I'm that lucky guy.
Clearly this being my first Patek many of you guys have a much better handle on the process and which watches are LE and what this means etc etc.
To the OP, I would depending on your AD and the relationship hang in there for the moment.
A brief history of my purchase. I placed my order back in 2008 for a G, I went to my local family run AD (never purchased from them) and asked to go on their list. They had an order for a J already but mine was the first for a G (J arrived in late 2009). Being a new client they asked some pertinent questions, what other watches did I have, was I local, what were my intentions for the watch etc etc and then simply said yes no problem 'we will put your name forward to Patek'. Now this is where I'm not sure about the usual process and what happened to me - I never received anything from the AD to confirm the order but instead an email from Patek to say I was on the list for a G via the AD. Fast forward to 2015, the G was discontinued and the R introduced (actually my favourite metal), AD and Patek representative at the London Exhibition (
http://www.patek.com/en/communicatio...in-london-2015) asked if I was happy to stay on Pateks list for the R instead of the G (yes of course) and so time marched on to January this year when out of the blue I got the call. But, again not sure if this is normal, the call was from the AD to say 'I' had got my allocation and the watch would be leaving Geneva that week 'if' I was in a position to proceed - if not the AD wouldn't receive the watch and Patek would allocate it to another customer via another AD. It would seem depending on the AD (maybe size related) that indeed Patek does exercise direct control over the list for the 5131?
I have nothing but praise for my AD, they were very open throughout the 8 year period that I had little chance of getting the piece but that they would remain positive and that there was absolutely no reason to buy other Patek pieces (not that I was realistically in a position to buy favour) - indeed I attended many events as their guest (still never purchased anything at this point). The final icing on the cake was when I received the allocation call - I had throughout the process mentioned at every occasion that I would love to collect the watch from Geneva if I ever got an allocation. So what do you think the dealer also offered when he phoned to give me the news - they would like to fly my wife and I to Geneva as their guests to collect the watch from the Salon, out to lunch at a superb restaurant and a visit to the museum!
Dreams do come true!
http://www.parkhousethejeweller.com/...k-client-trip/
My 5131R.
