larrygWell, the following is on the Maurice Lacroix website:
ARE MAURICE LACROIX WATCHES SOLD OVER THE INTERNET?
We sell our Maurice Lacroix products only through our network of selected retail partners. We strongly advise you to exercise caution and always to make sure that you are dealing with an authorised Maurice Lacroix retailer. Purchasing an Maurice Lacroix watch from an unauthorised party is at the buyer's sole risk, particularly in the case of counterfeit, substandard or stolen products.
sechtawI understand that the manufacturer is obligated to have this disclaimer. Having purchased several high end pieces over the internet, I am fully aware of misrepresentations and risk. There are several steps one can take to, at least, minimize that risk. The same is true, of course, for grey market purchases. If you know which sites are credible (of which there are many), you can save quite substantial amounts. Having said all that, buying from an Authorized Dealer (AD), will alleviate all anxiety you might have.
larrygMost (note I said most and not all) watches sold on the grey market are factory seconds - defects which may or may not be seen by the naked eye. One large grey market seller on the internet confirmed this with me. It all gets down to "buyer beware". Is your watch legit? Is your watch free of flaws and defects? I guess you'll never really know unless you purchased it from an authorized dealer.
sechtawI know a few grey dealers. They buy most of their watches from AD's who cannot move their products (one guy literally flew to Greece a half a dozen times buying Rolexes during the crisis there). I will say that some brands (Longines and Federick Constant, for example) do move factory seconds through channels like Amazon, but many watch companies would rather destroy a watch than let it out the back door imperfect. AD's cannot heavily discount so they sell at thin margins to grey market dealers who can move the watches more easily. Many Rolex AD's do this, as well as others. Volume dealers get the good watches anyone can sell.
The only companies' watches where I would be suspect are brands that are part of the Swatch Group. For some reason they do everything differently. I would never buy any Swatch group branded watch off of Amazon because they often are seconds or refurbs. That said, for the more old fashioned brands who live by their quality, you will be fine going grey market. I would especially point out Rolex, Piaget and JLC. They could never abide the idea of one of their products not being perfect.
dholik8503My comment was in reference to this particular item being sold on MD. I'm well aware that people around the globe are parting with much more than 3 grand on the internet - a good number of them have more money than sense.
sechtawIt's an in-house movement, I don't think they've added extra jewels where they're not needed. My guess is the retrograde displays require jewels on top of what would be normal for a watch like this.
WillVautrainLot's of other in-house movements that have a retrograde and moonphase don't require anywhere near the number of jewels. Many manufacturers have a "mine's bigger than yours" mentally when it comes to jewelling watches. They think that consumers - you and me - are going to think it's a better watch because it has more jewels. I wonder if they've put jewels in the lugs that support the spring bars. Other's have done it.
sechtawThe jewels are definitely in the movement. I'm sure they've added jewels where some other manufacturers didn't think they were necessary, but there aren't that many other retrograde moon phase power reserve autos, really.
sechtawChecked the locations of the jewels? I have to qualify, unless Maurice Lacroix is lying, the jewels are all in the movement. They list the caliber itself as containing 59 jewels. Not the watch, the caliber.
Mar 10, 2017
A community member
Mar 11, 2017
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sechtawAhahaha you're trying so, so hard. It's kind of adorable.
sechtawFight. So far, you've argued about the number of jewels, the warranty, AD versus gray market, $3k purchases,.....whatever....At the end of the day, we all will decide to pull the trigger on the drop or not. In a post below, I asked the MD admin to share all these concerns with Maurice Lacroix. I am interested in ML's explanations about the jewels used, a low beat versus high beat movement explanation, etc. I am not here to fight with you or anyone else. This is a community, and we learn from each other, I hope. Best regards.
sechtawIf you have the money put your balls on the table my friend. Massdrop is serious, they deliver and I buy regularly.............too regularly so my Bank tells me. Chill Bro!
sechtawThat's ridiculous.
Gray market watches aren't seconds.
AD's offload excess to GM sellers to meet quotas.
Manufacturers sell at wholesale to their AD's.
Money is money.
They b*tch and moan about Gray Market but they don't really care.
Gray Market sellers aren't stealing these watches to sell.
The manufacturer is making their margin at wholesale price.