zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

Has anyone noticed the number of gray market dealers declaring their watches to have unmutulated serial numbers? This is undoubtedly related to the serious economic slump in the East and the thousands of watch retailer failures that followed. Tens of thousands of fine Swiss watches have been acquired by gray market jobbers over the last two years or so, and these watches are now offered with numbers intact. Manufacturer retaliation is no longer a threat - the stores are out of business, they couldn’t care less about their authorized dealer status. Therefore, the major impediment to buying gray market watches has now vanished. Such a watch is now undetectable by authorized repair centers, where it has to be assumed that it was purchased through "normal" channels. And, whether we like to admit it here or not, there is indeed such a thing as a "legitimate" and "respectable" gray market dealer. Ebay is host to quite a few. Caveat Emptor is no longer the fearsome advice it once was. The success of these outlets is proof of that.