Advertising discounts is highly shunned in the world of luxury watches.

The practice is more or less banned by all mainstream watch brands, even if they’re willing to quietly offer the discounts over the phone, online, or in person.

Of course, the leading Swiss watch brand, vehemently bans this practice and is well known to quickly revoke any dealer agreement if they confirm an authorized dealer is advertising discounts.

For watch brands that are not truly commanding full retail price, something has to give. I’m glad to see Esquire UK publishing an article that’s transparent about discounts. Hyperbolic sales talk, about how certain brands are going for retail price (few brands command full retail price), can only work for so long, when we all know full well they’re being discounted.

Educating consumers is a vital part of selling watches, and if that includes being more transparent with discounts, even if the optics are not ideal in a luxury environment, then so be it. Without customers, the watch industry will collapse.

In this case, Seiko, Grand Seiko, TAG Heuer, IWC, Longines, Emporio Armani, Bremont, Zenith, Bamford, and Garmin are all being discounted up to 49%.

Final Thoughts

Watches of Switzerland UK would not likely run this type of marketing-focused article, unless they had prior approval from each brand featured, so while this is likely indicative of the tough economic environment facing the UK watch market (and presumably most geographic markets), at a certain point you have to turn over the slowest moving inventory.

 

Screenshot by Esquire UK.