don't hold with the "direct from an AD is only way" mantra anymore.īUSA has been difficult lately and there are a few stories about them refusing to service non BUSA watches (i.e. While my watches all come from AD's, I have plenty of mates who buy on the grey market (hell, I've even bought online on behalf of mates of mine myself!), and provided you buy from a reputable source (,, etc) there is no problem at all IMO. It all depends if you consider that a risk you're willing to take. The key thing to remember when buying on-line (from a reputable dealer) is to realise that the discount you are getting on the sticker price essentially covers the fact that you have no warranty (at least not one that's worth anything), and should anything go wrong with your watch you'll have to just suck it up and pay Breitling to fix it. The grey market does not use Breitling service centres, so you run the risk of some guy who knows jack about your particular watch attempting to fix issues and all without access to genuine Breitling parts. What you definitely never want to do however is use a grey market vendors own warranty, like mrcheatle unfortunately did. Watches change hands all the time and if they could never be serviced once they'd moved on from the original owner, there'd be uproar. For an AD to say Breitling won't touch a watch like that is utter rubbish. The thing is, a grey market watch with no warranty is indestinguishable to Breitling to a watch that has simply been sold on to someone else on the second hand market. I have mates who own perfectly genuine grey market watches and they've never had a problem with servicing at Breitling. You just have to pay for it (as opposed to having it done free of charge if it's under warranty from an AD), but you will still only pay exactly the same price as you would if your AD-purchased watch was out of warranty. Breitling (certainly Breitling UK anyway) WILL and indeed DO service watches bought on the grey market, providing the serial number is intact.
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