AWG Launches Watch Collectors Society
By William George Shuster, Senior Editor -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 12/1/2002
The American Watch Guild (AWG) recently launched the "International Watch Collectors Society" (IWCS) to generate sales of fine watches and after-sale business for jewelers who are AWG members. AWG is a group of watch retailers and manufacturers committed to ethics in the fine-watch business and high standards for products, service, and salesmanship. It has 310 members, three-fourths of them retailers.
IWCS meetings, where collectors can meet guest speakers from prestigious watchmakers, and other IWCS events will be held under the auspices of participating local AWG jewelers. IWCS members will receive information about new models and limited editions from major watch firms whose authorized dealers include AWG jewelers. They'll also learn about new watchmakers and their creations. Other member benefits will include a question-and-answer service by watch authority Stuart Unger, a calendar of major watch sales and auctions plus follow-up reports, a book club, and free booklets on watch topics.
AWG members can participate at no cost. Two levels of membership are available to consumers, says AWG. Regular membership costs $65 for the first year, $120 for the second. Master Collector members ($120 first year, $220 the second) also get discounts from IWCS's book club and rebate coupons from watch firms, usable at authorized dealers.
An IWCS advisory board, including Unger, watch collector and actor Eli Wallach, and several leading jewelers, has been set up. IWCS ads have been placed in consumer magazines, and regional IWCS chapters are being established, says AWG.
Contact AWG at 244 Madison Ave., #258, New York, NY 10016; (516) 295-2516, fax (516) 374-5060.
