Hi there,
I have been looking at A Lange & Söhne (ALS) vs F. P. Journe (FPJ) pieces for a while. For ALS, the piece I am interested in the most is the Zeitwerk. In the FPJ current collection, the Souverain or Automatique are really cool!
Now, the reality is, I prefer to go grey for either of those options, for various reasons. For the Zeitwerk, it’s because ALS Zeitwerk can be found at a discount, and for FPJ, because I don’t want to wait. However, I was talking to a ALS rep and they said this about buying grey:
I never recommend gray market retailers because you do not get a factory warranty, and a brand like Lange can be pricey to service. Even if you can get a better price, it’s still a lot of money to buy from someone unauthorized. And, should you choose to sell or trade the watch later on, you won’t get as much with it being sold to you on the gray market originally.
Is there truth to the aforesaid? Also, as I will be buying from Chrono24, is there a way to double check with those brands if the watch I end up getting is legit? Since, I will have 14 days as per Chrono policy to return / flag something.
The Zeitwerk servicing is something like 2,500 euros. If you can save much more than that, then it makes sense to go gray.
The only reason to buy from an AD is if you want the more desirable pieces down the road. Regardless of what they tell you, Lange has a list. You’re just not on the list, and the Zeitwerk isn’t that hot, that’s all.
Could you please elaborate on the following:
We know that for Odysseus, they definitely have a list because if limited production numbers and lots of demand. But I want to know if you were referring to some other kind of list? Thanks!