Patek Philippe

Just curious why most major watch brands increase prices regardless of economic conditions throughout the years but never decrease it.....doesn't seem to follow the law of economics? Any thoughts on this please?

High end watch brands are in a way like inferior goods: Demand does not respond (fall) due to higher prices. In fact for some brands (Patek) one might see the perverse thing happen that demand increases as prices do. Prices have also increased due to indu... 

Was in Switzerland for vacation and of course visited every watchshop or boutique I could find in the area. The most impressive for me was that I saw Chinese translations, personnel , prices so on. But I was really shocked when I saw "Asian turn" in the R... 

salary or the profit margins. I got a short time ago a 20 year old Patek which was delivered with the price list of 1992. What I noticed was that the same watch now is costing some 2.5 times more than in 1992 while the average gold price in Swiss Francs i... 

Demand for luxury goods is reportedly exceeding supply, particularly in Asia. Currency fluctuations also impact pricing models.

Yeah i kinda figured that out, as in, what you guys all said....sort of makes me feel better....hah....onto the next purchase then!

Is more applicable to luxury items including high end watches. And as long as market can accept it, prices will continue to go up.

Would you like to buy a new Patek or a collectible Patek that is 60% off the msrp or market price?. I would not. And luxury brand has to keep their images. Best regards, Baxter

I am sure your 60% example is just a random number you picked. I buy many watches that are priced at a discount to MSRP that I know will be worth less once i take it out of the shop. In fact I think 95% of high end watches will be like this. I also happen... 

When a manufacturer responds to market conditions (like exchange rates and precious metal costs) and increases prices accordingly .... the first comments are if conditions change, why don't they adjust their prices according to the market change? If they ... 

if you consider that watches are Veblen goods - the higher the price the higher the demand (within "reason"): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good Best Andreas

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With high end hand made stuff made of expensive materials whether it be luggage, watches or furniture or whatever there is no way to use shortcuts on production or cheaper materials to keep costs steady as say the car companies do by addding more and more... 

Asked and was told that gold prices have gone up so much that they have no alternative but to up the prices. Notice that the PP5270G is priced even higher than the PP5970P . Taking into account that the latter is Platinum. henry hoe

My belief is the 5270g is priced more than the 5970P not because the metal but as a recoupment of the R&D for the new in-house movement. I agree the pricing for Pateks are expensive, but so are all the popular brands. I would like to see what happens ... 

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Agree with dje....hard for Swiss watch companies to increase profits given the strong chf (sales in US$ are converted into a lower amount of chf). plus increase in demand from Asia. As a comparable, look at what happened to Hermes' share price over the la...