zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

Keith,

Isn't the Speedmaster 3510.50 the cheapest automatic in the lineup?

: The past few years, Omega has been on the
: course of raising prices. Going Upmarket so
: to say. To support this, they've released
: new movements, added new models, improved
: quality and discontinued lower end models.
: This has happened over the past 3 or 4
: years. At one point, they actually caught
: themselves offguard by raising prices too
: much. This can be seen in the $1200 price
: difference between the Speedmaster Broad
: Arrow and the Seamaster America's Cup
: Chronograph. Both with the same movement,
: with the Seamaster ACC being 300 meters
: Water Resistant rather than 100 meters for
: the Broad Arrow. The Seamaster America's Cup
: Chronograph was originally set to come out
: with a much higher price. Then they realized
: it was a bad strategy with the downturn of
: the economy. A large disparity can also be
: seen between the DeVille Co-Axial
: Chronometer and the Seamaster Aqua Terra
: Chronometer. The later having more water
: resistance and a Sapphire Caseback.

: I've not heard anything about the Aqua Terra
: prices going up, and I doubt it will happen
: in January. It could be a bluff by the sales
: person.

: Currently, the Seamaster Professional finds
: itself situated as the least expensive
: mechanical model in the entire Omega
: line-up. I'm guessing Omega will revamp the
: model in the next year or two, probably with
: the Co-Axial Esacapement. If so, I would
: expect the price to rise $900 - $1000. I
: think it is rare that Omega actually raises
: the price on a set model. What we've seen
: from them in the past four years or more is
: higher prices on new models. Occassionally
: they will raise the price on an existing
: model, but usually find some modification to
: justify it, such as the latest bracelet on
: the Speedmaster Pro, mostly cosmetic changes
: on the Speedmaster Pro X-33, or the addition
: of the Sapphire Crystal for the Speedmaster
: Pro w/Display Back model 3573.50.00. Each of
: those rose in increments of $300 over the
: past few years. The Aqua Terra was just
: released last year, and I don't expect them
: to make any changes to justify a price
: increase. In fact, they've added new models
: to the line, and the prices have remained
: the same. Those models are the Railmaster,
: the Silver Dial - Blue Hands, and the Silver
: Dial - 18k Rose Gold Hands (which would have
: been justification enough to jack up the
: price a couple hundred dollars).

: I'm guessing prices are safe on the Aqua Terra
: for now. If they do raise in January, they
: won't all go up overnight. There will still
: be stock at the older prices in the
: Distribution Network. Omega does not decide
: to raise it's prices, then call all the
: Dealers and have them change the sticker
: prices in their display cases. It doesn't
: work that way. You should have time to find
: what you want at the lower price.

: I'll post if I hear anything from my Dealer
: about prices going up.