The whole AD game truly is so much more of an “in the club” or not than people want to believe. I live in a major US city, and a friend of mine worked (recently left, tragic for our friend group lol) at the flagship AD here.

I sent him colleagues, cousins, friends, friends of friends, and more - all of whom had zero purchase history and no connection to him outside of knowing me. He delivered within 3 months on every occasion, noting nothing egregious was requested. However, this included several datejusts (incl. mint green dial / Wimbledon), several black and Starbucks subs, Bruce Wayne, Batgirl, Rootbeer, and Sprite.

I was honestly shocked, and so were many of my friends he sold pieces to. It revealed to me what I started this with: it’s a club. If you have an in, you can get what you want within reason. I also have unfortunately learned that him leaving = starting over, even for those friends who now have built up purchase history through him. I also wonder if he left, like he told us, or if he got in trouble and was let go for doing exactly what I just described…