The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Some of us are lucky to live close to multiple ad's. I know of about 8 within a Hal hour or so of my house. Why do you chose the one you use? Or do you use multiple ad's. Price? Service? Inventory? The personal relationship? What is more important to you.

What are other things you wish your ad did or what might sway you to a new one? Seminars? Maybe a watch club with meetings to discuss watches and similar items? Some European And Asian stores have almost a bar type lounge in them. I was designing the ultimate watch store in my head and I came up with some cool features I know I would like to see but what are your opinions?

I am moving to out of states AD who members here have had a positive experiences with. I recently bought two JLCs from an AD in Baltimore because a friend on here referred me there; I have nothing but great things to say about that AD and I couldn't be happier. I also just bought a Panerai from an AD in Arizona also from a referral from a trusted friend on here...and have great things to say about that AD as well. And soon I'll be adding another piece from another out of state AD from a referral from another trusted member here. Bottom line for me it comes down to PRICE, Reliability, and positive experiences from people that I trust. To answer your question about why I chose 3 different ADs to buy from, the common denominator was they all carried different watch brands....the JLC AD in Baltimore didn't carry Panerai, the Panerai AD in Phoenix didn't carry Bucherer, and the Bucherer AD in Florida didn't carry JLC. Hope that makes sense.

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

I really don't care about bars or lounges, that's just more overhead that I am ultimately paying for. Price is obviously important, but I want to be able to handle a number of watches so inventory is also important as is a relaxed environment to be able to try them on and decide which (if any) I want to buy.

I am fortunate that I am in a relatively small market so even if I don't know the AD we likely have a number of mutual acquaintances in the industry and that always helps establish my credibility with them.

I rarely buy from the US unless it's a resale piece that I can't get elsewhere because import duty hurts the deal and I ma generally better off working relationships - if need be working through someone to get an industry price.

I have only been to one AD that is 2 1/2 hours away, in Kansas City. I go back because they seem sincere to take care of me. I have had one disagreement when they needed to be put in thier place. They kept telling me that they have "taken care of me" on the previous watch purchases with thier 20% discount. I was quick to remind them that I was getting NO better deal than Joe Smoe that walks in the door. When they questioned that I reminded them that a few years ago I WAS Joe Smoe and received the 20% discount without any previous purchases! That shut them up.

I don't have any particular loyalty to them, its just that they are the only AD in Kansas City and we don't travel to Oklahoma City very often (were the next closest AD is located). IF and a big IF, I buy another new Breitling I will likely be contacting FEAR or GEORGE. The discount means more to me than the sweet talk.

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Breitling Steelfish(black)
Breitling Steelfish(silver)
Panerai PAM 312
Bell & Ross BR03-92 Phantom
Steinhart BreitlingSource LE #5/15

For me, it all comes down to service. As everyone knows, I will only deal exclusively with Govberg since I've built a great relationship with George. I've also spoken with Brian Govberg numerous times and it's always been a pleasure. I've had nothing but positive experiences with them. They always are willing to go the extra mile for me. For instance, on a non-watch related note, my sister is getting married in March and have yet to pick up their wedding bands. She wants a certain brand that Govberg doesn't carry but Radcliffe does, a Govberg sister store does, so George has been working with a sales person there to take care of everything for them. Everything I've bought from them has been just as described, if not better.

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Justin
Please contact me via PM for the contact details for Govberg Jewelers
Govberg is an AD for over 50 fine Swiss and German watch brands.
Visit them on the web at http://www.govbergwatches.com or call 800-528-8463

Price, knowledge, inventory and appreciation for customer loyalty. None of which I get from my currect AD.

I've tried to look past their lack of watch knowledge and their grossly inadequate inventory. I've tried to stay loyal to them with the thought that they would recognize me a valued customer and consistently provide me with good pricing on watches and jewelry. Instead, I have to haggle for 25% and the jewelry discounts are terrible. Getting to the point where it is simply not worth maintaining the relationship.

Agree with Roff that the lounge concept isn't at all important to me. As a consumer, my natural instinct would be that the cost of something like that is simply being passed on to me.

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Breitling Colt GMT
Breitling Navitimer World
IWC Portuguese Automatic
Breitling Transocean Chronograph LE

I just buy my watches from mfserge, but if I were looking for an AD, along with price, it would be essential for me to have a salesman who actually knows watches. I've been in a few AD's where the sales people didn't know the first thing about Breitling. I had one say that my Blackbird was a Chronomat and when I told her it was a Blackbird she said that she doesn't see them very often. I could understand that if there weren't THREE Blackbirds in the case right in behind her. Knowledge about what you're selling is vital to me. I talked to George on the phone last year when I was thinking of getting an Avenger and he was great, knowledgeable, courteous and he offered a great price. If I do buy new, probably not gonna happen because I'm cheap, I'd have no problem going through him, plus no sales tax

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"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

25% should take some haggling, most dealers wont just give that, it take a relationship or some other reason, if you get that walk in, id be pretty happy.

inventory is so important to me, i want to see 100 breitlings in stock, not 30. price is secondary to me for service and a relationship. i will pa an extra hundred or two for the service every time.

For me it's about 4 things (and these are in order) -

1) Price. While I'm not actually a fan of the brand-cheapening mega-discounts seen abroad, especially when we don't get them here , I do like to feel I've managed to negotiate a decent price for myself. Hence if I walk into an AD and they say they don't discount at all, then I'll happily just walk into another that will.

2) Knowledgeable, respectful and friendly staff. I can't stand it when you walk into an AD and they have some arrogant spotty idiot serving you who not only doesn't know anything about watches, they are also spouting stuff that is plainly wrong. That just irritates me, so unless they are REALLY coming good on the price (which is usually unlikely in those type of places) I leave immediately. Sure, I'm a WIS so I don't expect a sales person to be as much of a watch nerd as me, but I expect them to have at least a passing understanding of what they're selling!

3) Passion for watches. I like dealing with people who I can converse with on a passionate level when it comes to watches. It just improves the experience for me.

4) Events - It's certainly not a deal breaker or clincher for me, but it's always a nice touch when an AD invites you to little events they put on throughout the year. One AD I primarily use, has events like this, so the other year I went to a Breitling event and met the Red Arrows pilots. Earlier this year I went to a Patek event at a nice country club. I've been to a few other nice events through them as well, ALTHOUGH if anyone from there is reading, I noticed a DISTINCT lack of an invite to their Christmas do this year!!!!!! For me, these things make you feel a bit special, and undoubtedly generates feelings of loyalty towards that AD - at least it does for me..... subject to the points above of course.

Stock doesn't really bother me, provided they can a) get the stock in, and b) are prepared to get it in for me to try with no obligation to buy.

Anything else over and above this is all just window dressing......, and usually expensive window dressing at that. I'm not overly interested in the idea of a bar or a lounge or anything as it will probably mean they can't afford to offer me a good price. And besides, the most fantastic looking shop in the world may look great, but if it's staffed by rude imbeciles then it will cut no ice with me at all.

IMO, an AD can't go far wrong if they're prepared to offer a nice incentive to buy (like a nice little discount) and employ people who are friendly, courteous, and most importantly knowledgeable and passionate about watches.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Let me share a little story from last weekend. last week i was at provident helping out and i took a phone call from a customer who asked " Are you a breitling dealer?" naturally isaid yes and he then said "Good, i just picked up my watch i had shipped in, and can you help me set it and show me how it works?" Many dealers would get mad because he had bought the watch from somewhere else, but i said "of course! bring it on down and we will get you all taken care of"

so an hour later this man comes in,mid to late 60's with his watch, its a blackbird black steel. in conversation he tell me he bought it from an ad out of state, i wont tell who or where, but he told me. and they shipped it to him to save the tax, he was in the store when he bought it, but had it shipped because take on that watch is a few hundred at least. forget the fact it took 2 WEEKS for his watch to come, and they sent it usps, he had no idea at all how to use it. so i showed him how to wind it, set the time, how not to set it when the date change mechanism may have started, how to set the date etc. i started to show him how the chrono worked and unscrewed the push pin lock, and hit the top pusher, and nothing happened, so i unscrewed the bottom one and hit it, then the top again ...still nothing. Then i looked closely and noticed the subdial second hand didnt move, this watch didnt run AT ALL! not manual wind, shaken nothing. I helped him call the dealer, i got on the phone with them and explained it, and they will probably get him his money back. but then i took him over to the case and showed him probably a dozen watches, explained the differences, series, brands, movements, finishes, just spent an hour with him. he was blown away, the place he just dropped thousand in, never showed him how his watch worked, other options, none of that stuff. now i have anew customer from the deal, but i was embarrassed FOR the dealer, people should never be treated that way, even just shopping, i knew he wasnt buying it from me, but its just how people should be handled. my other ad in town doesnt feel the same way, they are cold, standoffish, dont show pieces to people, and they dont sell shit because of it.

anyway, sorry for long story, i get rollin sometime

I would say service and price are the most important, but I won't mind sacrificing a little on the price for an AD that can provide great service and respectful sales personnel, thus which I could build a relationship with. I don't get that right now with my local Breitling AD. Inventory is next in importance since I usually can see a good sample of models when I travel (always check out the ADs on the road). I don't expect them to have all the detailed knowledge/expertise in a specific brand as long as they're willing to find the info. and get back to you (this extra communication helps in building the relationship aspect).

With that said I do have one AD in town that provides that good service with sales knowledge. They are a Rolex, Patek and Richemont dealer (Panerai, IWC, JLC, A. Lange, Cartier). They don't generally discount much but they always make sure you are taken care of (serve cookies and drinks too) the entire time your in their store. Purchased my Panerai there but nothing else since (they do take trades also). They also hold 'events' which I am invited to but have not gone yet.

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Chrono Jetstream
Montbrilliant 1903
Aerospace E79362

Service and price is all that matters to me personally, sure its nice to chat with the salesman and cool to be able to try things on, but there are ways to get around that. My AD in Houston has unbelievably friendly and service oriented staff, this one lady in particular is very helpful. I am not an idiot, and I know that the fact that I give them so much business means they absolutely should treat me well, the fact that they do, and give me substantial discounts gives me no reason to go elsewhere. The fact that they are straight and honest is also a plus, I just put down a deposit on three new release PAMs and they only gave me a discount on one (the regular production model) when I asked why not on the other two SEs, they said it was because they knew it would sell at full retail. Straight answer, which I prefer and can understand (it is a business after all)

In contrast are the ADs in Dubai, I make it over there quite often, and always hit Dubai Mall for some window shopping and trying on a few choice models. Where else can you find Tourbillions and Perpetual Calendars wall to wall from every possible mainstream brand? The free coffee, huge stores, and frequent events are also nice. Downside is zero discounts and the staff would as well be selling seasonal vegetables.

I will always go for the likes of my Houston AD, I want my watch at a decent price and to be able to purchase it in a pleasant manner (dont need fireworks) the rest is marketing as far as I am concerned.

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Certified watch nut.

Agreed, 25% for a walk-in would be great. But to me, I not a walk-in. In the last 3 years, I've purchased from them 3 Breitlings, our wedding bands, a diamond pendant, and a diamond bracelet. And now I'm talking to them about the TranOcean for me and a $4k necklace for my wife. I poke my head in once in a while to look over their inventory, and chat with their watch guy. They know me by name.

Am I expecting too much? I know there aremembers on here who probably spend a lot more on watches/jewelry, but is the above list not enough business to be considered "a regular"?

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Breitling Colt GMT
Breitling Navitimer World
IWC Portuguese Automatic
Breitling Transocean Chronograph LE

For me:

Price is pretty important, both initial and with discount. I find some places will have a higher initial price for certain items, which strikes me as irritating. It's also always nice to get a discount.

Stock is the next issue. I seem to be one of those people who are perpetually late to the party, so I often decide I like something after it's out of production. Because of this, a lot of the time when I can find something at an AD, I pretty much have to buy it since I'm not going to get it anywhere else.

Knowledge is probably the last big thing for me, but I think in a lot of cases, knowledge is very much tied up with interest/passion. It's difficult to muster up the interest to learn all the ins and outs of a product if you're just not that interested in it, and if I visit a store where the AD has to look up even basic/simple things in the book, it's a bit of an interest killer for me. I visited a store last week where the guy had a major passion for Breitling (he noticed and complimented mine, and we had a little chat about the various models he's owned over the years-- and there were a lot; I find a lot of watch SAs tend to own Breitlings, even those who aren't necessarily Breitling dealers, which is interesting) and knew a lot about tons of different brands and their histories, which was great. He wasn't busy, so he let me try on a slew of things (including a Royal Oak perpetual!) as we chatted, which was terrific. That brings me to my last point--

Atmosphere. It's hard to explain this one, but I like to feel that I'm neither under pressure to buy nor being dismissed as a time-waster. To be completely honest, a lot of the time I will look at, and even try on, watches I have no intention of buying in the immediate future-- however, there's a very good chance that when I am in a position to make a purchase (which might not be that particular watch, but it will be something) I'll return to a store where I've been well-treated. I expect a good AD to recognise and accept that a customer won't necessarily buy everything they look at, or make a purchase on every visit, and be okay with that-- so long as the customer is polite and not overly demanding of their time.

Sure price and service come in first, as for the majority of you guys. But when you buy a piece valued at maybe several k, I expect knowledge, friendliness of staff as well as a creation of some special ties between client and seller. Heck, we're not buying tomatoes at the local grocery store.

I'm surprised though of the high percentage of members here who, in spite of not liking the relationship they have with their AD, they keep returning. This maybe explained by the fact that some regions (ex. Oregon ) lack the luxury of several ADs, hence the advantages of some healthy competition.

I realize that, living in Switzerland, I have the advantage of comparing between several ADs. I tried at least a dozen before choosing the one I wanted to have a business relation with. Sure price started it all but then I also found what I was looking for: friendly staff, knowledge and passion for the brand. He even returned the favor when he agreed to have a tasting of Greek wines during a presentation of the Corum brand.

Having said that, I want to add that my AD also has something rarely found outside of Switzerland IMO: he belongs to the fourth generation now running the dealership. People like that live through watches. Sure he's in for making some benefits (aren't we all?) but what a difference with ADs found in the Geneva area. Sales people there are so arrogant and they know so little not only of the Breitling brand but of watches in general. If you don't arrive in a Mercedes and with 3 bodyguards, they hardly welcome you. Often they're of Arab or Asian descent because ADs there target mostly tourists of those regions. And people from those regions don't ask for discounts, they just buy 4 or 5 pieces of each, no questions asked, except maybe which is the most expensive model of the range.

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