The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I find your local dealer's experience very strange indeed. Here in Seattle there are 3 main dealers of Omegas, and one of them is Ben Bridge, who also sells Rolex, Tag, Baume & Mercier, Tissot, and Hamilton. Other than Rolex, none of the others are higher-end than Omega. Some people also look down on Ben Bridge because most of their locations are in shopping malls.

With one minor exception, however, my experience with Ben Bridge has been overwhelmingly positive. My wife and I have purchased several items of jewelry there, including my wedding band. I routinely get better service from them than I do from other, supposedly higher end, shops. If I were to buy an Omega new, I would go to them first. If Omega were to ditch them, it would be the most insanely stupid thing they could do. BB probably sells more Omegas than the other two dealers combined. In fact, they probably generate sales because people go into their stores only knowing about Rolex, but learn about Omega.

I think in a effort to fine-tune sales many brands end up throwing away more important factors. Sure, product arrangement and image marketing and all that jazz do make a difference, but I doubt it is as important as having a knowledgeable and trusted ambassador for your brand. While it is true that most people don't appreciate the watches they buy like those of us here, it is also true that many people form relationships with particular jewelry shops, and they will return to those shops again and again to buy both jewelry and watches. Wouldn't you want your watch brand to be sold at the jewelers who have lots of repeat customers?

10 years ago, BMW realized that although the bulk of its vehicle sales were from people who were not passionate about their vehicles, i.e. they bought the brand not the car. This is because 80% of 3 series sales were to these kinds of people, and 3 series accounted for some high percentage of their total sales (70%? I can't remember the exact number). However, BMW also was able to determine that 80% of repeat customers...i.e. the kind who went on to purchase the more expensive 5 and 7 series as well as their M line again and again...came from the 20% of 3 series buyers who were passionate about their cars. Therefore, although the majority of sales went to image-based customers, the bulk of their profits came from repeat customers who purchased several high-margin BMWs each over their lifetime. Sure, it's hard to expand one's business quickly by relying on repeat customers (especially, as in BMW's case, your product has the longest length of ownership in its market segment). But you will very very quickly shoot yourself in the foot if you ignore loyal customers and focus entirely on the image-based masses in order to expand short-term sales volume.

I wonder how many of Omega's customers are repeat customers for the brand or for specific dealers?

--Mofongo

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." --Dave Barry

You make some very good points. If they pull this kind of attitude too long, I think it hurts in the end. I still think that Omega has a lot of great dealers, fortunately for them, so to feel any kind of slowdown in their business would take a lot of time, but it can happen.
I have heard of Ben Bridge, actually. Not been to Seattle for years, but remember seeing them all over the place. No reason at all why you cannot get expert service from them.
You are also right, it is very strange. Not only is my AD a professional and an expert, he has a very large and very well-known watch maintenance facility in the building, above his shop. He not only services his own watches, but AD's from all over town bring theirs in to be serviced by him. He does not sell Rolexes, but does service on them. As a matter of fact, the Rolex AD I visited yesterday, is a very good customer at Time & Gold, to have their watches serviced. I am not sure if it is Rolex or Omega or both. Vancouver is not a large city, especially downtown, and most of the ADs have a great rapport with each other. Time & Gold is not only well thought of by individual customers, but by many high end ADs as well, both Omega and other brands.
I did some more talking with some people the past few days. Vancouver is especially "targeted", because of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Time & Gold is right downtown, in between many of the venues, so a very high profile area. It is such a shame - shame, shame, shame on Omega - that visitors who want to look at Omegas will not be able to partake of the finest service this city has to offer. Not only have they insulted one of the top ADs in Vancouver, if not the top AD, but it is a slap in the face to all of the loyal customers who support him.
Unfortunately, an event like the 2010 Winter Olympics is very much an elitist event, and the sports aspect of it almost seems at times to be forgotten. There seems to be a good analogy here with the service aspect of Omegas being forgotten. Many people get so caught up in the hype, pretense and showcasing of the city that they forget about things like sportsmanship and the main reasons for having Olympic events. It is a shame, but a sad part of life.
I was all set to wait and see about getting a new LE Planet Ocean Liquidmetal in the New Year. Now I am looking at everything else. Not trying to vindicate myself because of my feelings, but this whole thing knocks the wind out of my sails as far as my love of the Omega brand is concerned.
Cheers,
Carl

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'63 Omega Seamaster, 2014 Omega Speedmaster MarkII

"Those who possess a sense of entitlement are seldom satisfied"

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PAM359M | PAM311L | PAM305L | PAM219M | PAM292K

Jay,
Thank You for posting this very interesting article. I hear the terms "arrogant" and "maintain exclusivity" used a lot in relation to Omega lately.
Cheers,
Carl

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'63 Omega Seamaster, 2014 Omega Speedmaster MarkII

"Those who possess a sense of entitlement are seldom satisfied"

No problem. I saw this on another forum today and I immediately thought of this thread.

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PAM359M | PAM311L | PAM305L | PAM219M | PAM292K

I personally don't have a problem with manufacturers punishing their dealers for undercutting the brand. Bose does the same thing. If you sell Bose speakers at a discount, you lose your license to sell their products.

That said, however, Omega appears to be conflicted between making as much money as possible (thus, selling as many watches as possible), and maintaining its offered price while uplifting its brand image.

As much as I love my Breitling - there aren't any models that are difficult to get - nor are there any Omegas that are difficult to get.

My Panerai dealer(s) however will not "promise" you any watch. Sometimes they get a few in of a certain model - sometimes they only get one - sometimes they don't get any. "Limited quantities" should mean just that.

The problem that Omega has is that it cannot limit production and increase prices because its fan base and image is not strong enough to make up the difference in lost margins for making such a move.

Just my opinion though

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PAM359, Omega PO Big Size, 1951 Omega Seamaster, Rolex Sea Dweller

Jay, that article is quite interesting. Nearly all watch brands, including Breitling, control pricing practices for their dealers. This practice common for virtually all "exclusive" products: handbags, shoes, cosmetics, even electronics like Bose (as Drtymrtini points out) and B&O. Even car companies like Mercedes have tried to do this in a big way (not sure how successful they were at it).

Is this wrong? I dunno. It seems to be in Australia, and I certainly understand the point of Mr. Watson in the article that one is not above local law. But I have a hard time believing that Breitling (or Bose or Hermes, etc) exerts absolutely no influence on prices in Australia, as the law would seem to dictate.

While it is nearly always true that lack of competition hurts the consumer, maybe we just don't care as much if the item in question is a luxury purchase?? Therefore we are more willing to accept these price-fixing schemes.

As for the Olympics, I am already sick of them just living here in Seattle!!!! I can't image how annoying life must be for you guys in BC! Hang in there!

--Mofongo

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." --Dave Barry

I do wonder whether the different laws in different countries affect pricing decisions. We all know that European markets tend to discount less than in North America and I wonder whether that is because consumer protection laws don't allow companies to control discounts - therefore the response is to sell to the AD network at a price that doesn't allow for such heavy discounting.

In North America where the concept of minimum pricing tends to be more acceptable the distirbutor to AD price is lower because the discount can be controlled (as has been seen by Breitling kicking out some US ADs who discounted too heavily).

Pure speculation on my part though.

Just curious, does that dealer sell Panerai?

Not a knock on PAM (would love to have one), but let's be honest - they aren't sold on their amazing innards. No complication hand-winds sold for $5k and up. Companies like Omega see this and think WTF?

I think Omega is simply noting that crazy premiums are tagged onto watches that are not known for their movements, and trying to take an aggressive move as a result. Not to say that Panerai doesn't have nice movements, but Omega probably had the right idea, but their marketing plan isn't being implemented correctly at the retail level.

Let's say this has nothing to do specifically with Omega. Let's be honest. Not all high-end anything has good dealers. The consumer electronics industry has suffered from this for years. Thing is though, enthusiasts rarely make good (efficient) salespeople, and in a tougher economy, retailers might default to cheaper help, relying on brands to move themselves.

What people seek in internet chat partners are not what businesses need to move product - inefficient chatty fellas that are interested too much in talking shop, forgetting they're there to sell.



Crap companies like Bose OTOH understand that luxury, quality brands do this. To me, the fact that Bose enforces unilateral pricing dilutes the practice entirely.

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Avenger Skyland
If I said I was good, you'd think I was bragging.
If I told you I wasn't, you'd know I was lying.

I don't really keep up with the Omega brand other than I used to own a few from the 60's and still have a Seamaster. In that general area of time (50's , 60's), Omega was considered better than Rolex. At that time Omega produced more COSC watches than Rolex and the Constellation model was the top chronometer of its day. If this is really a trend with dealers, then Omega might be repositioning itself among it's competition. Hard to believe they can do that given all the grey market Omega watches out there. The dealers must be flooded with them.

My recent experiences with ADs that last few years is why I almost exclusively buy online now, from forum dealers. No hassle, good price. End of story.

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Mmmmm

Many manufacturers don't pay attention to grey market any more than they pay attention to products sold at garage sales. ADs, with most brands, focus on new merchandise sales.

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Avenger Skyland
If I said I was good, you'd think I was bragging.
If I told you I wasn't, you'd know I was lying.