There is an old adage that states – if something is too good to be true, it usually is.

This is something that is very applicable to the watch industry, due to an influx of what are commonly referred to as Grey Market Sellers.

These are unauthorised sellers who acquire their product through illegitimate avenues. Often these products will be sold with one-year warranties, rather than the FULL EU manufacturer’s warranty. This allows them to sell their products at a discounted price.

So why not buy from a Grey Market seller if their prices will save you money?

Well, in the long run, they will more likely end up costing you MORE.

In a nutshell, there are 3 warranties you can receive from these sellers. These may look good, but all have their pitfalls:

1. A stamped warranty: if the seller is grey market, the manufacturer does not have an obligation or incentive to repair the watch as you didn’t purchase the product from them
2. An unstamped warranty: these are invalid as they don't prove you purchased the product from an authorised retailer
3. Seller warranty: The product will never be sent back to the manufacturer for repair, but instead be repaired by an unaccredited person with the lowest quality parts. If the seller then went out of business, you would not be covered at all. When a seller is not authorised to sell the product (you can find this out by searching the manufacturer’s website), you are likely purchasing inauthentic, fake or stolen goods.

All WatchNation's products are supplied directly from the brand and are 100% authentic, with the full manufacturer's warranty (2 years in the case of watches).

You will be able to find us located on the brands' websites, and they would verify this if you were to contact them.

We have and continue to work with brands to banish grey market sellers from the market.