It Doesn’t Just Tell The Time…

Diary Of A PawnbrokerFeatures

I wish I had invested more of my money on pre-owned Rolex when I first began this business many years ago. My investment would have already grown by over 40% in just the last 3 years. Rolex watches have always been in demand. They are a prestige brand that seems to reflect wealth and success and as such their desirability seems to grow and grow.
We sell a lot of pre-owned Rolex. They are all fully authenticated, serviced and with a 2 year warranty. However demand since the Brexit decision has gone mad!
Why? The reason is that the UK Rolex watches now offer better value for money compared to those in the rest of the world due to the weaker pound and the rumour that Rolex are about to increase their UK prices again to reduce this difference.
If you are a Rolex dealership you must buy your new watches priced in Swiss Francs directly from Rolex. They are then given an RRP from Rolex and the dealers must stick to this or they lose their dealership. However, due to the exchange rate, the price differential is already around 10% worse than it was before the vote and this hit is taken by the retailers who have to pay more for their stock but must sell it for the same retail price as before. Rolex release a new catalogue in September and it is widely rumoured that the Swiss company will increase the UK prices by around 11.5% at this time to mitigate the problem. The increase in prices is not just limited to the new watches. Rolex are a worldwide commodity and many of the pre-owned watches stocked by UK jewellers are bought from other European countries or the USA in either euro’s or dollars so the relative price of replacing stock for anyone looking to buy a pre-owned watch has also increased by about 15% over recent months.
Customers don’t want to pay this increase so the retail prices remain fairly static and the margins get tighter until eventually it adjusts and retailers get the official word from Rolex that the UK retail price has changed and the new Rolex prices cascade throughout the industry.
As a result, many savvy customers are getting ahead of the curve and buying what they can right now. Even dealers are travelling to the UK from the USA and Europe to buy the better value UK stock before the change happens as any investment that is likely to increase by over 10% in a month must seem a pretty good deal right now!
So, if you are looking to invest in a Rolex, now would seem a good time and particularly if it is pre-owned as it is unlikely that you will be able to buy the same watch at the current price structure by Christmas. Either way, if you want to buy an asset that seems to continue to increase in price, unfailingly, year on year, then you could put your money in a much worse place right now and not have the pleasure of wearing it.
Summer Bills…
The pawnbroking arm of the business has remained steady throughout the summer. We expect to see a peak in the late Autumn and at present it’s the ‘back to school’ mums and dads who are topping up their reserves to pay for new school kit and paying off outstanding credit card bills from entertaining their family for the last 8 weeks. We have also had a large number of Asian jewellery loans, mainly to fund the Asian wedding season. Many regular customers borrow large sums against their 21ct and 22ct gold jewellery to fund the generous gifts of cash, gold and lavish celebrations that surround such an event. All loans are 100% confidential and the contract length of up to 7 months allows part payments, giving customers the opportunity to reduce their loan value as, and when, they can afford it.
One regular customer of ours visited again this month and uses our lending service to borrow against his Rolex and get £2200 to fund the cashflow for his company wages. He does a lot of work that can take months to be paid for, so rather than go cap in hand to his bank and get the usual overdraft fees, he simply drops in his watch and gets a BACS transfer into his account within minutes. Lending against your assets is the obvious way to get a loan and until you visit a pawnbroker and understand how simple and regulated the service actually is, you cannot judge against it.
Wisdom, Faith
& Power…
Sapphire is the birthstone for September and what could be better than to treat your loved one to a stunning piece of jewellery to mark the occasion. In fact ancient civilisations believed the world was built on a giant sapphire and it was its reflection that made the sky and sea so blue. Clearly they must have had better summers than we have!
It was believed that the Sapphire brought wisdom, hope and faith and was a symbol of power, strength and wise judgement. You don’t have to spend the earth to afford one though and we have a new and exciting range of all coloured stone jewellery at Brown and Gold in Seacroft and Batley and Christopher Brown Jewellers, Shipley.
With only 4 months to go, what a perfect way to start your Christmas shopping!
Chris Brown

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