OKC-based B.C. Clark Jewelers says the time for luxury watches has

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Feb 23, 2007 by Kelley Chambers

It seems luxury watches' time has come.

Rolex, Omega, Cartier and, to many, the leader of the pack - Patek Philippe - are on the short list of best-known, most-esteemed timepieces. And their popularity is on the rise.

Gene Dunn, the watch buyer for B.C. Clark Jewelers who has been in the watch business for 29 years, said he has seen a sharp increase in the sale of luxury watches in the past three years.

"A customer today does not mind paying the price for a luxury watch if they know they're going to get quality and get a fine made watch," he said.

Dunn said he defines a luxury watch as one which costs $5,000 or more.

Although he is not sure why demand has increased, Dunn said a strong economy in the state and the country has likely contributed to people being willing to shell out thousands of dollars for a single watch.

Patek Philippe began in Switzerland in 1839, and has been making sought-after watches ever since. The company does limit their production, however, to about 16,000 to 18,000 watches each year.

"Patek Philippe is probably the creme de le creme or the ultimate watch today," Dunn said. "Everybody aspires to be like Patek Philippe."

Dunn said B.C. Clark is one of the oldest family-owned jewelers where one can find a Patek watch. The store began carrying the watches in 1950.

The Pateks generally start at more than $10,000 and go up to the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"Most of my customers who buy Patek Philippe already have one," he said. "If it's their first one, they intend to buy more. Some people who come in have five or 10 of those watches."

And while Dunn said the store wants people to wear the watches, not buy them purely for investment purposes, he discussed the sale of a vintage Patek two years ago that originally sold at B.C. Clark.

Dunn said the store was contacted when the Antiquorum watch auction site based in Switzerland sold a particular Patek for $275,000 that had originally been purchased at B.C. Clark in 1965 for $2,000.

Dunn also discussed Rolex, which he said the store has carried since the 1960s.

And while Rolex is one of the world's best-known brands, the watches are not nearly as rare and are produced in much greater number than the Pateks.

Rolex, also based in Switzerland, produces 750,000 to 850,000 watches per year.

Dunn said the Rolexes start at about $4,000. Rolex also hits various price points offering its watches in everything from steel to gold and platinum.

But with many high-end luxury items come cheap imitations.

Dunn said in recent years the Internet has been a good resource for customers to research watches before making a purchase from an authorized dealer, while at the same time it has also served as a medium to sell imitation or used luxury watches.

And while some imitations online, especially those who produce fake Rolexes, claim their products can fool a jeweler, Dunn said that's just not the case.

"You cannot fool a good jeweler," he said. "Most people don't even have to take it off their wrist."

He also warned against buying reduced-rate luxury watches online.

"Any watch bought off a Web site, even if it's brand new and boxed, is considered used by the company that made it and sold it," he said. "The only way they consider a new watch sale is through an authorized dealer."