Lee Perla — Local services in Hackensack

It feels like I wasted 10 years.

In 2015 my father decided to get his first Rolex. He always wanted a Submariner, so we decided to get him one.

This was before the current craziness. Before social media hype drove people who didn’t care about watches to rush out and buy them as “investments”. When watches were for people who enjoyed wearing watches.

At the time, every AD had every sports model lying around. Other than the steel Daytona, you could get anything you wanted. We visited three different dealers, and each had anywhere from 3-5 subs gathering dust. Cases were full.

After visiting the three dealers, we decided to go with Lee Perla. Simply because we liked the salesperson the most. My dad was thrilled. This was the first.

In 2017, my father and I decided to buy matching Datejust 41’s. He got a two-tone on jubilee and I got white dial fluted bezel on jubilee. These were the second and third.

March 2018 was the year Rolex brought my grail back. The Pepsi. I always regretted not being in a position to buy the five digit when it was available.

On the day it was announced as Baselworld, I reached out to my contact at Lee Perla. He was out, but he did get back to me and his email dated 3/21/2018 reads:

“I’m sure you’re interested in one of the new releases, so I did secure you a spot on our list and we can chat about what you’re looking at come Friday. I do hope that’s ok!”

Fast forward a bit.

I got married in March of 2019. I think it was January when my wife got me a Tudor Black Bay 58 as a wedding present. This was the fourth watch we bought from Lee Perla in four years.

March 2019. I had waited a year. I get it, it’s the first year. We only bought four watches over four years, maybe that’s not enough.

March 2020. Nothing. March 2021. Nothing. March 2022. Nothing. March 2023. Nothing.

In February of 2024, we spent some time at the new Lee Perla location. I wanted a Datejust for my wife and a Day-Date for my father. We were told that the Datejust should be here within 3-4 months. No word after that.

March 2024. Nothing.

In September of 2024, I wrote an email to the person at Lee Perla who I've always dealt with. I expressed my disappointment with the situation. He never bothered to reply.

March 2025. 7 years later. Still nothing.

A year later and I can’t even get a callback for a 31mm Datejust.

I want to be clear, I’m a fairly normal person. I’m not the guy who spends 100k every few months or buys 50k watches like they are nothing. I do not think I’ll ever be that person. I know I am not owed anything.

I don’t write reviews as you can see from my google profile. I am not one to complain and cry, but this is one of those extreme situations where I feel like I wasted all these years with a dealer who despite claiming not to play games, doesn’t care about maintaining relationships unless you spend a ton. I understand it is business. You want to sell a full gold or undesirable models to give someone the chance to buy a steel sports model? Sure.

But after 7 years and being told my place on the “list” was not too bad. It’s too much.

I honestly do not know what the reason is. I feel like I have always been polite and pleasant. The first few years I sent gift baskets to the store as a thank you for their help. I don’t even reach out that often because I don’t want to bother anyone. I was told they get about 10 Pepsis a year. So, 7 years later, I still didn’t get anywhere on the list? I was passed over 60-70 times despite my position on the list being "not bad"? I know we only bought 4 watches and none of them were too expensive, but 7 years?

I don’t often go to other dealers because frankly, I just want to deal with one. I’ve mentioned this recently to a few dealers that I’ve randomly stopped by and their reactions were all the same. It’s not normal.

It's not right.

I don't want to think this of people, but is it a race thing? There's no honesty. Just empty smiles and lies.

You let me down Rick. I thought much...

Yesterday was my birthday September 16th which just happens to be the owner's birthday as well. I talked to her husband Nisson recently about coming in and buying a watch and he told me no problem just let me know and I will take care of you and he assured me that however I wanted to pay is fine with him. So I walked in there yesterday after my birthday lunch and I saw a watch on display that I liked. No stock by the way, only display models and I was told they had none in stock but that someone would call me. I left my number and the owner's wife called me today. Her birthday is the same as mine so I thought she would be a little more like me when it comes to keeping my word but I was wrong. She unlike me was not even willing to accommodate me on the promise her husband made and totally dismissed me once I told her how I wanted to pay for the watch. At that point I just said no thank you goodbye and I hung up. It amazes me how many Rolex dealers have the attitude that you're doing them a favor walking in their spending thousands on a watch but they do and this wasn't the first one. I'm giving one star because that's all they get from me for wasting my time and making me believe that I would have a new Rolex for my birthday. But I would imagine they would get a one-star on the way they operate their place having appointments only on Saturday closing at 6:00pm. I mean really you're in a mall. Who does that? But I guess it's just par for the course with what happened to me. Empty promises and wacky business hours and appointment only on weekends is no way to do business. I would have loved to have heard that from her husband who assured me I can pay anyway I want.

UPDATE: Since you can't respond to the owner on these reviews I am putting it here for all to see. Obviously they are trying to cover their tracks by now accusing me of tax evasion that is purely slanderous and liable in a court of law. And I have to review whether I want to pursue legal action now. When you walk into a store in a mall in America and you can't pay with money there's a problem in this country and then for the owner to insinuate that you're evading taxes by wanting to pay with United States currency instead of a credit card is beyond comprehension. I think I need to talk...

Felt compelled to write a wonderful review for Lee Perla after having such an incredible experience there. (Mostly this is about Rick, watch expert, watch enthusiast, watch historian, watch educator.) Background: An old family friend with no relatives gave me his Rolex right before his passing about a decade ago. He absolutely loved watches and clocks and tried to get me interested in them, too. I had the Rolex just sitting in my jewelry box for the last decade and one day felt compelled to get it serviced, bring it back to life and--in essence--allow my friend to live on through his love of this particular watch.

I had no idea about appointments at Lee Perla. Didn’t care about dressing the part of someone interested in Rolex (had an old hoodie, leggings, and sneakers). I just walked into the store where, after a few moments, I was greeted by Rick who apologized for the wait because he was on the phone with a customer.

Right away we sat down and I took out the watch. It was like I was at Rolex University and Professor Rick was giving me an entire watch and history lesson. He pointed to different parts of the watch to explain how he knew the approximate year, that it was serviced probably before my friend passed away, etc. He was so incredibly knowledgeable and kind. His passion for watches was evident. Even after learning I was a teacher, he thanked me for all I do as an educator and said he had such respect and admiration for my profession. Being a teacher means I will probably never buy a Rolex. Just servicing this old watch meant saving for many months. But it didn’t matter as I got the same level of service as anyone else.

The service itself took about 3 months. When I got the watch back, it looked absolutely immaculate. Cloud 9 experience.

If you’re interested in purchasing a Rolex or just getting a wonderful lesson on watches, go to Lee Perla and ask for Rick!...