My Recent AD Experience

[bmock17]

This post is a bit long, so bear with me.

My wife and I go down to Cabo San Lucas multiple times per year. For those of you that have been, there is 1 AD in town. Every time we go I convince myself this is going to be the trip where they are going to have something for me and each trip I go home empty handed. We were just there again last Wednesday through this Monday.

Thursday night we walk into the AD and of course the cases were empty. Nothing at all. We were talking to one of the sales people and we told her about the watch my wife was looking for. She took our information down and said she will let us know if anything comes in. I then walked over to the Panerai watches and tried on a couple of those that caught my eye. I didn’t purchase anything and we left.

The next day, Friday afternoon, I get a text from the sales person with a picture of a watch for my wife that they magically got in the 18 hours since we were there. I showed it to her and she didn’t like it, it was yellow gold and she prefers the rose gold. I politely declined but said if they get any of the pieces in that I was interested in to please let me know. I told her specifically, I would really like a 41mm date just with the Wimbledon dial and non-fluted bezel. A couple minutes later she sends me a picture from the Rolex website of the watch I was describing, to confirm that was it. I confirmed and 5 minutes later she called me.

She said they have one coming in, but it is already reserved for a client. She said in the very small possibility that this person doesn’t want it, would I be interested? I said of course I would. She then asked if I was going to buy the Panerai too. Knowing where this was going I told her I could possibly purchase both. She then told me she would let me know by Sunday.

On Saturday my wife and I were back in town and we went into another store that was AD for Zenith, Corum, and a few others. They had 2 of the new Zenith El Primero Chronomaster’s with the white dial. I really like this watch and they were going to give me 10% off the MSRP plus you get the tax credit. I was just about to pull the trigger and my wife said to hold off and see what happens with the Rolex. Being an instant gratification type of person, I wasn’t thrilled with that idea, but I agreed.

It’s now Sunday, the big day. We are going to get our Covid tests when the woman from the Rolex AD calls. She tells me the Wimbledon DJ is available, but I would need to buy the Panerai as well. I agreed and we went down to the store and purchased both.

I am thrilled that I was able to purchase this watch and MSRP, plus I will get the 8% tax credit back. I felt a little dirty about having to buy the Panerai as well, but we all know this is the game they play. My hope is that I will have an AD I can continue to go to for pieces I am interested in and not have to pay those gray market prices. I told the sales person that we will be back at the end of March and to let me know if they get anything in between now and then.

If you made it through my whole story, thanks! Now here is my obligatory wrist shot: