Jeweler doesn't know about Rolex? Question...

[jdm124]

Depends on the jewelry store - I just bought a whiteface datejust from such a store and my wife's vintage Ladydate is there for cleaning and adjustment. The owner family has been in business for over 100 years and care about what they do. They recently added an additional store front devoted to Rolex.

[hnt1987]

I forgot to mention that I was their first customer of the day too... Getting cheap size adjustment service probably ruin their sales, maybe =]

[Hairdude1]

Originally Posted by The GMT Master

Well, where do you draw the line at knowledge? Dealerships need to know about modern pieces, that knowledge needs to be watertight. They should know about discontinued models too. What about vintage models? Should they know every obscure detail about every reference Rolex has ever made? Sure, it's not nice to have something described as fake when it isn't, but put yourself in the dealer's shoes - Rolex can pull their agency if they're seen to be dealing with counterfeits, far better to play it safe than lose the cornerstone of your business.

At least, OP, the dealership did alter the watch for you - just out of interest, why didn't you correct their mistake? No arguments, I think any reasonable person would enjoy having their knowledge enriched.

Confession time - I myself very nearly made a fool of myself on a couple of occasions. I had a customer come in with a Day-Date on a Bark bracelet - I'd never heard of such a thing before and almost called it out as a fake. Luckily, I saw sense and double checked with my boss, who very helpfully pointed out that it was indeed genuine, and belonged to a particularly good client. Another time, I almost fell into the Oyster Quartz trap ("but Rolex don't make quartz watches") The fact is, how do you learn about vintage stuff in the course of your daily work as a salesperson? The training material (at least when I was there) was pretty much non-existent for the modern stuff, let alone anything vintage. You have to be a WIS to want to find out about it, as knowing the clasp code on a vintage watch will not help you sell one of the watches you have in stock

Just a few thoughts from the other side of the fence

Chris

Always great insight!