Now, this may not seem like a big deal to most people, but if you’re like me, you’re not happy with just one watch. Having many watches in your collection that arrive with problems, develop problems or just don’t suit you can mean time consuming and expensive experiences. It is also discouraging when you think about how much money people tend to spend on a watch. They want it to work perfectly, and they want it to work the first time. A negative personal experience can really affect a brand, who through no fault of their own, can lose a customer because a retailer sold them something that should never have left the store.

A favorite, fun brand of mine is Android. They make some quirky, off-the-wall watches with a mix of Chinese, Japanese and Swiss movements. Having bought quite a few of their products over the years, I’ve had a couple with minor problems. Mostly related to chronograph hands becoming misaligned. The process of returning the watch for repair has been hassle-free and the owner keeps you updated with the progress of the repair via Facebook.

Android Virtuoso T100

There’s no doubt that the buying and selling of watches on-line is going to continue to grow and in more and more cases, some watches will only ever be available to you on-line. This may be because that’s how the manufacturer has decided to conduct business or because there are no retailers nearby for the brand and model you want. There is a lot of incentive for retailers and brands to remedy these issues now, before internet sales for watches becomes even more ‘officially’ mainstream.

Your basic internet-only watch retailer/manufacturer has several advantages over their ground-ridden counterparts. Their overhead is lower, they can often get by with less staff, they don’t have to keep large inventories in stock, they can easily adjust pricing, and their marketing, insurance and other costs are a fraction of what is spent by their cousins in physical locations. Though, many of them operate outside the authorized dealer arena when it comes to your more expensive watches. They exist because there are sources to acquire high-end watches brand new at lower prices (we refer to this as the grey market). As long as these sources exist, there will always be a way to get new high-end watches online at discounts.

Is the brick and mortar store doomed? In 2010 Ariel Adams suggested they would be. Especially in the luxury watch market we’ve seen a rebound, but mostly in terms of mono brand boutiques though, and his logic remains true for third-part retailers. Though there is a benefit to the in-store experience even if there is a bit of a price premium. Many are not going to buy a new Rolex, Patek Philippe, Harry Winston, Richard Mille or other luxury brand on-line, often because they can’t find them. If you have the cash to afford these watches, many will want the personal touch of the store’s staff along with the guarantee of knowing you’re getting the genuine product. A big part of a luxury watch purchase is the experience, and we recommend that it be as good as possible, but people do need to make a value decision when it comes to buying that experience if the price premium is so high. We guess that in a few years time, on-line and in-store prices are going to start to match up more and more.