What does it mean to be an AD?
Hyde Park Jewelers is proud to be an authorized retailer for some of the finest names in watches and designer jewelry. As representatives of these prestigious brands, we maintain rigorous standards of performance, including certifications of authenticity, routine advanced brand-specific training for sales associates, and after-sales repair and service offerings.
Why buy from an Authorized Dealer?
While gray market watches may be less costly upfront, their non-official nature can lead to some substantial costs down the road. The benefits of buying from a brand boutique (such as our Breitling, Hublot and IWC boutiques) or an authorized retailer (such as our Hyde Park multi-branded locations) can vary depending on the brand and the store, but in general include the following...
Authenticity & Availability Guaranteed
When you buy from an authorized retailer or brand boutique, you can rest assured that the product you’re buying is exactly what you think it is. If you buy from a gray marketeer, you risk buying a watch that is one of the following:
- Fake, or has inauthentic parts.
- Used, but marketed as new.
- Missing the box and/or key documents such as warranties, manuals and papers of authenticity.
- Not even really in-stock, meaning it could take several weeks or even months to receive it (if it even comes at all).
- Not the watch you ordered. In some marketeers’ fine print, they stipulate that they can ship a different watch than the one you ordered if that one is not available.
Warranties & Repairs
Gray market vendors may offer you their own warranty, but it won’t be the same comprehensive warranty you’d receive from the brand or an authorized retailer. In worst-case scenarios where you need a new watch or a slew of repairs, you’ll be out of luck if you purchased from a gray marketeer as it will likely not be covered by any manufacturer warranty. If you buy a gray market watch and need to get it serviced (all fine timepieces eventually require servicing) at an authorized retailer, you’ll find yourself paying several hundred dollars out-of-pocket shortly after receiving it.
Furthermore, gray market repair centers aren’t required to have brand-trained service staff to operate on their time-pieces and they don’t have brand-specific accounts for replacement parts. Which means your high-investment timepiece may end-up having low-quality replacement parts inside voiding the piece’s brand authenticity, performance quality, and overall investment value. If you want to be sure your new timepiece is taken care of properly, only send it to an authorized retailer or the brand’s dedicated boutique for repairs.
In cases where brands only offer a two-year warranty, Hyde Park adds a third year. We also carry brands with five- and eight-year warranties and provide genuine parts and service options for all of our current brands.