Forbes

[JenaG]

https://search.app/oQSnuEUwTiTLmVdb7

[Hemdog]

Crisis

[the dark knight]

The "strategy" some of these watch brands took reminds me of Peloton. They somehow thought the pandemic was a "new normal" and positioned their brands (and pricing) as such and are paying for it. Ahem, Richemont - JLC, IWC.

I think it's interesting that since the watch market peaked, we've hit ATHs on basically every major asset group. Real estate, stocks, even crypto. None of that was able to get the watch market going again.

So it does seem like a lot of the pandemic boom was just that, bored people buying watches instead of going on vacations because they couldn't. This must be freaking some of these CEOs out.

[Calatrava r]

Watch companies got too far ahead of themselves with the price increases. A gold 36mm DD could be had out the door in the mid-twenties a few years back before Covid. Now with tax they are forty out the door. No where to go but down on that in the used markets.

[Zach69SS]

Yes, I can’t wait for things to back to normal, prices could not go up forever. Maybe even some discounts again on the PM pieces, and some for sale without the waiting list nonsense.

I remember when the only reason to go grey was the prices below retail.

[yessir69]

Speculation sucks because it focuses on short-term gains from market fluctuations instead of long-term strategies. Speculation can be profitable, but it's also risky and more likely to result in losses, especially when the market is volatile.

[Ferrari-F430]

Seems like the watches being hit the hardest are the ones that are in the $20K+ range IMO, while the stainless models are taking a slight hit (but still huge demand IMO).

I was at an AD a few days ago, and after I looked at the Rolex counter they walked me over to their used Rolex section.... and they had two Panda's in the case with a asking price of $40,000 on each of them. I about chocked on how they were way over market as I tried one on and admired it.

Let's hope this market weeds out the speculators and the real watch enthusiasts can once again acquire the watches they want at AD's at MSRP. The more difficult it becomes for people to flip these, that large wait list will dwindle and hopefully we'll get back to 2019 stock again..