FabR[Senior Patek Moderator]
26166
To be very honest, I don't see that coming back anytime soon. The demand for Patek and Rolex (and FPJ, and a few select others) has simply become too high, whether some people like it or not....
Aug 01, 2022,10:00 AM
Rolex is able to allocate to its good collectors virtually all of its 1M (!) watches a year, Patek its 65k (figures from 2021), and FPJ its 1k (or probably less). It's an obvious corollary to this that anybody else who wishes to purchase a timepiece from the most sought-after brands will likely have to do so above retail. This is the market.
Having said this, some VERY good news though --- which many people seem to forget --- is that *most watches* ARE in fact readily available at retail or even discounted !
While the random person cannot walk into a Rolex or Patek AD and walk out with a cool watch on their wrist, they can still find *plenty* of mid-tier, entirely legitimate brands (Breguet, JLC, Parmigiani, etc. etc., just to mention the first that came to mind) which are less in demand and DO carry LOTS of readily available pieces for anyone to buy! ;-) Add to these the countless modern Indies that pop up on a daily basis and will even customize anything for you, and.....everyone, at every collecting level, can find a way to be happy!
Cheers.