Real watch bargains?
Watches on 1-2-3.tv: TAG Heuer, DELMA, Revue Thommen and Laco By Lacher on special offer
It is an illustrious round, in which the renowned Swiss and German watch producers TAG Heuer, DELMA, Revue Thommen and Laco By Lacher find themselves on 1-2-3.tv. If you filter the watch offer on the homepage of the home-shopping station with residence in Unterföhring close to Munich with the setting „over 500.00 Euros“, additional watch brands appear next to watches by TAG Heuer, Delma, Revue Thommen and Laco By Lacher like R.U. Braun, Lindberg&Sons, NOCTUM or G.v.M.Wehro, better known as „Graf von Monte Wehro“.
But what are the backgrounds as to why watches from renowned producers like TAG Heuer, DELMA, Revue Thommen and Laco By Lacher over 1-2-3.tv? For the watch producers, the partially way under the unbinding price recommendations achievable auction and fixed prices for the watches are not without problems. Their specialist dealer network lives off as little rebates as possible and the specialist trade and watch customer does not dislike anything more than watered down prices. Not for nothing do the renowned brand producers therefore promise their specialist dealer faithfulness on a regular basis, even if has been is a hardly transparent grey market with partially significant discounts to the light prices for decades now.
The causes of why watches can be offered on 1-2-3.tv are versatile.
Cause number 1: The economic crisis
They are watches of the brand Laco, that – says an employee of Laco – the company „Trias Uhren“ bought during the time of the owner KIENZLE. A total of 200 Valjoux-Chronographs were produced and in the face of the economic crises probably nobody asked where exactly the watches with the brand Laco were to be sold. Laco became insolvent just shortly before, and was bought up by the meanwhile also insolvent KIENZLE Uhren GmbH. Apparently, little consideration could be given to the brand, and so, titanium watches were sold next to the Chronographs, which also appear on 1-2-3.tv today. The company Axesus GmbH from Offenburg with manager Dr. Daniel Lieser is behind „Trias Uhren“. When studying the homepage of this company, you will recognize the core competencies of this company quickly by the watch brands offered online. For example, the offer includes Baumier, ELYSEE, J.Wendenburg, JAVELLE, Lindberg & Sons, LINHART, TRIAS, Vandenbroeck & Cie and many more of the pretty new watch brands.
Cause number 2: Development of new sales markets
Everybody is talking about the crisis of the retail trade and everybody is astounded by the constantly increasing sales numbers of the online trade. No wonder that even renowned watch producers like DELMA fell for the temptation of generating additional turnover here.
The honesty of Fred Leibundgut is surprising. In the name of DELMA, he tells us: „The sales over 123TV was a first possible re-entry into the German market, after we had not been present for nearly 5 years. Our goal is rebuilding the specialist trade, which, as you know, takes a lot of time. Contrary to other suppliers in direct sales, we only offer high quality and guaranteed Swiss Made watches.“
The knowledge that this re-entry can most probably not happen over a home-shopping station has meanwhile also reached DELMA. Since April of 2010, Mario Hoeltke is trying to enthuse the specialist market for the Swiss watch brand. The contracts with 1-2-3.tv are said to expire in autumn of 2010.
Cause number 3: The grey market
For true watch lovers, there is hardly anything more amusing that the live cuts of the sales presentations advertising the Aquaracer by TAG Heuer. The claim of a luxury watch brand is not met in any way, and that the watches are sold at auction prices that are far away from the unbinding price recommendation will not be pleasing for the manufacturer nor his concessionaires. It is remarkable that specifically the model TAG Heuer Aquaracer is available in great quantities on the market according to our researches. A potential buyer not only finds the watch on 1-2-3.tv, but for example also on Yatego Shopping or luxusuhr24.de. At least some of the watches on 1-2-3.tv are from Slovakia, as test purchases on TrustedWatch prove. Thus, the watches are clearly grey market goods. Unfortunately, this is not said in the offer of 1-2-3.tv.
TAG Heuer was unfortunately not willing to give an interview or a detailed statement. Instead, we received a standard statement that did not answer our detailed questions. In our point of view, it should be easy for brand name producers like TAG Heuer to prevent grey market business. Every watch has a serial number and every serious concessionaire has an interest that the watches are only sold over serious channels if possible at a full price. Apparently, especially in the past months, many watch producers had trouble selling their production, and were forced to offer and sell larger quantities of their models to questionable customers.
Conclusion
First: The home-shopping stations use the chance of the free market economy and decorate themselves with renowned watch brands in order to make their watch offer range more attractive. Brands like R.U. Braun, Lindberg&Sons, NOCTUM or G.v.M.Wehro, better known as „Graf von Monte Wehro“ are never to be seen in the same class as TAG Heuer, DELMA, Revue Thommen and Laco By Lacher. In our opinion however, this is exactly what is suggested to the potential customer. Because the ranges of such watches are much higher than those of the classic and known watch brands. Bitter for newcomers and unsuspecting customers, because the quality and price/performance ratio he receives with the watches with the high rebates is more than questionable even for seemingly low auction and fixed prices.
And second: What was sold in secrecy by grey market traders or under the counter with high rebates in former times in now available worldwide on marketplaces on the Internet and in online shops. The offer is becoming more and more transparent and the manufacturers are required to clearly define and control their distribution channels. Otherwise the number or bargain hunters will most probably continue to increase and the classic jeweller will be at the risk of extinction. No wonder, that more and more watch producers are thus desperately looking for measures to jump on the train of current times and only rely slightly on long-term strategies. However, this is the thought only for the short run, especially as most of the watch buyers do watch costs, but also specifically value exclusivity and a serious price-performance ratio. A watch from the home-shopping station with a dubious price recommendation and value with high rebates is most probably of little interest for most watch buyers. Even if the watch is a genuine luxury brand.