There are many places one can buy a new watch. One can buy from a store or from the Internet auction house, like Yahoo! or eBay. It is not approved from the factory to buy a new watch from these places. It is even not recommended to buy a watch from a store that is an unauthorized dealer of the brand of watch that you want to buy. Just because they have a nice store does not mean that the watches are genuine. The only approved and recommended way by the watch manufacturer to buy a new watch is through an authorized dealer.

There are many reasons why people should buy a watch from an authorized dealer, like DARAKJIAN. Watch manufacturers market and distribute their product through authorized dealers. So these dealers have a straight connection to the manufacturer of the watches. If there is any problem with the watch, these dealers can send the watch back to the manufacturer with free of charge as long as the warranty still valid. These authorized dealers have full backing by the watch manufacturer.

Another important point is dealers usually have many watches in stock, like DARAKJIAN, if they don’t; it is easy for them to order the watch that you want. Since they have many selections in stock, you can try on what you like before you make the purchase. Authorized dealers are trained to answer any questions you have about their products. In addition, DARAKJIAN is often being visited by the manufacturer's representatives to make sure everything is going very well.

The other way you can buy a watch is through "Grey market" or through unauthorized dealers. Usually people choose to buy from this market just because they think they can get a better deal or a lower price, especially buying from the Internet. But you have to remember the most important thing, as of today, more than 90% watch manufacturers strictly forbid selling new watches through the Internet. This means all of the watches warranties are void even though you may have purchased a brand new watch. The watch manufacturers also do not guarantee the genuineness of the watch purchased from somewhere other than an authorized dealer. It can be fake or partially fake (fake movement). The serial number of the watch also sometimes has been tampered or altered. The biggest problem is counterfeit watches, especially the relatively expensive watch. The following is an article from the National Jeweler magazine:

Convincing Replicas
Some of the replicas are convincing. Patek Philippe gets calls from watch collectors who are fooled by the fakes and call the company to ask if they somehow missed hearing about the introduction of a new model. Recently, a knockoff Patek Philippe listed simultaneously in auctions on both Yahoo! and eBay looked good enough in photos to fool some watch industry surfers. Advertised as a "Patek Philippe Geneve Calatrave Chronograph" (the genuine watch is spelled "Calatrava"), the watch was selling for $177.50 and the seller boasted that "I have many available, like 10".

A travelling representative for Patek Philippe said, "The tip off when you look in this particular dial is that we generally don’t put the Calatrava cross over the name Patek Philippe. This is an interesting watch, but we could not offer a chronograph at the level of Patek Philippe quality for anywhere near this price".

A comparable watch from Patek Philippe would retail for about $27,500.

Another considerable point is service. Authorized dealers usually provide free service charge as long as the warranty valid, which unauthorized dealers cannot do. Authorized dealers will not provide service to a watch purchased at an unauthorized dealer. Authorized dealer also will not accept the watch without serial number. DA sometimes even provide extended warranty for the watch. Service is a very important aspect for your watch, because just like your car, without service they will not run properly. For more information look at mechanical watch maintenance or quartz watch maintenance. These services do not come cheap if you were to pay for it. You could end up paying more money for the watch in the long run if you were to purchase the watch elsewhere. There are many more aspects you have to consider about where to buying watches. Hopefully this page can help you buy the watch you want.

Darakjian is also a proud member of the American Watch Guild. The American Watch Guild is an unprecedented way to recognize those quality retailers, manufacturers and affiliated service companies whose standard of excellence has set them apart in the fine watch industry.