My New Cartier Watch

[talkdiamond2me]

Hello and Happy New Year to all! I have a small dilemna. Before Christmas, I gave my husband a wish list which included a Cartier watch model number. I have held on to the model number for a long time, ever since I tried one of the watches on at the store. Well he bought me the watch, only he didn''t go through an authorized dealer of Cartier because the model number I gave him was retired. (I guess there is a newer model of the watch with a few differences.) But they didn''t tell him this when he went to Cartier. They only told him they didn''t have anymore in the company. Of course since I gave him the information, he was adament that he wanted to get me the one I wanted. So he didn''t even look at the other stuff they had. He search high and low and finally found the watch I wanted from a watch dealer online. Well I was surprised and so happy to open my new watch...until I found out that it isn''t "Cartier Certified". I mean the thing looks authentic and Cartier looked at it and said "it''s fine", without commiting to anything really. I guess they really frown down upon going anywhere else, because they even mention, "We don''t like to work on watches that weren''t purchased from us." He paid $3500 for it (which is about $700 less than it retailed for) so I''m sure it''s "real". But I guess I''m wondering if I break his heart and ask him to return it and get me the newer one at Cartier, or do I just smile and love it as it is? I mean don''t get me wrong, it''s brand new with box and papers and even the tag on it and is exactly what I wanted. I can''t believe I feel this way just because it wasn''t purchased at Cartier, but all my nice watches have been purchased from authorized dealers. What is anyone''s experience about online watch purchases like this? Do these watches come from the same place a Cartier store will get them from? Is it basically same thing, only without Cartier''s warranty? I''m sorry to sound so ignorant or spoiled. Thanks for any advice.

 

[dtnyc]

I can''t speak specifically to your watch or to Cartier, but I know that Signed Pieces sells almost all of their items re-sale and I would trust them highly.

Can Cartier authenticate your watch for you? I wouldn''t say where it was purchased, simply that it was a gift and ask if they can authenticate it for you. If it''s an authentic Cartier watch then they should stand behind the product that they put their name on.

 

[Bunnifer]

Date: 1/3/2007 7:04:13 PM
Author: dtnyc
I can''t speak specifically to your watch or to Cartier, but I know that Signed Pieces sells almost all of their items re-sale and I would trust them highly.


Can Cartier authenticate your watch for you? I wouldn''t say where it was purchased, simply that it was a gift and ask if they can authenticate it for you. If it''s an authentic Cartier watch then they should stand behind the product that they put their name on.

Ditto dtnyc''s advice.

I believe your only concern that it *might* not be authentic because it was not purchased at the Cartier store. At this point, I would not let your concern influence Cartier''s authentication of your watch -- it might very well be an authentic Cartier, but if you let the salesperson *think* that it might not be authentic, your (presumably unbiased) evaluation from Cartier will have started off on the wrong foot -- as evidenced by their snide comment, "We don''t like to work on watches that weren''t purchased from us." Note, however, that they did not say they WILL not work on watches that weren''t purchased from them, only that they don''t LIKE to work on such watches.

Let them make up their own minds about its authenticity when you take it in for evaluation. JMHO.

 

[talkdiamond2me]

Hi guys. Thank you for the replies. It is authenitc. I took it to another authorized dealer of Cartier in my area, and told them it was a gift. They said it''s definitely authentic. I guess I wasn''t really as concerned by that (because I had little doubt), but more by the fact he didn''t get it from Cartier. And I was dissapointed because that little detail influenced me fully loving the watch. But I guess it makes no difference, it''s the same watch just without their warranty. I talked to him about it and he said, "If I would have known you care that much about getting it from Cartier, I would have left out where I got it from!" lol Anyway, at this point to send the watch back would cost $$$, plus to get practically the same watch at Cartier would cost about $1200 more (for the newer model which has subtle differences). Hardly seems worth it now!

 

[simplysplendid]

Hi,

In where I live, there are many high end watch boutiques which carry lots of branded watches -- Cartier, Audemars, Patek, Rolex etc etc. They are the authorised dealers and one can get a discount (as much as 20%) on the pieces as compared to the original shops itself. So there are authorised dealers outside of the original shop carrying authentic stuffs.

So It does not matter, as long as it is authentic.. sigh, I guess these are the things that we ladies do sometimes that gets our men puzzled - they go the lengths to get us exactly what we wanted and we still find fault with it..

love it and enjoy your piece or unless what you are unhappy about is that you wished he had gotten the newer model (the one with the slight difference).

 

[talkdiamond2me]

Hi SimplySplendid! You are so right! We women are darn hard to please. And the funny thing is I like the old model better. It''s the Two Zone pasha. The older model has the gone tone hour markers and the new one has silvertone. That''s the only visible difference I see. Like I said, I was bummed about it not being "certified". But now I say, so what if he didn''t walk out of the Cartier with it. It doesn''t make the watch any less than a real Cartier. And you guys are right, Cartier has to stand behind their product no matter what, slackers! lol Thanks!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I''m not sure if this would apply to this situation at all, but it reminded me of your question:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/authorized-dealers-for-brand-name-watches.55640/

 

[talkdiamond2me]

Thank you! That is helpful. The company my husband got it for did offer an in-house warranty for the watch. Hopefully I won''t need to have it fixed anytime soon, but if I do, I think I will just go through Cartier still and pay the money. That way I''m guaranteed to stay with all Cariter parts and function. Don''t you think that''s a better choice?

 

[dtnyc]

Date: 1/4/2007 8:11:23 PM
Author: talkdiamond2me
Thank you! That is helpful. The company my husband got it for did offer an in-house warranty for the watch. Hopefully I won''t need to have it fixed anytime soon, but if I do, I think I will just go through Cartier still and pay the money. That way I''m guaranteed to stay with all Cariter parts and function. Don''t you think that''s a better choice?

First off let''s hope your watch doesn''t need any service or repair for a long time- do you really think that if you walked into a Cartier shop 5 years down the line they are going to get all "you didn''t get this at a certified re-seller?" how would they even know unless you told them?

people move, papers get lost, etc. It would be one thing if it was a crazy Rolex that cost 100K, but I would think that Cartier would be willing to service a watch that they had made.

 

[talkdiamond2me]

DTNYC, nah...I don''t think they would turn me away at all. I see now I was making a bigger deal of it than it should be. Now I feel bad I hurt my husbands feelings! I love my watch. I''m going to post a picture of it tomorrow.

Thanks again!!!

 

[talkdiamond2me]

btw dtnyc, I love Signed Pieces! My rings are from there. I''ll show you in the picture I post. They are the best.