dr.kol
11333
I somehow know Mr. Stern but we are not close friend. Just to clarify. But I can answer to your post:
I happen to know that Patek's instructions to their Salons and AD is not to sell the watches unopened. Furthermore, the AD are not allowed to give the packing to the clients. These carbon boxes are just packaging for shipping. The whole "double sealed" issue is a creation of some speculators.
I can't say what were the bases e.g. 5650 was allocated to the AD. And if an AD getting an allocation is selling the watch unopened, the AD is clearly braking the rules set by Patek.
Have you noticed how many AD Patek has cut off from their retailer network? They are trying but it's hard to fight against greed. And selling the watches in unopened carbon boxes to clients or some gray dealers is plain greed of the AD. I have never go a watch unopened and it is always also inspected by the Salon before they give the watch to me.
Best, Kari