Vacheron Constantin

moc
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Nothing can put me off the 1921...(recent experience)..

I was walking down my favourite street ,doing my weekly watch tour,when all of a sudden surprise surprise,I see the very elusive 1921American in a retailer window.

Being the first time I managed to see it live ,I was full of excitement.With a big smile on my face I entered the store.

A very very young lady comes towards me asking if I needed help,I replied I would like to see the 1921 American in the window.

Her reply was "You mean the Audemars Piguet?".............there you go another assistant who doesn t know what he or she is talking about.Due to the very young age(what is such a young girl ,with a faintest clue of what is going on doing in a shop selling up to half a million worth watches doing here????),I gave her benefit of the doubt and I said "No,No the Vacheron"

After I sat down,she came back with 4 VC watches confirming that she didn t understand a word I said.No gloves no tray,there you go........

Anyway I was too excited to touch and try the beloved 1921,this time the pics only experience didn t fail...the watch is a beauty,fits perfect and has unlimited amount of class....I am sold....

Throughout my experience the little girl looked around like it was the first time she saw a watch,not a word,not an idea..fair enough I thought.

I had a look at the price tag and it was ........7,5k(more than usd11k)more than official price!!!!!!What??? oh yeah.

Nevermind I thought ,the watch is a beauty and thats all I needed to know.I asked the poor girl to take the watch off my wrist (I don t want to take the chance to bang it or worse)to which she proceeded to push the top part of the maltese cross backwards with enourmous strenght(thinking maybe it was a deployante???),till I refrained her to do so and carried on taking the watch off and showing her the way a buckle works.

With a mix of disappointment and excitement I walked out....That particular watch wasn t to be mine....I don t know who they gonna fool with that price and customer service but def not me.

A few steps ahead there is a VC AD ,I looked in the window and......yes.....another 1921...never had the chance to see 1 and now in 15 mins 2!!!!

I walked in and asked for  the watch...finally a reasonably knowledgeble man showed it to me,and we started talking.He knew a bit about watches and it was a pleasant conversation.The price was theRRP ,so £7,5k less than 100 meters before,oh dear!.

I strapped it on and again a wonderful watch ,no doubt whatsoever.I asked about the price and He replied that it is a fixed price,no dicount as a coveted limited piece.But but ,,,the problem is that the watch had a massive double scratch on the bezel,so relevat that it was all I could see...Obviously no gloves ....

We all know we can have little channels where we could have a little deal here and there,so what is the point to go to a stiff AD?Many would reply that going to an AD you have the security and professionalism only an AD can give you.This proves to be false as most of the times watches have hairlines or worse ,and the professionalism mentioned ,well it s missing.Others can object that the service you receive and your watch receives is the only possible;well, also false as it is not the AD who services your watch but the manufacture.

So where is the catch? Why should I be a good boy and only trust ADs when, if I look carefully my trusted parallel dealer can give me a brand new watch(never touched before),fresh from the factory with no scratches or dings, for a well discounted price, with valid warranty and a smile on his face?Plenty of food for thought about the industry.

Sorry if this post concentrates more on the experience rather than the fantastic American.I will follow with my impressions in the near future.

One thing is clear,despite the bad experience ,the 1921 is a must have watch,to me it is a perfect dress watch,even though it was born with a sporty pourpose.It will come home at some point....for sure.

Yours,Mo.