sunday times article on Rolex modifications

[kenlinliu1419]

there's going to be an interesting article in tomorrow's Sunday Times about modified Rolexes.

[zidaneong]

Thanks bro. Will be keeping a lookout for the article.

[trigger]

More Details here...

[Oceanklassik]

Interesting. May be some kind soul here can post the article for us all tomorrow

[3kingdom]

Interesting, must buy tomorrow Sunday Times to read.

[triton]

just read the article. the gist of it is that rolex will not honor the warranty. it also had bernard indicating that the personalization does not justify the price from what i understand with the words he used. sorry, my command of english is not very good.

i was having kopi talk with watch enthusiast in coffee shop couple of weeks back, he said one day rolex will go down the PVD or similiar down the road. he made this comment because rolex has already considered going upsize on some of the models.

this is interesting. now rolex say they wont honor, someone say it does not justify the price, so if one day rolex also does a pvd/customization and they charge high price, i will show them this article.

a rolex collector and watch shop owner once told me this about rolex, there is so much to learn about rolex after being in this trade for more than 20 years. he said that there are many interesting things about rolex, never rule out any possibility.

i agree to a certain extent, in a commercial world, as long as there is money to be made, sellers will want to profit.

[Oceanklassik]

Do you all a favour

No warranty for modified Rolex (July 10, 2011 The Sunday Times)

Forget the usual gold or bejewelled Rolex. Watch collectors are buying modified Rolex watches that have been specially coated black - and Rolex is ticked off. It has warned customers that it will not honour the warranty of these watches.

The black watches are distributed by three companies: British-based Bamford Watch Department and Pro-Hunter, and America-based Time and Gems. Watches from the British-based companies can be found in some shops here. Prices start from $16,800.

These watches are coated in a process called physical vapour deposition (PVD), which produces a black finish. Sometimes further customisation is done to the dial (face of watch), indices (numerals) and other parts. For example, Bamford Watch Department offers a bespoke dial-colour options service.

Customised watches have always been popular in the United States and Japan, with previous cases of Japanese retailers modifying Rolex sports watches for buyers who are attracted to the personalised look.

But high-end Swiss-based brand Rolex cautioned against such modified products, saying: "To avoid any confusion, we wish to make it clear that for any of our products that have been modified, the Rolex guarantee is void and the access to our authorised after-sales service network is refused."

Mr Gilbert Leong from the Rodyk & Davidson's Intellectual Property & Technology Practice Group says: "A trademark is used for the purposes of identifying who makes the goods. It is a source identifier.

"Once the goods have been modified this way, they can no longer be identified as having been made by the trademark owner. If the modification was done without Rolex's consent, Rolex may not honour the product warranty because the watch has been by another company."

Geneva Master Time Marketing LLP, the distributor of Patek Philippe timepieces in Singapore, as a similar stance. Its regional marketing communications manager, Ms Lim Hui Ping, says: "If a client modifies a Patek Philippe watch, it will no longer be guaranteed by Patek Philippe and the original state of the watch is key to retaining its value."

Watch boutique E'Collezione, which is Bamford Watch Department's exclusive regional distributor and started bringing its watches in last year, says Bamford gives a full two-year warranty which supercedes any manufacturer's warranty. E'Collezione's managing director Jeffrey Leong, 49, says Bamford pieces are popular as customers "would have owned a few pieces of Rolex and are looking for Bamford PVD editions to add to their collection". Customers include executives, doctors, company chief executives and car enthusiasts, he says.

"We have seen steady growth in business as collectors usually recommend their friends after getting their own Bamford PVD Rolex," he adds.

Bamford also has customised PVD-processed Tudor, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe pieces, which can range from $16,800 to $94,800 at E'Collezione. Another watch boutique, Yafriro, started selling Pro-Hunter pieces in April this year and pieces are brought in upon purchase. It declined to give sales figures.

The Pro-Hunter customised makes include Rolex lines such as Explorer, Daytona and Submariner, and only 100 pieces of each model are made. Prices begin at $22,000. Key watch retailers such as The Hour Glass, Cortina and Sincere Fine Watches do not stock the products of these UK companies.

Dr Bernard Cheong, 53, a world-renowned watch collector who sits on the board of Swiss-standard watchmaking institutions such as Foundation De La Haute Horlogerie (Foundation of Haute Horology), says "such watches are not nominated into the circles of haute horology (high-end watches)".

He says that "watches such as these, which are modified without the blessings of the company or its written approval, are not recognised as good practice, especially when the process involves disassembly of the watch into its bare parts".

He adds: "All warranties will or should be nullified. In addition, the price for the modification is excessive and not proportionate to the value of the perceived work involved."

While these timepieces seem novel, some watch collectors are not impressed. Accountant Lee K.H, 50, says: "The whole concept of the watch is integral to its identity. Rolex doesn't do PVD watches and if someone decides to do that to a Rolex, I don't know if it adds value but it's not a Rolex anymore."

[seiko.citizen]

that should make for an interesting read... some kind soul care to upload a scanned copy?

edit: thanks oceanklassik. saw your typed article after posting this

[Louis]

Will u buy this? PVD ROLEX...?!



___________________
Rolex Submariner Black

[Louis]

[pegasi]

Basically Rolex goes official with what most of us already know.

It is a standard practice in the consumer products industry that a warranty is void once a product is opened up and/or repaired by non-authorised party, let alone modify it.

In this case, perhaps the warranty is not an issue since the retailers of such modified Rolex reportedly give a full two-year warranty, but potential buyers especially of preowned pieces with expired warranty may want to take note that "access to Rolex authorised after-sales service network is refused".

[triton]

[triton]

tomorrow will go office and attempt to scan it in a single image file

[triton]

this paragraph is quoted by dr bernard cheong which i mentioned in my earlier post. what is considered excessive in relation to work done?



a DLC DSSD by time and gems is listed as USD14k with 10% discount if done through bank transfer which works out to be USD12.6k. based on today conversion rate of approximately 1.22, it is ~SGD15.4k, based on latest rolex RRP of DSSD is SGD13433.

based on the price that AD sells vs the customization with DLC, the DLC work is ~SGD2k. i am not sure how much it cost to DLC a watch. if it is not proportionate to, then maybe DLC cost is less than 1K in order not to be considered excessive?

bearing this in mind, can panerai gurus advised any models that has a standard ss vs dlc/pvd model price difference?

if AD is not selling @ a discount, the price to pay between a DSSD and DLC DSSD by time and gems, the price price difference is ~$2k. from visual inspection, the dial looks to have been changed together with the DLC of bracelet and case. for customization of dial, it would easily cost SGD300 and above. is it considered excessive? maybe to some, maybe not so to others.

then assuming a buyer purchase from gray dealer @ ~SGD10k, the difference is ~SGD5.5K. is it consider excessive? to someone who values a unique watch, the price may not be excessive, to someone else it may be.

however, if one day ROLEX decides to go DLC/customization, and they charge beyond such price gap of 5k between a standard vs a customization model, i will then say it is excessive.

[KuchingKu]

Same as car AD...they also won't honor warranty If car has been modified.

Even if Rolex makes their own PVD or special editions, they will still not honor anything that's been modified by third party. They have no reason for backing these companies like pro hunter and bramford.