Photoessay: IWC BOUTIQUE in SINGAPORE

[116520]

OMG..... very nice....

still dunno what you do tho? trade watches?

BTW, talking about IWC perpetuals .....
here is a pic just for you, all the portuguese :-)

enjoy

[116520]

decksurgeon, thanks for opening my mind about horology... maybe you're right, it is not all about $$$. Maybe I should try out some of these boutiques and see if there is any difference in terms of buying experience.

I am not trying to argue your thoughts. My own experience buying from AD and PI is both +ve. I bought some from AD and some from PI. I should say AD are not so "honest" at times. Talking about the "so-called" Boutique only edition or some LE or some even not LE, e.g. Daytona, Milgauss (Z series).... AD do sell to walk-ins at a premium and don't need to be their VIP list in order to get one. Like the Milgauss GV, it was selling $20K+... The PIs are doing the same. You don't need to buy tons of watches from them and you can get those LE or SE watches from them at a more reasonable price (as long as you don't mind it is an overseas set).

Talking about after sale serivce, I have no complaint about Rolex. I have my overseas set Rolex sent to RSC and the service I received was the same with my local set Rolex.

I am not going to talk about cars. Cos I think cars are different products. I bought my car from AD and not from PI due to some reasons. On the other hand, my bro bought his car from PI as he is a more "expert" in car knowledge... as he is not afraid his PI to cheat him, not like me who know nothing about cars and watches... but somehow I trust watch PI than car PI more....

Just my 2 cents...

for any product there is a range and always a price point for everyone's expectation. that is why every manufacturer has diversity to try to capture the market at every price point.

this is correspondingly also for a varied price point of every individual product. you are not forced to buy if the price is not right.
but each price point comes with its own pros and cons.

we can choose to illustrate easily an example with a simple car.
you can buy from the AD and you can buy from the PI/grey market.
the asking prices are different, sometimes drastically but there are a multiude of reasons for the difference.

Lets say you have a AD car vs a PI car. sure both cars are "under warranty". try claiming a big ticket item for a gearbox from a PI and you will hear a very different story and loads of excuses to dissuade you from doing it - big headache. the AD will just grit its teeth and say ok, we change the 20k gearbox FOC under warranty. the big picture of owning a so called big ticket item also boils down to the total cost of ownership in the long run.

correspondingly you can buy a rolex from the Rolex boutique at near full price. but if you spot a misaligned hand on the watch or it runs slow, im sure the boutique will do all possible to rectify the flaw in QC and uphold brand image. very different from buying a rolex that looks BNIB but no papers and no box for example. the prices will be different and the aftersales drastically different. it comes down to total cost of ownership again - do you choose to pay the premium or not?? - ultimately it is the buyer's choice once again.

the money is in your pocket, all these car brands and watch brands and companies try to get the money out of your pocket into theirs rite?
and for both so called AD vs. PI/Grey examples of products - you still have buyers for each! amazing huh.

horology is not about $$$, not about how much discount you can squeeze ...not about the AD or the PI as your source of joy et cetera. certainly not about nobility.

it is simply about enjoying and learning about watches, mechanisms/movement, technology involved and taking a genuine interest in the depths of the hobby to make it interesting & entertaining for yourself.

in truth, you dont even have to own a single watch to be in this position.....and the bombshell is that some of the worldwide respected moderators of the biggest watch forums in their past spent years enjoying horology without owning a watch.

the IWC boutique and every other boutique that opened in ION this week is a sheer blessing for all of us. we now have places where we can visit in one location, browse, learn new facts and take comfort in the hospitality that each brand can offer us. ..... and no one forced any of us to buy anything once again.

[exxondus]

...
I am not going to talk about cars. Cos I think cars are different products. I bought my car from AD and not from PI due to some reasons. On the other hand, my bro bought his car from PI as he is a more "expert" in car knowledge... as he is not afraid his PI to cheat him, not like me who know nothing about cars and watches... but somehow I trust watch PI than car PI more....

I oso dunno abt cars but I know its different btw cars and watches so cannot use as analogy.

e.g. u buy from PI, Toyota will charge u when u bring in to service at their official service centres. But for watch, most are international warranty so regardless where u buy, can always get it serviced if spoilt., etc

[decksurgeon]

the brand(s) will only honour the international warranty if the papers and warranty card are stamped and dated correctly.

more often than not, your grey market sets are open papers. therefore a warranty claim is useless at the service center.

the point is that different price points (from different) will give you different service/after sales service and total cost of ownership experiences.
but there is a great multitude of price to meet everyone's budget.

the PI/AD car is the same, you cant take the PI car to the AD to get a claim rite? - apologies if my example was not to clear.

[exxondus]

the brand(s) will only honour the international warranty if the papers and warranty card are stamped and dated correctly.

more often than not, your grey market sets are open papers. therefore a warranty claim is useless at the service center.

the point is that different price points (from different) will give you different service/after sales service and total cost of ownership experiences.
but there is a great multitude of price to meet everyone's budget.

the PI/AD car is the same, you cant take the PI car to the AD to get a claim rite? - apologies if my example was not to clear.

ya but even if PI stamp your car cert (if there is one), you still cant go AD make a claim right? but for case of watches, if the card is stamped and dated (but not named), you can still claim warranty no matter where you are. (btw, just curious, are those watches you selling open papers and cant claim warranty?)

thats why 116520 is saying that cars are different cos no matter what you do you cant claim from AD at all. but for Watches, if you know what to look out for, you practically get the warranty as per getting from AD.

of cos, experience when purchasing from AD is def different (a difference of maybe 1-2 hours when viewing). But then again, whereever u are, as long as you willing to spend, treatment is of cos different. e.g. hotel81 vs Ritz Carlton, Shangri-la. So ultimately, $$ is still a key . If you got loads of spare cash, go boutique and be treated like a king for that 1 over hour, as well as the folowing week or 1 month you have the assurance your watch is covered (if u lucky). After that, more or less same as buying from PI/grey

[Oceanklassik]

The longer the message, the more room for misinterpretation or "multi-interpretation". To each his own. Remember the 'stir' when some person casually remarked "$600,000 is peanuts"?

Life is short. Live it well.

[kenkelvin]

bro decksurgeon, if my job is trade watches, i be so happy haha

[decksurgeon]

The longer the message, the more room for misinterpretation or "multi-interpretation". To each his own. Remember the 'stir' when some person casually remarked "$600,000 is peanuts"?

Life is short. Live it well.

ha ha. you are absolutely right!
there is enuff OT banter in this thread. got watch - be happy :-)
and visit the new boutique & enjoy!

[decksurgeon]

(btw, just curious, are those watches you selling open papers and cant claim warranty?)

your curiosity is answered:
every single item offered is AD stamped and all documents are in order and complete. Never a case where the buyer has the hassle and ambiguity of the service center rejecting questionable paperwork. BNIB to me is genuinely unworn with straight straps and no pinhole marks. Not the rubbish that has been slapped on the wrist before and then claimed to be so called "unworn".
standards that suffice i hope. :-)

[116520]

you're right on that, Oceanklassik...

It is basically up to individual when buying a watch. But one thing I am sure about ADs paying high rental for those boutiques are branding. Without those boutiques, people will not be "brain-washed" to buy those brand as they might feel that brands with individual boutiques are "better" brands...

BTW, also need to thanks decksurgeon for putting up those pictures and information on the new outlets. Cheers!

The longer the message, the more room for misinterpretation or "multi-interpretation". To each his own. Remember the 'stir' when some person casually remarked "$600,000 is peanuts"?

Life is short. Live it well.

[exxondus]

your curiosity is answered:
every single item offered is AD stamped and all documents are in order and complete. Never a case where the buyer has the hassle and ambiguity of the service center rejecting questionable paperwork. BNIB to me is genuinely unworn with straight straps and no pinhole marks. Not the rubbish that has been slapped on the wrist before and then claimed to be so called "unworn".
standards that suffice i hope. :-)

yoyo don be mistaken, that phase was placed there because I wanted to put the point across that using cars bought from PI and AD vs Watch from boutique and PI/grey is not a correct analogy. In most cases, grey mkt and PI for watches come with proper documented certs which allows us to claim warranty internationally, unlike what you pointed out. For cars however, there is no chance to claim from AD at all once you purchase from PI.

no offence intended as I know you don sell stuff like that (in which case you, I believe is also considered part of the PI/grey mkt).

Cheers and peace out!

[decksurgeon]

no worries mate. were all here to discuss, hang out and have a good time with the things that go tick tock.

perhaps this might interest you:
http://sg-roc.com/showthread.php?t=24103

have started a new thread so we dont OT in this one. later mods come spank us.

....who here has gone to the IWC boutique???
what is your experience??

[finnsim]

I was there just now at the IWC boutique in ION, must say really impressive...got to go down and have a look personally....the staffs are extremely nice and i got the new catalog and magazine WATCH international by IWC. cheers!

[kenkelvin]

power pics, bro decksurgeon love those perpetual calender

[sandisk7]

Wonderful report, decksurgeon

Are there any Ocean 2000 or Deep One on display?

On a side note, controlled discounts would be further reduced with the opening of brand boutique I am also one that looks for the best deal so long as the pieces come from authorised sources.

The diminishing discounts might impact Singapore as a watch fishing destination too as our list price are somewhat higher than those in EU/US, although we do possess a larger concentration of retailers with large collections on display to attract those tourist dollars.

BTW, AP does offer extended warranty (5 years) to, more or less, compensate for the lesser discount - I still get them, just a little lesser. What about IWC? Umbrellas, as mentioned on the following WSJ article?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...707126380.html