SINGAPORE: It took Mr Jay Tun almost two years of deliberation before he bought his first luxury watch in 2018.
“Whichever purchase I want to buy, especially for watches, the numbers must make sense first. But of course the piece must be something that I like.” “Let's just say that you want to buy this as a wedding anniversary gift or you want to buy it for your son as a graduation present. You can’t be waiting for two years when he graduates in the next six months,” said Mr Ng.“With the authorised dealer, I think a lot of people feel the same frustration as I did. You go there and they will give you the standard SOP - that this is a highly sought-after piece, there’s this interest list,” said Mr Tun.
Mr Tan likened the process to buying an exclusive bag like the Hermes Birkin. “For normal people, it’s impossible to get," he said. Some customers may choose to buy watch models that are less popular or less in demand for the sake of building a relationship with an authorised dealer, watch dealers told CNA. These customers then resell the watches they don't want to grey market dealers.
“But let’s say really wealthy people - they don’t mind. They can buy this Hublot for S$200,000 in order to get a chance to buy a Patek Philippe or an exotic Rolex model. But that’s for really wealthy people.” The sales assistants explained that potential buyers would have to add their names and details to an “interest list”, along with their preferred watch models. Some authorised dealers accepted multiple entries of watch models while others limited this to one model per customer.
Arrest warrants and Interpol notices have been issued against the couple, who are wanted in connection with a series of cheating cases associated with these companies. In response to queries on whether buyers flagged issues with Tradenation or Tradeluxury, and when the complaints began, Carousell said it is currently working with the authorities and could not comment on the ongoing investigations.
A quick search for luxury watches and brands on the online marketplace brought up hundreds of listings looking to buy or sell these products.Timeline: How a couple fled Singapore after millions were lost in Tradenation luxury goods scam Since he only sells his watches online, he usually meets his customers and accompanies them to authenticate the watch. After the customer confirms they want to go through with the transaction, they pay Mr Tan in cash or by PayNow, and he hands over the watch immediately.
If customers were to pay the full amount for a watch before seeing it in person, it would pose complications if they no longer wanted the watch after they collected it, said Mr Toh.Grey market dealers told CNA they have come across other accounts on Carousell that appear suspicious, including selling fake watches or selling them below market price.
Mr Jarod Ng set up Watch Capital with his brother Joses Ng to sell new and pre-owned luxury watches. Interest in luxury watches in Singapore has been strong over the last few decades but demand grew rapidly in the past few years, said Mr Peter Chong, who is the founder and editor-in-chief of watch blog Deployant.
“You just park it in your safe and if anything goes wrong, it's highly liquid, you can liquidate and just cash it out … It is basically cash but cash on your wrist.”Being able to own the item that you have invested in also helps, said Mr Tun. Other watch dealers CNA spoke to cited amounts of anywhere between 10 and 20 per cent, or about S$500 to reserve a watch.