Gamages of London

[As rare as hen's teeth]

If you see Gamages of London watches on TJC, don't buy them. They are a rip-off. The field family owns this brand and they claim the watches are worth more than £600. That's a lie. These watches are cheap Chinese imports and really low-quality. You can get similar watches on AliExpress for 30-50 quid, tops Save your money and avoid this scam.

 

[PhaedrusR]

If you see Gamages of London watches on TJC, don't buy them. They are a rip-off. The field family owns this brand and they claim the watches are worth more than £600. That's a lie. These watches are cheap Chinese imports and really low-quality. You can get similar watches on AliExpress for 30-50 quid, tops Save your money and avoid this scam.

Yeah, thanks, Hen.

If you go look at the huge IW random musings thread in the graveyard section, this has been discussed at length with photos and comparisons showing the same Gamages watch with Chinese branding, for £30 on AliExpress.
Try looking around page 1000+.

Same applies to Swan&Edgar, Earnshaw too.

Post in thread 'Random musings and general banter.':

https://forum.shoppingtelly.com/threads/random-musings-and-general-banter.47147/post-1086487

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000409068728.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.5.4bc64519Ygz35f&algo_pvid=c2ac0a4c-731b-4258-88a0-53ff5eee8390&algo_exp_id=c2ac0a4c-731b-4258-88a0-53ff5eee8390-2&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22:%2210000001687151736%22%7D&pdp_npi=2@dis!GBP!49.01!25.0!!!0.89!!@2100ba4716695876174851788d0727!10000001687151736!sea&curPageLogUid=G3RCHTcoz9Ud

 

[As rare as hen's teeth]

Yeah, thanks, Hen.

If you go look at the huge IW random musings thread in the graveyard section, this has been discussed at length with photos and comparisons showing the same Gamages watch with Chinese branding, for £30 on AliExpress.
Try looking around page 1000+.

Same applies to Swan&Edgar, Earnshaw too.

Post in thread 'Random musings and general banter.':

https://forum.shoppingtelly.com/threads/random-musings-and-general-banter.47147/post-1086487

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000409068728.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.5.4bc64519Ygz35f&algo_pvid=c2ac0a4c-731b-4258-88a0-53ff5eee8390&algo_exp_id=c2ac0a4c-731b-4258-88a0-53ff5eee8390-2&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22:%2210000001687151736%22%7D&pdp_npi=2@dis!GBP!49.01!25.0!!!0.89!!@2100ba4716695876174851788d0727!10000001687151736!sea&curPageLogUid=G3RCHTcoz9Ud

Yeah I will take a look, Cheers

The Fields family sells watches under two different names, Gamages of London and Swan&Edgar. But they are not really different, they just have different logos on the face. This is a clever but deceiving strategy to attract different kinds of buyers and increase their earnings. TJC shows the RRP from Gamages website as £600+ and then slashes the price to £99. This creates a sense of urgency and excitement among the shoppers and the buying frenzy commences

 

[Hammy60]

Yeah I will take a look, Cheers

The Fields family sells watches under two different names, Gamages of London and Swan&Edgar. But they are not really different, they just have different logos on the face. This is a clever but deceiving strategy to attract different kinds of buyers and increase their earnings. TJC shows the RRP from Gamages website as £600+ and then slashes the price to £99. This creates a sense of urgency and excitement among the shoppers and the buying frenzy commences

They also do the even cheaper crap Anthony James watches, which are now on Shop Extra since IW's demise.

 

[As rare as hen's teeth]

They also do the even cheaper crap Anthony James watches, which are now on Shop Extra since IW's demise.

Wow, what a coincidence! I was just warning people about these crappy watches earlier on

 

[As rare as hen's teeth]

Yeah, thanks, Hen.

If you go look at the huge IW random musings thread in the graveyard section, this has been discussed at length with photos and comparisons showing the same Gamages watch with Chinese branding, for £30 on AliExpress.
Try looking around page 1000+.

Same applies to Swan&Edgar, Earnshaw too.

Post in thread 'Random musings and general banter.':

https://forum.shoppingtelly.com/threads/random-musings-and-general-banter.47147/post-1086487

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000409068728.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.5.4bc64519Ygz35f&algo_pvid=c2ac0a4c-731b-4258-88a0-53ff5eee8390&algo_exp_id=c2ac0a4c-731b-4258-88a0-53ff5eee8390-2&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22:%2210000001687151736%22%7D&pdp_npi=2@dis!GBP!49.01!25.0!!!0.89!!@2100ba4716695876174851788d0727!10000001687151736!sea&curPageLogUid=G3RCHTcoz9Ud

Yeah I have looked and there is no doubt that these are stock Chinese made watches with Gamages and Swan&Edgar logos printed on the dial

 

[PhaedrusR]

My only query, when AFields says design takes a year, etc. is are we sure the watches are not designed and requested to be made by Gamages/Swan & Edgar, i.e. commissioned by UK, manufactured by the Chinese and the Chinese then put their own Chinese logos on the watches for their internal market.
Could it be that way round?

Do we know for sure the watches already exist and just have logo/crown/strap printed for UK resellers, out of an oem watch catalogue?!? And not made to order and resold in China?

 

[As rare as hen's teeth]

My only query, when AFields says design takes a year, etc. is are we sure the watches are not designed and requested to be made by Gamages/Swan & Edgar, i.e. commissioned by UK, manufactured by the Chinese and the Chinese then put their own Chinese logos on the watches for their internal market.
Could it be that way round?

Do we know for sure the watches already exist and just have logo/crown/strap printed for UK resellers, out of an oem watch catalogue?!? And not made to order and resold in China?

Can I be 100% certain, no Maybe I was a tad too hasty in making such a definitive statement If you watch TJC Gamages are on air at least every 2 months with a new limited edition watch I think that contradicts the time he says it takes to design and produce a high-quality timepiece which these are definitely not The website claims that there is a team of London based designers each possessing decades of experience in the art of watch making. Oh, dear where do I start On TJC Field emphasizes to his audience that every watch is his own creation and that he alone is in charge I will have to cut this short as I could write a book on people like A field, Gamages of London, Swan and Edgar watches No thought process went into the branding of the watches Field has used a lazy form of marketing in choosing these names Nobody would spend a year designing a watch that sells for £99 I will say that Field is making money as these watches are made using the most basic of materials A Field has stressed me out, it's time for a beer. Cheers

 

[cheeky chappie]

No disrespect meant to anyone but here's a good rule of thumb to follow when watching selly telly regardless of channel, product or presenter.

Take every single thing you see and hear them spout with a HUGE pinch of salt.

That way you hopefully won't go far wrong.

 

[PhaedrusR]

If you look up Fields on companies house, there is an office in London N2, Fields Luxury, I think under which the brands are run.

If you think of dragons' den, where the inventors often talk about, "we get it made in China"...just wondered, possibly, if it's that way. A bunch of graphics people, send their "look/design" to China and they knock it up and they make their money that way and the legal work conditions is the Chinese are then allowed to resell same design in the East or as a generic OEM to others.

I don't know, just asking the question.

@Hammy60 I think it was did put links weeks back in the IW thread to a Chinese website offering "OEM generic watches" to order and customise, I think, but that could still be after the UK requirements were manufactured and then put in a catalogue to be resold as OEM generic for others to also buy.

 

[PhaedrusR]

Can I be 100% certain, no Maybe I was a tad too hasty in making such a definitive statement If you watch TJC Gamages are on air at least every 2 months with a new limited edition watch I think that contradicts the time he says it takes to design and produce a high-quality timepiece which these are definitely not The website claims that there is a team of London based designers each possessing decades of experience in the art of watch making. Oh, dear where do I start On TJC Field emphasizes to his audience that every watch is his own creation and that he alone is in charge I will have to cut this short as I could write a book on people like A field, Gamages of London, Swan and Edgar watches No thought process went into the branding of the watches Field has used a lazy form of marketing in choosing these names Nobody would spend a year designing a watch that sells for £99 I will say that Field is making money as these watches are made using the most basic of materials A Field has stressed me out, it's time for a beer. Cheers

Yes, they've hit on the brilliant idea of using defunct London department stores as their branding.

So I also look forward to wearing a Debenhams, Barker's, BHS British Home Stores, Arding & Hobbs, or possibly Wilko branded watches in the very near future...

See that IW thread, all discussed there too.

 

[As rare as hen's teeth]

No disrespect meant to anyone but here's a good rule of thumb to follow when watching selly telly regardless of channel, product or presenter.

Take every single thing you see and hear them spout with a HUGE pinch of salt.

That way you hopefully won't go far wrong.

I can't argue with that logic!

 

[As rare as hen's teeth]

Yes, they've hit on the brilliant idea of using defunct London department stores as their branding.

So I also look forward to wearing a Debenhams, Barker's, BHS British Home Stores, Arding & Hobbs, or possibly Wilko branded watches in the very near future...

See that IW thread, all discussed there too.

Ha-ha I do like that reply!

 

[PhaedrusR]

Ha-ha I do like that reply!

Wonder if there might be a highly prized, limited edition "Ideal World" branded exquisite timepiece, a miracle of engineering, a watch that achieves an horological summit of the magic of time that others can only aspire to.

Maybe not.

There'll probably be a Shop Extra limited edition defunct brand watch/bag/mug in about 3 months time though.

 

[As rare as hen's teeth]

If you look up Fields on companies house, there is an office in London N2, Fields Luxury, I think under which the brands are run.

If you think of dragons' den, where the inventors often talk about, "we get it made in China"...just wondered, possibly, if it's that way. A bunch of graphics people, send their "look/design" to China and they knock it up and they make their money that way and the legal work conditions is the Chinese are then allowed to resell same design in the East or as a generic OEM to others.

I don't know, just asking the question.

@Hammy60 I think it was did put links weeks back in the IW thread to a Chinese website offering "OEM generic watches" to order and customise, I think, but that could still be after the UK requirements were manufactured and then put in a catalogue to be resold as OEM generic for others to also buy.

Yeah, maybe you have a point. He's charging so little for his watches, he must be doing everything by himself I am 99% sure that these watches are stock made using really low quality material I will give him the benefit of the doubt and say he could have designed the dial

 

[PhaedrusR]

Yeah, maybe you have a point. He's charging so little for his watches, he must be doing everything by himself I am 99% sure that these watches are stock made using really low quality material I will give him the benefit of the doubt and say he could have designed the dial

Well if the Chinese offer a bulk order/design service, then he may only be paying, say, £10-20 cost price or less/more.

So even £99-129+ is a reasonable 5x mark-up and the sort of multiple you need to cover sales costs to make a profit. And Gamages & S&E sites will happily take £600 from 'gullible Americans' who want a bit of UK history/caché ...

The address in N2 on Google Streetview is a proper 4 floor office block, doesn't look like a sort of space that rents cupboards or hosts multi business addresses, so one or a half floor might have him, family coworkers and a small number of staff.

I don't know, but starting to take some of the 'assumptions' from forum posters a bit less as 'fact' verbatim, especially after the IW insider "snakesnake" revealed some of the IW thread's assumptions as not the case after all.

 

[As rare as hen's teeth]

Well if the Chinese offer a bulk order/design service, then he may only be paying, say, £10-20 cost price or less/more.

So even £99-129+ is a reasonable 5x mark-up and the sort of multiple you need to cover sales costs to make a profit. And Gamages & S&E sites will happily take £600 from 'gullible Americans' who want a bit of UK history/caché ...

The address in N2 on Google Streetview is a proper 4 floor office block, doesn't look like a sort of space that rents cupboards or hosts multi business addresses, so one or a half floor might have him, family coworkers and a small number of staff.

I don't know, but starting to take some of the 'assumptions' from forum posters a bit less as 'fact' verbatim, especially after the IW insider "snakesnake" revealed some of the IW thread's assumptions as not the case after all.

There is no doubt that he is making loads of money

 

[Herring]

I don't know, but starting to take some of the 'assumptions' from forum posters a bit less as 'fact' verbatim, especially after the IW insider "snakesnake" revealed some of the IW thread's assumptions as not the case after all.

Alleged IW insider, tbf. They've not shown any "proof" of having worked there, or in what capacity (probably a the lower-level TV side rather than the business side, which makes some of their 'answers' offering insight into business decisions a bit dubious. Not saying they aren't real, or didn't 'hear' things while there, but… Occam's razor, innit).

I don't take Selly Telly presenters at face value with what they say, so I won't lap up "insider gossip" from random new forum posters either - even if some of what they say aligns to my own preconceptions about how things are likely run.

As for the watches, Gamages is relatively modest price wise, even compared to S&E. They're not inherently bad because they're made in China. And I don't think most folks take issue with (cheap) Chinese products being re-branded and re-sold for modest profits in the UK.

It's the presentation, insinuation, and deceptive marketing that the Field family and the shopping channels indulge in that (rightly) attracts scrutiny, derision, and examination. They're presented as high-end, quality, bespoke timepieces, designed in London, family heirlooms, etc etc - they aren't.

And threads like this one helpfully let potential buyers researching the brand know that

 

[Herring]

I didn't mean my message above to sound quite so blunt just - take everything, even on here, with a pinch of Himalayan rock salt.

Another forum member on here often says: if you LIKE the look of a watch, its features, and you're happy with the price, then that's all that matters at the end of the day. For some, Gamages are bang-on with all three.

 

[As rare as hen's teeth]

I didn't mean my message above to sound quite so blunt just - take everything, even on here, with a pinch of Himalayan rock salt.

Another forum member on here often says: if you LIKE the look of a watch, its features, and you're happy with the price, then that's all that matters at the end of the day. For some, Gamages are bang-on with all three.

I think it is good that we can talk openly about these type of watches and share our opinions Perhaps I'm a tad too harsh with my disdain, but hey, that's just me.
I personally think the whole sale pitch is abhorrent and unethical.