Breaking News: Richemont do not verify Panerai watches anymore

[KuchingKu]

My view....

I have been to a few boutique in other parts of the world (Pam and Rolex and others). There is no such thing as paying for authentication of watch. I walked into a boutique overseas (say Pam) wearing a Pam. I show it to the guy there saying that I recently picked this up and ask him if it needs servicing? He would le tthe technician check and tell me the answer. No payment needed. Why in Singapore RSC and Richemont charges for this is still a puzzle to me?

But I guess it could be our own doing....many people bring many pieces to them to do this so it takes up their time to do real servicing. That could be the reason RSC and RM start charging for this. Not sure why this is not happening in US or Europe or even HK. On my visits to these places, never see people go into RSC, ask to authenticate and strike a deal there. Maybe its because those people buy the seller or do their homework more so there is less reliant on RSC to do the checks for them. And since such request are low in those places, there is no need for them to charge...its just regular service for the occasional request to check a watch and they are happy to do it FOC.

Now, RM cancel this service is just going back to its original policy which is they should not charge customer for just looking at the watch. However, they have not reinstead the service of checking the watch FOC. I suppose if this is not abused, then RM/RSC may do it happily FOC like in other countries.

[seiko.citizen]

In all honesty, s'poreans are more cautious when making purchases of any type. big or small. last time i sent a small number of iphone 4 to my uncle in sg. so many people visit his office, look see, ask whether case got redeemed or not, etc. ask to check serial number online, etc. one even mentioned, if i buy and found out not to my expectation, can i return? wtf!?

down under, we buy the seller (or the seller buys us), and make the purchase on the spot. as a preowned HP "dealer" (on the side); many of my customers just walk in/out in less than 15mins. no nonsense, no asking of "silly Qs". just inspect, pay and go!

Therefore when service centres capitalise on this "authentication fee" i'm not surprised; infact i feel it is because of the local mindset. and when people pay for the service, then complain scratch, etc and try to wring their way to get discount, free polish or whatever. a company then questions their processes and tweaks accordingly. in this case RM took the easy way out and stopped altogether.

[triton]

i think people here are more cautious with their money because they are afraid of being scam. some buyers have paid top quality replicas for the actual market value of the real mccoy.

for a handphone, i just check the serial number against the online database to make sure that there is still or dont have warranty. i dont think i need to authenticate it. for an item less than 500. im ok to take a hit for buying a replica. however, if this is my first expensive watch (say 7k) it is hard earn money and i dont want to pay for a replica which probably cost just 1k or so.

the fact still remains, there are buyers who want to maximize their money. they dont want to pay AD pricing. so they go gray dealer. then they scared they get scam. so they authenticate it.

the bottom line is different people have different level of comfort zone in purchasing. if you feel that the seller is trusted, buy and dont authenticate. however, a recent case @ a local shop where a buyer trusted the seller and then found out the watch is not original. the seller is reputable yet sold a replica. there are sellers who are like that, all they need is kena one time. they make profit and run. are you willing to be hit?

i always get my watch authenticated regardless of seller reputation. this is to safeguard my interests including monetary. my comfort zone is low because im not willing to pay that high price for a fraud

[KuchingKu]

I dont pay for authentication cos...firstly, I do my homework and find out enough and secondly, I only buy from a few people that I have bought from for many years. Not the lowest prie around but I know the goods are 100% Never had a problem all these years when I sold them or when the buyer wants it authenticated. I never go around hunting for the lowest price possible cos then easy to fall for scams. I always look for a comfortable price which is near market benchmarks from my few trusted dealer/friends.

[PamDino]

My view....

I have been to a few boutique in other parts of the world (Pam and Rolex and others). There is no such thing as paying for authentication of watch. I walked into a boutique overseas (say Pam) wearing a Pam. I show it to the guy there saying that I recently picked this up and ask him if it needs servicing? He would le tthe technician check and tell me the answer. No payment needed. Why in Singapore RSC and Richemont charges for this is still a puzzle to me?

But I guess it could be our own doing....many people bring many pieces to them to do this so it takes up their time to do real servicing. That could be the reason RSC and RM start charging for this. Not sure why this is not happening in US or Europe or even HK. On my visits to these places, never see people go into RSC, ask to authenticate and strike a deal there. Maybe its because those people buy the seller or do their homework more so there is less reliant on RSC to do the checks for them. And since such request are low in those places, there is no need for them to charge...its just regular service for the occasional request to check a watch and they are happy to do it FOC.

Now, RM cancel this service is just going back to its original policy which is they should not charge customer for just looking at the watch. However, they have not reinstead the service of checking the watch FOC. I suppose if this is not abused, then RM/RSC may do it happily FOC like in other countries.

Closing deal in the any service centres is really BAD

I never do that.

In all honesty, s'poreans are more cautious when making purchases of any type. big or small. last time i sent a small number of iphone 4 to my uncle in sg. so many people visit his office, look see, ask whether case got redeemed or not, etc. ask to check serial number online, etc. one even mentioned, if i buy and found out not to my expectation, can i return? wtf!?

down under, we buy the seller (or the seller buys us), and make the purchase on the spot. as a preowned HP "dealer" (on the side); many of my customers just walk in/out in less than 15mins. no nonsense, no asking of "silly Qs". just inspect, pay and go!

Therefore when service centres capitalise on this "authentication fee" i'm not surprised; infact i feel it is because of the local mindset. and when people pay for the service, then complain scratch, etc and try to wring their way to get discount, free polish or whatever. a company then questions their processes and tweaks accordingly. in this case RM took the easy way out and stopped altogether.

i think people here are more cautious with their money because they are afraid of being scam. some buyers have paid top quality replicas for the actual market value of the real mccoy.

for a handphone, i just check the serial number against the online database to make sure that there is still or dont have warranty. i dont think i need to authenticate it. for an item less than 500. im ok to take a hit for buying a replica. however, if this is my first expensive watch (say 7k) it is hard earn money and i dont want to pay for a replica which probably cost just 1k or so.

the fact still remains, there are buyers who want to maximize their money. they dont want to pay AD pricing. so they go gray dealer. then they scared they get scam. so they authenticate it.

the bottom line is different people have different level of comfort zone in purchasing. if you feel that the seller is trusted, buy and dont authenticate. however, a recent case @ a local shop where a buyer trusted the seller and then found out the watch is not original. the seller is reputable yet sold a replica. there are sellers who are like that, all they need is kena one time. they make profit and run. are you willing to be hit?

i always get my watch authenticated regardless of seller reputation. this is to safeguard my interests including monetary. my comfort zone is low because im not willing to pay that high price for a fraud

It's the S'pore culture, KIA SU lah

Dino

[triton]

you different. you big player. you big boss. i think u dealt with more watches than i do. that is why you are comfortable because you have enough knowledge.

but for first time buyers, like i always say, it could be first expensive watch.

i rather be kiasu and kiasi then part with 10k for a lemon. as i said, all it needs is take a hit one time. to you maybe 10k is nothing, but to other new buyers 10k is alot of money. they want to reward themselves for their hardwork and if end up being scam. it is a bitter pill.

It's the S'pore culture, KIA SU lah

Dino

[KuchingKu]

Dear Bro,

For a first watch, I strongly advise people to go to an AD and but a new one. After all the years of saving, nothing beats getting a new watch.

I did it when I bought my first few watches and feeling was good.

[triton]

few trusted dealers and friends. bingo. you have dealt at least several times. but would you be vary of buyer for the first time dealing? im sure you being a seasoned buyer and seller, you know what to look out for. for new buyers, they may not have the enough knowledge. as mentioned, they dont want to pay higher price so go cheaper and hence authentication process to have a peace of mind.

I dont pay for authentication I always look for a comfortable price which is near market benchmarks from my few trusted dealer/friends.

[triton]

precisely, many dont want to pay dealer price as mentioned earlier. they want to maximize. hence this occurs. you know what to look for because you do homework but others rather leave it to 'expert'.

to me, there is no right or wrong in wanting to authenticate. it is the comfort zone. but we have to be understand that there are different mentality and comfort zone.

there are other ways to get a watch authenticate. this i am not willing to share openly because if it gets abused, then it wont benefit anyone.

Dear Bro,

For a first watch, I strongly advise people to go to an AD and but a new one. After all the years of saving, nothing beats getting a new watch.

I did it when I bought my first few watches and feeling was good.

[P88]

Closing deal in the any service centres is really BAD

I never do that.





It's the S'pore culture, KIA SU lah

Dino

Been to 3/4 of the globe for biz and pleasure. Kia su culture exist everywhere, not just Singapore.

[PamDino]

you different. you big player. you big boss. i think u dealt with more watches than i do. that is why you are comfortable because you have enough knowledge.

but for first time buyers, like i always say, it could be first expensive watch.

i rather be kiasu and kiasi then part with 10k for a lemon. as i said, all it needs is take a hit one time. to you maybe 10k is nothing, but to other new buyers 10k is alot of money. they want to reward themselves for their hardwork and if end up being scam. it is a bitter pill.

I think money is not the real issue. It's the mentality lah. Else, there won't be terms like Kiasu or Ugly Singaporean liao.

So, whether it's 10k, 1k or 0.1k, there are such people lor.

And towkay, you are the real BIG player leh

Dino

[KuchingKu]

Not to bring discussion back to a previous thread. Authentication is good comfort for newbies but with experience, many people soon realise that it is neither necessary (since you can identify and check as good as the technicians, esp for see thru backs), accurate (again authentication does not cover many things) nor gaurantee (the $75/$85 does not mean you can bring the watch back the next day to ask them why this or that).

But for newbie buyers, the $75/$85 only tell you that at this point in time, the watch is genuine from what the watchmaker can see. By the next hour, this can be not true as after the verification, the parts can be swap out.

[KuchingKu]

Best. Ya. Things always turn bad when people abuse it.

Sorry, I was replying to Triton on his previous post on other ways of authentication.

[PamDino]

[

Been to 3/4 of the globe for biz and pleasure. Kia su culture exist everywhere, not just Singapore.

Sorry lah, I'm not a well travelled person. My global mileage is very low

Dino

[KuchingKu]

[


Sorry lah, I'm not a well travelled person. My global mileage is very low

Dino

Haha. But your friends from all over the world many many. Haha