Any thoughts on Grey Market products?

I will always go grey with certain brands. No issues so far. Each time I got the watch just like I would have from an AD, box, papers, warranty card, etc. That said, be sure you are using a reputable grey dealer.

As far as resale, the impact should be minimal. If you bought it from a grey dealer, others will know the market price and expect the price to reflect that. Buying grey is a great way to avoid taking a much steeper depreciation hit.

I go grey market often. As you say, it is a great way to save money. You do need to know that there is some risk related to the lack of a manufacturer warranty. You will either need to go through the grey dealer’s warranty service or have any repairs made at your own expense.

I’ve only had one watch purchased through a grey dealer that needed repair within a warranty window. I chose to have it repaired at my own expense. Still, the money I’ve saved has been worth that one time cost.

Almost exclusively gray

Seems like Gray is the way to go! Thanks for the input! Anyone who has more opinions are welcome!

Grey market is a mixed bag. If I can get the watch with box and papers, I'll go Grey. However some Grey market dealers such as Jomashop don't offer manufacturers warranty cards. Which means they only offer a Jomashop warranty. Generally speaking, when you go to sell, you will get between 10 and 15% less without the manufacturer warranty card vs if you had the card.

Oh thank you for the comment! Exactly the information I was looking for!

My understanding is if u buy grey but the watch is within its original manufacturer warranty period, then you are still covered.

If you plan to develop a collection over time, it is best to buy from an AD. Down the track, you may want a watch which is limited or difficult to get (Rolex Patek etc). At that point , you can still buy gray but the price can be well above retail. If you have bought from an ad previously, especially if you have done so on multiple occasions, then you will have a good chance of getting the sought after watch at rrp. This is the main advantage of buying through an ad. There are others. Although you can rely on many grey market sellers, there is absolutely no doubt about authenticity with an ad. In addition, you can enjoy some of the experience of the buying experience (if that is important for you). My final advice is when buying from grey, it’s very important to buy from a reputable grey dealer who will have experience and a reputation to protect if there are issues with authenticity, delivery issues or the watch not working.

Re

Box and a papers, many collectors will want that if buying a relatively new watch. It is accepted that an older watch may not have the full set (but makes a vintage watch highly desirable if it has.). When it comes time to sell, if you yourself have bought a watch that comes with the papers, your resale price will hence be better. Hope that makes sense

That said I think it makes perfect sense if you are looking for a single watch to go grey, or alternatively go all grey but accept you will pay over retail for highly desirable models….but have saved thousands on other purchases….but buy from reputable grey dealers

Your understanding is not correct. People often conflate the grey market with the used market; they are not the same thing. If you buy a USED watch within the warranty period and the original purchaser of the watch bought the watch through an official channel and registered the watch for the warranty, then the warranty may transfer (it’s up to the manufacturer). However, a manufacturer will not knowingly warranty grey market goods because the original seller was not authorized to sell the goods in the first place.

it’s not the case every time but Grey market watches can mean a watch from time of manufacturing>>>retail>>>grey, means time. Time the watch sat. I purchased a “Tissot Herritage Visodate Automatic”. This watch I noticed ran extremely fast and needed service. Thankfully this has happened once out of five watches purchase between Amazon, Jomashop & Ashford.

Thank you for the thorough explanation!

Oh haven't thought about this part

@caktaylor I defer to your knowledge….i am visualising a purchase through chrono24 or a local grey market dealer (not a retailer like joma shop as such) that comes with box and papers…. I would imagine if you took your watch to the local Rolex service centre (for example) and it was 6

Months old watch , that Rolex would honour the warranty even if you were not the original owner? I haven’t personally experienced it however I hasten to add. In addition, even if they won’t honour the warranty, they should still be willing to service the watch (and if u r correct there would obviously be a fee….but the watch can still be fixed). If it was joma shop, would a retailer of that size not have some sort of warranty even if provided by them, rather than the manufacturer? I haven’t bought anything from them specifically…..but have bought from chrono and other grey market / second hand dealers…..

There seems to be a lot of confusion around what "grey market" means and I think a lot of it is due to incorrect information pushed out in YouTube content.

Grey market goods are NEW items that are genuine (i.e., not counterfeit) sold through means other than those officially authorized by the manufacturer. Controls broke down somewhere and product was moved outside of the official supply chain. (Perhaps a dealer went bankrupt and decided he could get more selling his stock to Jomashop than to selling it back to the manufacturers.) How and why they get out of the official channel doesn't matter.

Chron24 and eBay, and to a certain extent Amazon (and others) are not grey market dealers. They are marketplaces that bring together buyers and sellers. Those buyers may be official (I don't think this is common), grey, or used and so the type of warranty you receive (if any) would depend on the specific seller who is welling the watch to you.

Regarding warranty, most manufacturers will only honor warranties made through official dealers. It's one of the carrots they have to lure customers to those official dealers. Some warranties are transferable should you decide to later sell the watch during the warranty period, but I do not know if that is true for every watch manufacturer.

And yes, many of the large grey dealers including Jomashop have their own sellers warranties and they provide warranty service on watches they sell. I mentioned that in my original post. I also mentioned that in the one instance where I needed a newly purchased watch repaired, I chose not to use the seller's warranty and instead have the watch fixed at my own expense. That was my choice.

There is also the matter of periodic servicing and other repairs that would not be covered by the warranty, such as expiration of the warranty period or damage that was not covered by the warranty. I am not sure what laws there may be requiring manufacturers to repair or service items purchased through the grey market or purchased used, but my experience has been that as long as the item is genuine and you have the money to pay, manufacturers will service/repair your watch.

As an example, if I buy a Tudor Black Bay GMT S&G from an authorized dealer for $6,125 (let's assume we don't haggle on the price) plus tax, it comes with a 5 year transferable warranty. The dealer will activate the warranty before I leave the store. If anything happens during the warranty period, I bring my watch back to the dealer and if the damage is covered by the warranty, then they will forward my watch to an authorized Tudor repair center at no cost to me. If I sell the watch to someone else during those 5 years, I can contact Tudor to transfer the warranty to the new owner.

If I purchased that same Black Bay on Jomashop for $4,850 (the current price), I will not get any warranty from Tudor. Instead, I will get a 2 year warranty directly from Jomashop. If the watch needs a repair, I bear the burden of getting the watch back to Jomashop. The warranty page on Jomashop's store does not indicate whether the warranty is transferable. (Note that the warranty terms for Jomashop can differ by brand and you should check the website for details.)

The buyer needs to decide if those differences are worth $1,275.

Interesting info. I guess the crux of my question/thought is ‘what if I buy your Tudor from you privately, within the warranty period, with all the box and papers etc and you don’t notify Tudor about the change in ownership (which would be a common scenario imo….you may not be bothered or don’t want to notify the ad etc), and then the watch stopped working….if I presented to a local Tudor distributor and asked for help….what would occur?’ I was under the belief that Tudor would honour the warranty if I have the papers in my possession, even with a different name to my own…..but again I’m curious to hear your thoughts?

I don’t know, I don’t have any experience in that situation. My expectation is that Tudor would honor the warranty because you have all the appropriate paperwork and the watch was registered when I originally purchased it, so Tudor would know whether or not the warranty period is still in effect. But that’s just a guess.