WATCH CONFESSIONS: “I buy my wife new watches to climb the waiting list”
Luke BenedictusEDITOR’S NOTE: We recently ran the first, second and third parts of our Watch Confessions series in which Time+Tide interviewed anonymous members of the community to get them to share their darkest watch-related secrets. In this latest instalment, one watch guy explains how his watch purchases for his wife are heavily tinged with self-interest as he buys his wife new watches to climb the waiting list.
“Everyone know that when it comes to certain brands, demand is way bigger than supply . That means if you want to buy at retail then you’re at the mercy of the authorised dealer. Unless you’re some hot-shot celebrity, when it comes to building a relationship with your authorised dealer, the bottom line is that money talks. Sure, it doesn’t hurt to dress smart and be personable and to visit the boutique on a regular basis. All of those things are just part of the groundwork. But you also need to build your purchase history. If you want to buy, say, a sports Rolex, then you’ll probably need to work up to it and buy less popular models first. Yeah, that’s a crappy state of affairs, but that’s how it is.
“And that’s also why my wife’s watch collection has got a lot better over the last 18 months. I’ve bought her a couple of watches – I’d prefer not to say which brands – one for her 40th birthday, one for our 10th anniversary. She’s grateful but a little bemused.
“Is she into watches? Well, she’s not exactly reading Hodinkee every day, put it that way. But she likes jewellery and diamonds; then again, tell me a woman who doesn’t. But the main reason I bought her the watches is in order to progress up the waiting list. Do I want her to ever know that? No, I do not!”
This article first appeared in Time+Tide’s NOW Magazine (to buy it from the UK store, click here)
