Archive for the ‘Random Thoughts’ Category

Rumors of More Price Increases for Cartier and Panerai

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

When it comes to luxury watches, price increases seem to be a fact of life.  It’s not surprising to hear rumors that Cartier and Panerai are considering price hikes in the near future.  What is surprising is that they’ve already raised prices this year – Cartier’s prices were just increased in July!

Now these are still just rumors, but we’ve heard them from multiple credible sources.

Have you heard anything?!?!

The good news is that all of these price increases make buying pre-owned more attractive.  You can save real dollars.

Check out our selection of pre-owned Cartier and Panerai.

Panerai Radiomir Black Seal

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Swatch Dumps Tiffany

Monday, September 12th, 2011

Swatch dumps Tiffany

“I think we’re alone now.  There doesn’t seem to be anyone around.”

When it comes to watches, that’s what the Tiffany executives will be singing for the foreseeable future.

Back in 2007, luxury jeweler Tiffany entered into a joint agreement with Swatch Group.  According to the Swatch Group website, the agreement was a “strategic alliance to further the development, production and worldwide distribution of Tiffany & Co. brand watches. Under the agreement, the new watch company, known as Tiffany Watch Co. Ltd and wholly owned by Swatch Group, will design and manufacture in Switzerland a complete range of high-end luxury watches.”

In other words, Swatch makes watches for Tiffany.  Swatch pays Tiffany royalties for the use of the brand.  Unfortunately, the relationship appears to be over.  According to the Wall Street Journal, “The world’s largest watchmaker said the long-term partnership was being terminated following Tiffany & Co.’s systematic efforts to block and delay development of the business.”

Of course, Tiffany had a few parting shots: “Despite assurances to contrary made in 2007, Swatch has failed to provide appropriate distribution for Tiffany & Co. brand watches, with the result that our current business forecasts do not include any meaningful increase in watch sales or royalty income.”

The relationship was set to last 20 years with an option for another 10.

A couple of interesting questions to ask:

1. Will any of the Swatch-made Tiffany watches become collectors’ items?

2. Are there good examples of jewelers successfully entering the watch world?  There are probably a few success stories, however, my feeling is that watches tend to be a bit more male-centric, making it difficult for jewelers to make a huge splash.

Tiffany is now single.  It will be interesting to see if any new kids on the watch block will be interested in courting her.

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Peace of Mind

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

“Buy the retailer first and the watch second.”  We’ve heard some version of that phrase several times.  It makes sense.  When you’re buying a luxury watch, it makes a lot of sense to buy it from a retailer that you trust.  Why roll the dice to save a couple hundred dollars?  It’s just not worth it.

From time to time customers will ask us, “How do I know that I can trust eRelyx?”  It’s a perfectly legitimate question.  Here are a few things to give you peace of mind.

1. We’re not trying to hide who we are.  We’re happy to share our pictures & backgrounds on our About Us page.

2. We  work with many well-established jewelers (both brick & mortar and online).  We know them, they know us.  We’re happy to provide you with a reference.

3. We answer the phone.  If you call us between 9am-6pm M-F, we’ll answer your call.  (If we’re in a meeting or out to a team lunch, leave us a message – we will call you back).

4. We have an active social media presence.  Feel free to check us out on Facebook.

5. We are endorsed by iW Magazine – the world’s only monthly watch publication for both the trade and enthusiasts.

6. We have a growing number of positive reviews from our customers – feel free to go to Google and check us out.

eRelyx Reviews

7. We have a world class board of advisors – it is unlikely that such impressive, high profile individuals would be willing to advise a company unless it was trustworthy.  See their profiles on our About Us page.

8. If you’re local and would like to meet us, we’re happy to set up an appointment.

Hopefully you’re convinced.  If not, feel free to give us a call or email us.  We’ll see what we can do!  617-536-1900 or contact@erelyx.com

Thank you.

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Tag This!

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Give us your best photo caption ideas & you could be a part of the next eRelyx ad campaign!

Each day this week we’ll be posting a new picture on our Facebook page from last weekend’s Boston photoshoot at Tico Restaurant & asking our fans to submit their best taglines!

Fan us on Facebook to participate. New photos will go up at 3pm ET.

Friday:

eRelyx Pre-owned Tag Heuer Monaco Watch

“Make Them Jealous;” “eRelyx. So Hot Right Now;” “Blue Eyes- Got the Time?” “Time is of the Essence;” “Make Time”

Thursday:

Our Favorites: “Real. Head-turner;” “Does your watch come here often?” ”By my watch its 5 o’clock somewhere;” “When I look in your eyes, I lose 10 seconds;” “Watch you up to?” “Haven’t I seen you here a time or two?”

Wednesday:

Our Favorites: “Perfect Time;” ”Time to Make a Move;” “Real. Good Impression;” “eRelyx. Creating ‘Moments’ Not Just Time”

Tuesday:

“Meet your match!”

Monday:

eRelyx-pre-owned-luxury-watch-photo-shoot-advertisement

eRelyx’s Best Caption: …You’re It!

Your Best Captions: “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere;” ”Great Company is Timeless;” “eRelyx. Always in Good Taste;” “…As Time Goes By;” “Purchase a pre-owned timepiece from eRelyx… and still have enough money for a date!”

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In Good Company

Monday, August 1st, 2011

eRelyx Lululemon

The eRelyx team made an interesting discovery recently – our office is in the same building as one of the very early Lululemon Athletica offices.  Never heard of Lululemon?  Well, head to your local gym and do some research.  They make yoga pants for women (Okay, they make some other stuff – but it’s less important).  The pants look great!!! Don’t do too much research though – you don’t want to get kicked out of the gym.

So we were thinking – this office space must be the launching pad for amazing businesses.  Lululemon is publicly traded and worth over $7B.  eRelyx will be there soon!

Here’s a snapshot from the Lululemon website.

Lululemon screen shot eRelyx

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eRelyx Reviews – Used and Pre-owned Luxury Watches

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

eRelyx Reviews

We recently noticed that several people were getting to the eRelyx website by googling “eRelyx Review.”  As a relatively new business, we don’t have formal reviews on Yelp, CitySearch, or Insider Pages.  We hope to build up those third-party reviews soon!  Customer service is extremely important to us!  Everyone should feel comfortable calling (617-536-1900) or emailing us (contact@erelyx.com) with any questions.

In the meantime, here are some reviews from our customers.  They can also be found on our About Us page.

Alli: “The eRelyx team helped me pick out a great Panerai watch for my husband – he loves it!  The process was very easy and the team at eRelyx was friendly and responsive.  I highly recommend them!”

Aydin: “Thanks again for all of your assistance throughout this process – you’ve been incredibly helpful and have saved us a lot of money!!!!”

Cindy: “I love my new Cartier Tank!  It is in perfect condition, and eRelyx was incredibly easy to do business with.  I highly recommend eRelyx.”

Elizabeth: “I had such a great experience purchasing my Cartier Tank watch through Greg.  He was incredibly patient with me and answered all of my questions in a very low-pressure way.  I absolutely love the watch and am so glad that I went through with the purchase!  Greg really knows his stuff and I trusted him at every step of the way.”

Bob: “Excellent Customer Service and Attention to Detail, especially for a relatively inexpensive watch. I’ll be in the market for a pre-owned Rolex in the next few months, and I’ll definitely keep eRelyx in mind.”

Julia: “There isn’t much that Greg doesn’t know about watches.  He understood exactly what I was looking for and helped guide me through each step of the purchase process.  He even went out of his way to make sure that I received the watch by Christmas given a relatively tight turnaround time.  I highly recommend making any purchase through eRelyx!”

Daniel: “I’m so happy I used eRelyx to purchase my watch. Carrie helped me through the entire process, answered all my questions and even hand delivered my watch to me. They not only got me a great price on my Omega but they had incredible customer service as well.”

Michael: “Greg not only knows watches, he knows service and has effectively transformed online watch shopping from a transaction to an experience, and I ended up with a great watch!”

John: “All about customer service and customer satisfaction.  Greg went above and beyond to help me find the perfect IWC watch.  I am absolutely amazed with Greg’s knowledge of watches and even more impressed with his sound advice and countless emails and phone calls to make sure I was happy with my purchase.  In addition to the best-in-class service, eRelyx helped me get an incredible deal on my watch.”

Addison: “I love the watch. So much better than expected, and I had high expectations. I’m a [pre-owned] convert.”

Elizabeth: “Greg walked me through the entire process of purchasing a watch for my husband for our first wedding anniversary. From providing preliminary information about brands and watches in different price ranges, explaining the pros and cons of purchasing new or pre-owned, and sharing his personal opinions about various watch features, Greg’s quality customer service made an overwhelming process easy and fun! Greg jumped through hoops to get the watch to me in time for our anniversary trip. I could not possibly have picked out such a great watch without him, and my husband is thrilled with his gift! I can’t say enough good things about eRelyx’s customer service!”

Stephen: “I must say I am truly impressed. [eRelyx has] gone above and beyond any retailer I have ever done business with. I appreciate the extra effort, gifts and personal attention to detail!!!!”

Learn more about the eRelyx Team on the ‘About Us’ page.

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Omega Watch – I’ll Pay With US Dollars

Monday, July 25th, 2011

Omega Seamaster Professional on eRelyx

I was doing a bit of online research on Omega watches over the weekend.  I learned two things:

1. Our Omega Seamaster Professional is priced VERY competitively.  Tough to find that watch in stock for under $2800.

2. The US Dollar is at an all-time high (okay, that isn’t true, but check out this screen capture for another watch site):

If someone would like to pay us in Euros for this watch, we would gladly accept half of what our competitors are asking.  A steal at just under 700 billion Euros.  Okay, give us 500 billion and you’ve got a deal.  Fine.  One billion Euros.  But not a Euro less.

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Watches Have Always Been Cool

Monday, July 18th, 2011

The New York Times recently wrote an article declaring that watches have been “rediscovered by the cellphone generation” (Read the full article here).  While it’s great to see that watches are getting attention in mainstream press, it bothers me when people claim that watches will be replaced by electronic devices like cell phones.  While that may be the case for digital Timex and Casio watches, I don’t think the claim holds true for luxury watches.  Why?  Well, you don’t buy a $5000 watch to tell time.  Sure, it’s nice that your Rolex or Omega watch will tell time, but you bought it because of how it makes you feel.  It gives you confidence.  It sets you apart from your peers.  Its provides a glimpse of your personality.  It’s a piece of art.

Why do bracelets exist?  See where I’m going with this?  If people bought bracelets simply for functionality…well, they would have never been invented.  (Probably the case with all jewelery, save wedding rings)

BTW – shouldn’t we ditch ties before we even think about ditching watches?  I’d much rather wear this Omega than a tie.  Wouldn’t you?

Omega Speedmaster

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What’s Next for Tourneau?

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Tourneau NYC

Back in 2006, a group of investors led by Leonard Green purchased Tourneau for ~$300MM.  The investors had high hopes.  With a booming economy, only 40 locations, and Tourneau’s brand name and reputation, strong growth seemed imminent.

Leonard Green was probably licking its chops for the first 18 months of its ownership tenure.  2007 was likely a record year for Tourneau.  But I imagine that things got difficult in a hurry starting at the end of 2008.  Sure, the ultra-wealthy may not have been impacted by the recession, but I have a VERY strong feeling that a large chunk of Tourneau’s sales come from the young, up-and-coming finance types.  Whoops.

So is the picture all rainbows and butterflies now that the economy is rebounding (hopefully)?  Not so fast.  As we have discussed, the watch landscape is changing.  Manufacturers are cutting back on the number of retailers with whom they’re partnering.  Even if Tourneau survives those cuts, where will growth come from?  Tourneau could open additional locations in the US, but the manufacturers might not supply product – especially if the manufacturer already has an existing retail partner where the new Tourneau is opening. In addition, with manufacturers sending a growing number of watches to Asia, there is less product to go around in the US.

International growth is certainly an option for Tourneau – and indeed, that was part of the plan when Leonard Green acquired the retailer in 2006.  However, that’s easier said than done.  Tourneau doesn’t have the same brand strength abroad that it does in the US.  In addition, the management team probably doesn’t know its way around the international markets – although they’re smart enough to figure it out or hire the right people to do so.  Tourneau may find great success abroad, but it will be a long-ish, challenging journey.

As a result, Tourneau will need to get creative to drive growth over the next few years.  Maybe Tourneau can convince Cartier, Rolex, and others that online sales are the wave of the future (ha!).  Maybe Tourneau can expand sales of other accessories – sunglasses, jewelry, leather goods.  Maybe Tourneau can greatly expand pre-owned sales – although sales of pre-owned watches will come at the expense of new watch sales.  The manufacturers won’t be happy about that – so it could be a very slippery slope for Tourneau!

What do you think?

(Special thanks to DG for our discussion about the topic last week!)

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Buyer Beware (Again)

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

Something doesn’t add up here.  Whenever you see prices THIS good, you should be skeptical.  We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again…if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.  Let me say this – please make your own judgments.

GenuineWatchesOnSale.com is offering the Tag Heuer watch for $470 less than the next closest competitor (if you click on WatchClick, a different watch is for sale – simple mistake).  Being skeptical, I went to GenuineWatchesOnSale.com.  The website looked familiar.  Check it out:

genuinewatchesonsale

No wonder it looks familiar.  Several months ago we warned you of a questionable website called windsorjewelries.com.  They stole the identity of a legit business in Indianapolis (we called the actual store to confirm).  Read the whole story here.

And check out a screen shot of “Windsor Jewelry” (actually windsorjewelries) site (they have been shut down, I believe):

Hmmm.  Fishy, right?  I’ve done a bit of research and it seems like other blogs and forums are skeptical.  Maybe it’s just a coincidence that GenuineWatchesOnSale.com chose the same template as windsorjewelries.com.  We’ll let you make your own judgements – but please be careful!

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