Rolex in HK

[rtalk]

Hi Everyone,

HK is a big watch market. Any intel on what is happening there given the protests? Are customers pulling back? I imagine lower priced brands are getting hit harder than Rolex or AP.

[EWY]

It seems that the recent disturbance is at Yuen Long which is in the New Territories. New Territories are not the normal watch buying tourist would visit. However, if the disturbance continues, I guess it would affect tourism and this would affect all retail including watches.

[trfChris]

It looks like overall Swiss watch sales took a hit in HK due to the protests:

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/fi...tch-sales-2019

[Muxi]

One can still readily acquire stocks from HK so the trade is still up and about.

[sekpaul]

Grey dealer prices may come back to reality because HK economy has to eventually take a hit if this goes on because rent have to paid, wages for perm staff, commission based staff will have their own bills to pay, tourism downturn etc etc
I’ve bypassed my business trips to HK for now

[Old Expat Beast]

These events are geographically isolated for now, and their locations are made public in advance. Right now I wouldn't even discourage my grandma from visiting.

[coffeebreak]

If news and social media are to be believed, the protests seem to have spread even to the tourist areas. Hope all based in HK are safe and well

[Pongster]

Here in HK for my daughter’s ballet competition.

We are in North Point, eastern part of the island. We all thought away from the protests (focused on Central/Admiralty/Causeway Bay, Kowloon and Northern Territories).

But last night and i guess not part of plan (since not announced beforehand), protests reached our area. Violence outside our hotel.

But peaceful now. Life goes on. Here till next week.

My plans of escaping to Central for watch hunting will be derailed.

[jerrychan23]

The Rolex price in the gray here is dropping now. The price is cheaper than other countries.

[htc8p]

my heart bleeds for HK. It seems that the people are fiercely fighting for their rights. The government should just give them what is due.

[Dr. Robert]

I lived in Hong Kong (Kowloon)in the 1960s, I remember the 1967 riots, those were bad, 50+ dead.....Hong Kong survived, hopefully it will survive this time!

[HK_Expat]

Originally Posted by old expat beast

these events are geographically isolated for now, and their locations are made public in advance. Right now i wouldn't even discourage my grandma from visiting.

+1

[aleeboy]

Business in business.

If there is any downturn in Hong Kong, it would be inline with the overall decrease in demand for luxury/ premium watches - these will continue to decline and the "hyping" and Hermes approach will not work indefinitely.

[coffeebreak]

How are the watch stores in HK doing now? I’d imagine there must be a downturn of tourists shopping there now

[eric16]

Originally Posted by coffeebreak

How are the watch stores in HK doing now? I’d imagine there must be a downturn of tourists shopping there now

Visited HK in mid sept, indeed streets are quieter, but grey prices ain’t falling from the sample of subs and GMT prices I’ve asked. Cos they can sell online too.

[Smarties]

I heard grey market price came down a little bit but still at hefty premium IMO.

Situation has not improved on AD side. They do business as usual by withholding stocks and selling to preferred customers. You won’t see anything interesting on display. Although less people are willing to spend but demand is still too high compare to supply!!!

[ninjin]

I'm here now. Nothing has changed much in the Rolex buying world. Grey's maybe more open to more discount but don't expect to grab a bargain. AD's nothing much changed.

[WatchLurv]

No China-money to push for the prices to go stratospheric. Since the protests everything has come down. Even the housing market, where people are discounting their apartments now that Chinese buyers can't keep it inflated.

If you had a shop somewhere for them to get to, and where it'd be convenient to swipe their UnionPay card, then you could pump up the prices again. Problem is that Hong Kong was their favourite city to funnel their cash through.

[fullofboats]

For hot PP, AP, Rolex models the protests have changed nothing if you’re hoping to get one from an AD at retail price.

If you’re looking at grey sellers though prices for hot models have come down a bit, maybe 5-10% max.

Less popular models are a good pickup from HK ADs right now. Managed to get a BB58 from an AD with a small discount last month