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What to do when your longtime AD loses the plot?
First, love my AD and they've been quite good to me and my wife for about a decade, but recently it seems they lost the plot. Like many here, been migrating away from typical mass-produced mainstream brands and, considering decades as a collector, like many here we're no longer impressed with high-output mass-production from PP, VC, ALS, etc. Sure there's a rare PP vintage repeater or vintage 3940 and did like ALS until their game-play with customers and heard accuracy is meh........ guess you could say typical Big Box Store mainstream three-handers and chrono products seem meh to me (other than the Snoopy, it seems fun).
Guess you could say i'm bored. Actually, no guess... am very bored. and so...........
Texted my AD saying i'm bored..... he came back a day or two later with a CPO gold Rolex and a basic Jacob & Co. ..... in baby blue.
Speaks volumes.
Signed,
Obviously, it might be time to find a new AD, but with the secondary pricing now being quite attractive for some pieces, and the great in independent watch making smartly only selling direct (Simon Brette, RR, Kari V, etc), is it time i move up to the next level away from ADs? Generally desire 50 to 100m WP rating, and since i no longer have to wear a Monkey Suit, formal gold watches are for those still doing things that require that (read: not me).
Surely a few of you tech / investor guys have been through this. Is it time to enjoy the great bargains in the mainstream secondary market as the downturn continues, and there are some nice 'bargains' out there.
Am not much into formal timepieces, my tuxes gather dust, i gave away my M2M suits.... should i re-contact Simon and start writing a passionate letter to Simon Brette, and (once again after decades) reconnect with Kari V and we custom create a durable timepiece.
Prefer something durable, 100m WP.
Perhaps keep my plan with an MB&F Sequential Evo, but find a different AD than my current one / go secondary market like M2 did ???
Help.
Perplexed
What to do when your longtime AD loses the plot?
First, love my AD and they've been quite good to me and my wife for about a decade, but recently it seems they lost the plot. Like many here, been migrating away from typical mass-produced mainstream brands and, considering decades as a collector, like ma...
What I’ve Done…
Develop a relationship with a dealer that you trust, and go from there. You like independents? There are dealers that move, quietly, a lot of watches from independents (including with provisions that buyer cannot sell for “x” years or cannot sell until “y...
I hear you, experienced something similar in 2008, thats when I discovered Seiko and went down the rabbit hole with Independents...
The best thing for me was meeting with other collectors and watchmakers directly, no harm in slowing down and enjoying what you have 😊👍 PS: I forgot to Add, Vintage Watches have been extremely rewarding and challenging, highly recommend it
Love vintage, admire the early efforts... but i like to wear them.
Agree in slowing down, it's been 7 months since... wife even offered to offset Snoopy costs, tho thanked her and passed. To be sure, these are all just fun items of joy, to admire.... Wife suggested i get a fun car, but in my prime-ish have been there, do...
I second the vintage suggestion
I’ve got more joy from collecting and hunting vintage watches than any of my prior collecting phases. Rewards time and research.
Based on what I gather about your current tastes
(you're looking for something not boring and durable), I don't think you'll find what you're looking for in the bargains of the mainstream secondary market. Aiming for an MB&F Sequential Evo and finding another AD seems more likely to satisfy you. But I c...
A technical marvel!
The highly technical side of horology is very impressive. U.N deserves far more marketshare from the technical guys. They have great ideas, and almost got their little music box watch long ago, if it was able to be heard. Love their ideas, tho desire a bi...
Quattro, do you get these CIGA Designs in FB weekly?
Seeing this on Facebook about once or twice a week (various designs like the U.N.). Looks about the same, though yes technically a bit different. Maybe U.N should take this into account when discussing their new designs? ...
I don't use FB and wasn't aware of these CIGA designs,
but UN should definitely pay attention to them and search for something more original!
The Asian sites are filled with such things. For less than $1000 you can have a skeletonized tourbillion... in various colors of your choosing.
Am sure you know we see exceptional look-alikes of many brands that make typical movements. Yes, even the industrialized Trio brands, which shows how easy it is to make some of their mass-produced retail products. This is where MB&F, Brette, Kari, and oth...
Just hang on there and Enjoythemusic
I went through this just recently , i even thought i was done with watches, no feelings , terrible. But then a right watch, right time and boom. As for right watch, the sky is the limit. Good luck my friend, looking forward to look at your posts, always e...
Ashot, you are very kind. Am sure you're right and waiting for the right one is best.
The market is changing, i'm here waiting for that special, rare timepiece let go by weak hands.
Just pick a side and go with it.
I’m coming around more and more to the simplicity of just picking a side. It’s something I’ve always been opposed to, preferring to be broad and more varied and not concentrating on a single person, name, brand. But, I think the time has come to narrow th...
A question we all face eventually.
This resonates with so many of us. The relationship with an AD is built on trust and when that trust starts to fade it's hard to ignore. The good news is the independent watchmaking world has never been stronger. There are incredible pieces out there from...
Great points, and with gratitude, it's wonderful AHCI members are doing quite well 👍
Agree about the change in direction, and yes the Sequential Evo seems to be part of this new direction. Was first PP, then Rolex and fun pieces, and now migrating to MB&F, H. Moser, etc. Guess it's time to 'thin the herd', give a few to family members as ...
Just pick a side and go with it.
I’m coming around more and more to the simplicity of just picking a side. It’s something I’ve always been opposed to, preferring to be broad and more varied and not concentrating on a single person, name, brand. But, I think the time has come to narrow th...
Interesting and thought-provoking post . . .
I apologize for this stream of consciousness post I'm about to make, but, for what it's worth (probably not much), it gives my perspective on your dilemma. From my understanding, you are bored with your collection, which manly of us experience. When I fee...
Very much appreciate your thought-stream. Am very much in love with most of my collection. Even the cheapies.
Guess, and it's me, been 7 months since... and it'll be another six-ish months before Sequential Evo achieved. Your quote is excellent, tho there's a non-logical true-ism.... “After a time, you may find that ‘having’ is not so pleasing a thing after all a...
Almost all dealers annoy me :D
Having been in retailer & consumer my whole life, I find a lot of dealers do not run their business well and do not treat customers well. I believe this is because they have been "in the right time at the right place" with the COVID run up and now hav...
That's kinda what others have said to me as well.
i tried MODA years ago, but seeing timepieces trade like used cars.... guess there's still a bit of ye ol' romatic in me... and yes i know for fact that's co$t me. The old "My AD has been really good to me, so i might overpay, tho they do come through, us...
Yeah agreed
It is a little weird to see LOL. I like EWC, they shipped quickly and were easy to work with. I would happily buy from them again and funny enough, I was just looking at the 3940 they have in-stock but I think I should wait a bit before adding anytrhing L...
"but I think I should wait a bit before adding anything LOL"... why?
If it was the 1987, it's sold. Did you get it?
Thank you
Honestly speaking, I think that watchmaking is NOT just polishing, there must be more. Design, complications, innovations. I recognise the craftsmanship but I think that those super finished time only add nothing but hype
That's what so great about horology in 2026. We have MANY choices. Now that Ye Ol' 1900s are passed... you can get a $500 tourbillion with little decoration. Panerai makes products complications / little decoration, and they sell ~50,000 watches a year
Even TAG Heuer is doing technical horology as they enter F1 sponsorship. Technical horology is very interesting... but, for me, it has no soul. Super grand complications are nice, tho be aware of how some brands/types are fragile and service costs / wait ...
The easy answer is what you’ve already targeted
Horological machines and legacy machines are the best examples, another player is obviously Urwerk. Trying to walk different paths and saving a lot of money, you could have a look at Jiro Katayama aka Otsuka Lotec or Behrens.
I love my AD
and continue to get Rolex and independents from them including Roger Smith and Krayon. I also buy direct from Simon Brette, Kari Voutilainen, Sylvain Pinaud, Dann Phimphrachanh and Petermann Bedat. I don't see them as mutually exclusive. I think it's a go...
Ichiran, that's basically what we've been doing for over a decade (when we moved from one State to another). But recently, it seems they expanded, got fancier..... and lost the plot.
Perhaps, migrate away from their limited-availability M___ stores to their W__ side of the company? Wife and i had a wonderful visit within their Las Vegas location. BTW, this thread is not just me, as **my wife first made mentions months ago** , she felt...