Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet are to guarantee its watches against theft. The program will guarantee to replace, refund or repair any stolen or damaged watch bought in 2022 or 2023 for two years. The service will run until the end of 2024. What do you think about this ...  

Now.... How are they going to deal with those who will want to simply take malicious advantage of this!?........

To validate the original owners with the serial number. And perhaps be an opportunity to identify flippers along the way... Great move! Peter

the original owners themselves can easily file false claims.... This is something traditional insurance companies deal with all the time, but not something a watch manufacturer is supposed to deal with........

Looks like in the interview, they may ask for a recent photo of the owner wearing the watch and police report for proof - if someone is willing to go the extra mile, then they are capable of a lot of things to game the system. Anyway, pretty amazing stuff... 

The 'bank safes' at AP boutiques is a pretty attractive idea in my opinion....

in my opinion probably too many LoL.... Don't underestimate the number of exceedingly wealthy people willing to circumvent legal matters (obviously, mostly through a third party) in order to gain something financially....

Just look at the number of shell corporations globally and that's more than substantive enough to gage the intent and sentiment of said company owners....

Very intriguing move … which could be interesting if they really close the door on “no service for stolen watches”. We have had for a long time discussion about the allegedly limited willingness of the brands to track (incl database) of stolen property. N... 

The deviant ones would engineer the theft of their own watches. Instead of one they’d have two. And then years down the road, some other bloke would purchase the “stolen” watch, bring it into AP for servicing and get arrested for theft. I don’t know what ... 

And make more ROs… and not some replacement program… thats if they think world demand is higher than their supply function. However if all they care about is selling to rock stars, movie stars atheletes and the like…then real collectors like us would not ... 

Buy a new RO....report it as stolen, get your crime number, report it to AP, get a refund and then although they might not service it come the time you've at least got ten years of free RO wearing

One has to look at the big picture here. And the big picture is... how many more people will wear AP watches and be l less careful..? Because it's insured, will I wear my newly bought AP watch out at night, while going to discos and bars? Will I go out in... 

and I hope as many of their customers as possible will appreciate this gesture rather than take advantage of it. Unfortunately I have never owned an AP before and am unlikely to ever own one as my preferred watch, the ice blue Royal Oak in 37mm is too sou...  

I agree that the ice blue tapisserie dial is the most attractive modern day AP, along with the WG salmon dial.

I will perhaps try to source the watch from London or Geneva when I visit next month. All I want is to be allowed to place an order as I do not mind how many years I might have to wait for one.

Unfortunately I feel you could be in for a lot of polite words and promises that never actually materialise.

but hey, I always believe in appreciating what I have rather than being disappointed at what I can't have!

And the new manager of the boutique is actually someone I have known for years in a different capacity. So I guess it was just not meant to be.

I mean they have the demand, no need for additional incentive. I'm sure outsourcing to a third party so shouldn't add too much hassle for them? Regardless this has a cost that is built into this or whatever the next price increase is.

Assuming 1% loss a year, and 2 years of production, covered at 2 years each and 2 Billion Swiss francs of turnover a year; that's 80 million Swiss francs potential exposure for this project assuming a 1% claim rate. Obviously, we hope the claim rate is lo... 

Obviously this is built into the next price increases,those who got in 2022 received a free service! Insurance companies typically make bundles of money, maybe they are trying their hand? Unsure the significance of 2022 and 2023 and the 2 years insured pe... 

I made a separate post about this subject that came out seven minutes later (I was still writing my post when Cpt Scarlet published his) than Cpt Scarlet's already excellent post, in my post about the subject, I speculated that maybe watch companies will ... 

If AP has the right to replace the watch (surely they would include this as part of their terms), then replacement could be as low as 25% of the retail price. Not sure if that consideration is built into your numbers.

But yes, AP will offer a cash payout (at retail price) or a new "equivalent" watch. Obviously, the equivalent watch costs them the least as production costs and costs-of-goods-sold are much less than the retail price of the watch.

But keep in mind, many will choose the replacement option - due to the simple fact that the watches are worth more on the open market than the cash. But so far, according to the CEO interview, so far AP plans to provide both a cash and replacement option ... 

It's definitely a lot of risk for AP. A "bad case scenario" can be as much as 80 million CHF in claims, that's around $85 million USD from now through 2025. That's pretty bad. A sizable 2% of their revenue. Of course, I don't think they'll see that many c... 

Is how mega the revenue (and likely profits) are for this family company

It's not a family company entirely. While yes, the Audemars family does own a percentage, there are also other corporations that own a percentage of Audemars Piguet. So it's not all going to Jasmine Audemars - as she has partners to divvy up the profits w... 

Looks like I was seven minutes behind you!

So it‘s just a marketing move to me. But a nice one, if they don‘t screw up the experience for affected customers.

Nope. I don’t think this gives anyone concerned about the high profile of these watches and associated risks in wearing one any comfort. Now if one was sure that all that would happen is (a) thief asks for watch (b) you hand over watch and (c) thief walks... 

(1) It will be interesting to see how this affects the price of new AP watches from gray dealers. This adds a clear advantage to buying via an AP boutique (often not possible, of course). (2) Like all insurance, this will be paid for by the customer via p... 

Like it's the equivalent of a bumper to bumper warranty. That's something beyond the theft provision...maybe it will reinforce the idea for people to wear their watches not safe their watches... Pretty amazing still!! Cheers Peter

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Water park fun...2 meters Peter

Is it perfect? No. But it’s a commendable gesture and speaks to their commitment to customer service. I’d be interested to learn insurance program results after a few years of being in effect. Other manufacturers could follow suit.

It's actually not expensive to insure on an annual basis. You can do it through a jewelry insurance policy or scheduling it to your homeowners insurance. This program is as if AP purchased two years of insurance for your purchase. It's a very miniscule am... 

And the process was pretty painless and straightforward online. In the end, as I have collected for a while, I've insured all my watches and plan not to change any of my policies at this point. However, I also remember getting my first AP watch and gettin...