I haven't gone watch shopping for awhile, so decided to pop into Times Square. To my amazement, there are so many new stores there, guess what brand is mostly on their display- Rolex! All brand new pieces, Starbucks, Hulk, Kermit, Pepsi, Coke, Batman, whatever your heart fancies and they have it all. However, you pay through your nose for it.
It is amazing how many new stores have popped up over the last 3 years. I remember going to Times Square back in the day and you could find a sortie of different brands on display and the sifu would be able to tell you in detail about each watch that was there. How this is so different now. I walked into a store, a pretty young thing with low cut eye candy greets me and when I asked her if she had a Reverso for sale, she didn't know what it was.
I can only conclude that these shops are just there capitalising on their "relationships" with AD and whatever backdoor arrangement they have right now to get their pieces out and sell at 2-3x retail value. The worst part are the people buying them. I see pieces move so fast, I observed a couple walk in, inquired about a Batman and 2 hours later, I came back and the Batman was sold. These guys must be making a hell of a profit. Easily can turn maybe half a mil a day if you sold 10 watches.
I truly hope that this hobby returns to what it was before, a hobby. Not some investment scam that only benefits people with "relationships". Sadly, this is also the case with the country and now it has seeped into our beloved watch collecting hobby.
To close, I really urge everyone, please do not support these gray dealers. There are better watches out there. Buy for your own enjoyment, not "resale" value or "investment" purposes.