Buying watch online--PLEASE HELP! :)

[canuk-gal]

HI:

PS has such an established repitoire of vendors with feedback--I have no problem buying diamonds and jewellery online. But for watches, I do not have the same confidence.

Am looking at a mens rose or yellow gold IWC or Breguet. 40/41mm.

I have looked at timezone and watchnet but am still confused.

If I were to buy online, who could make a recommendation? If I were to fly to LA or Vegas, could anyone make recommendations???

Online pricing is much more competitive than local.

Thanking folks in advance....

cheers--Sharon

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

zzzzzzzzzzzz

JLC is an option; and if Zenith makes their own movements in house, I will consider those as well. Must do some Homework....

cheers--Sharon

 

[Alexiszoe]

canuk-gal,

I recommend europeanwatch.com in Boston. Have bought some Lange and Sohne and almost a Patek Philippe, and their service is really good. If you are participating in the watch forums a private sale between members is cheaper, but riskier, although most of them have been trading back and forth with other watch enthusiasts, and you can check them on the forums for feedback based on their prior transactions with other members.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI AZ:

Thanks for the tip! They seem to have a lot of stock--and turn over.

Did you buy new or used?

cheers--Sharon

 

[Alexiszoe]

HI AZ:

Thanks for the tip! They seem to have a lot of stock--and turn over.

Did you buy new or used?

cheers--Sharon

Hi Sharon,

I have bought both new and used. If you don't see what you want, give them a call and they might be able to find what you are looking for. I have to say though the better deals I have gotten tends to be private trade/sales between other watch enthusiasts, since of course, there's no overheads

 

[canuk-gal]

HI AZ:

Thanks for the tip! They seem to have a lot of stock--and turn over.

Did you buy new or used?

cheers--Sharon

Hi Sharon,

I have bought both new and used. If you don't see what you want, give them a call and they might be able to find what you are looking for. I have to say though the better deals I have gotten tends to be private trade/sales between other watch enthusiasts, since of course, there's no overheads

HI:

Yes, private selling has benefits--and some drawbacks. Not sure I have the nerve for the latter.

Do they negotiate on new and used products? They have a lot of trade-ins--I wonder how they authenticate their products?

cheers--Sharon

 

[Dancing Fire]

HI:

zzzzzzzzzzzz

JLC is an option; and if Zenith makes their own movements in house, I will consider those as well. Must do some Homework....

cheers--Sharon

both JLC and Zenith are 100% in house...

 

[Alexiszoe]

Hi Sharon,

in my experience negotiation is possible, especially when you buy more than 1 watch. I am not too worried about authenticity, they are a reputable store dealing with luxury watches for many years in downtown Boston, and have a watch repair and maintenance facility in the back that has staff there that probably does the verifying. I have bought from them and sent my watches to the manufacturer for maintenance and have had no issues.

If this is a really huge concern for you, you might want to work directly with stores that are authorized distributors of the brands you want. I recommend Wempe in NY, excellent customer service. Give them a call and see what they can do for you.

And on an aside, out of the brands you are considering, I have to agree with DF especially for JLC!

 

[Dancing Fire]

HI AZ:

Thanks for the tip! They seem to have a lot of stock--and turn over.

Did you buy new or used?

cheers--Sharon

Hi Sharon,

I have bought both new and used. If you don't see what you want, give them a call and they might be able to find what you are looking for. I have to say though the better deals I have gotten tends to be private trade/sales between other watch enthusiasts, since of course, there's no overheads

HI:

Yes, private selling has benefits--and some drawbacks. Not sure I have the nerve for the latter.

Do they negotiate on new and used products? They have a lot of trade-ins--I wonder how they authenticate their products?

cheers--Sharon

i would have no problem buying from long time members. some of these watches are "a one night stand watches" in like new condition. i mean these guys change their watch collection like i change my underwear. always buy the seller not the watch.. ask the seller lots of Qs. talk to seller over the phone "to feel him out" before wiring him your money.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

zzzzzzzzzzzz

JLC is an option; and if Zenith makes their own movements in house, I will consider those as well. Must do some Homework....

cheers--Sharon

both JLC and Zenith are 100% in house...

Yes thanks, I did read some great articles yesterday....

What about vendors?

cheers--Sahron

 

[Alexiszoe]

i would have no problem buying from long time members. some of these watches are "a one night stand watches" in like new condition. i mean these guys change their watch collection like i change my underwear. always buy the seller not the watch.. ask the seller lots of Qs. talk to seller over the phone "to feel him out" before wiring him your money.

lol that is so true!

 

[canuk-gal]

i would have no problem buying from long time members. some of these watches are "a one night stand watches" in like new condition. i mean these guys change their watch collection like i change my underwear. always buy the seller not the watch.. ask the seller lots of Qs. talk to seller over the phone "to feel him out" before wiring him your money.

lol that is so true!

OKOK, this is where I want someone to do the work for me! (ooooppppssss, did I say that outloud???)

The watch is for my DH--who already has two. He likes rose gold but yellow would suffice. Leather band. Likely round. He is intrigued by the engineering of the watch--so I think JLC is a fine choice. Not too many bells and whistles (aka chronograph) and he likes the skeleton back.

Lange is my first choice--but they are very very pricy and we need to reno our (whole) house! Never say never I suppose....

Also, my DH might be interested in a "one night stand"!

cheers--Sharon

 

[TravelingGal]

Sharon, some authorized dealers do negotiate. Feldmar here in LA and Lussori in the SF area both have storefronts, but deal a lot with internet customers (in fact, Lussori has an internet sales manager). They are fairly aggressive in discounting the brands they can discount. I have bought from both. With a really expensive timepiece, I would buy from a AD when possible, because gray market usually means no vendor warranty (although some people really don't care about that).

Breguet will be a bit tougher...I didn't run into it much at many dealers since that's really high end.

IWC and Zenith both had quite a bit of wiggle room in the negotiation department.

 

[Alexiszoe]

Sharon,

my used purchases have all come with box and papers. EW has a lot of "one night stand" (to use DF's term) watches that has box and papers as well. I do not know anything about the other online retailers in the grey market. Note though the manufacturer warranty ( I am only speaking about my experiences with Lange and Patek) is only for 2 years, after which you will have to pay to get it serviced. With Lange in NY even without papers (I was traveling and one of my watches required servicing and I had no papers with me) they are willing to service it, my guess is my watch was registered in their system since I sent it there a few years ago for regular servicing.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Lange, Patek or JLC. But then again, I am biased...

 

[canuk-gal]

Sharon, some authorized dealers do negotiate. Feldmar here in LA and Lussori in the SF area both have storefronts, but deal a lot with internet customers (in fact, Lussori has an internet sales manager). They are fairly aggressive in discounting the brands they can discount. I have bought from both. With a really expensive timepiece, I would buy from a AD when possible, because gray market usually means no vendor warranty (although some people really don't care about that).

Breguet will be a bit tougher...I didn't run into it much at many dealers since that's really high end.

IWC and Zenith both had quite a bit of wiggle room in the negotiation department.

HI TG:

Thanks for your input. Of course Internet pricing is much more competitive--makes it difficult to go into the B & M's and see no movement at all.

cheers--Sharon

 

[canuk-gal]

Sharon,

my used purchases have all come with box and papers. EW has a lot of "one night stand" (to use DF's term) watches that has box and papers as well. I do not know anything about the other online retailers in the grey market. Note though the manufacturer warranty ( I am only speaking about my experiences with Lange and Patek) is only for 2 years, after which you will have to pay to get it serviced. With Lange in NY even without papers (I was traveling and one of my watches required servicing and I had no papers with me) they are willing to service it, my guess is my watch was registered in their system since I sent it there a few years ago for regular servicing.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Lange, Patek or JLC. But then again, I am biased...

HI:

Yes, I believe you are correct about brand--or at least, I do agree with you!

Lange I could not serviced locally, unfortunately, since there are no dealers where I live. As for warrenty, 2 years seems "standard".

What to do. What to do.

cheers--Sharon

 

[Dancing Fire]

i would have no problem buying from long time members. some of these watches are "a one night stand watches" in like new condition. i mean these guys change their watch collection like i change my underwear. always buy the seller not the watch.. ask the seller lots of Qs. talk to seller over the phone "to feel him out" before wiring him your money.

lol that is so true!

OKOK, this is where I want someone to do the work for me! (ooooppppssss, did I say that outloud???)

The watch is for my DH--who already has two. He likes rose gold but yellow would suffice. Leather band. Likely round. He is intrigued by the engineering of the watch--so I think JLC is a fine choice. Not too many bells and whistles (aka chronograph) and he likes the skeleton back.

Lange is my first choice--but they are very very pricy and we need to reno our (whole) house! Never say never I suppose....

Also, my DH might be interested in a "one night stand"!

cheers--Sharon

if i have the money...
http://www.gemnation.com/watches/Jaeger-LeCoultre-Master-Calendar-151242-3165.html

 

[canuk-gal]

i would have no problem buying from long time members. some of these watches are "a one night stand watches" in like new condition. i mean these guys change their watch collection like i change my underwear. always buy the seller not the watch.. ask the seller lots of Qs. talk to seller over the phone "to feel him out" before wiring him your money.

lol that is so true!

OKOK, this is where I want someone to do the work for me! (ooooppppssss, did I say that outloud???)

The watch is for my DH--who already has two. He likes rose gold but yellow would suffice. Leather band. Likely round. He is intrigued by the engineering of the watch--so I think JLC is a fine choice. Not too many bells and whistles (aka chronograph) and he likes the skeleton back.

Lange is my first choice--but they are very very pricy and we need to reno our (whole) house! Never say never I suppose....

Also, my DH might be interested in a "one night stand"!

cheers--Sharon

if i have the money...
http://www.gemnation.com/watches/Jaeger-LeCoultre-Master-Calendar-151242-3165.html

DF:

Since that watch is D/C'd--what is your second choice?

cheers--Sharon

 

[Alexiszoe]

Sharon,

my used purchases have all come with box and papers. EW has a lot of "one night stand" (to use DF's term) watches that has box and papers as well. I do not know anything about the other online retailers in the grey market. Note though the manufacturer warranty ( I am only speaking about my experiences with Lange and Patek) is only for 2 years, after which you will have to pay to get it serviced. With Lange in NY even without papers (I was traveling and one of my watches required servicing and I had no papers with me) they are willing to service it, my guess is my watch was registered in their system since I sent it there a few years ago for regular servicing.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Lange, Patek or JLC. But then again, I am biased...

HI:

Yes, I believe you are correct about brand--or at least, I do agree with you!

Lange I could not serviced locally, unfortunately, since there are no dealers where I live. As for warrenty, 2 years seems "standard".

What to do. What to do.

cheers--Sharon

For Lange having it serviced locally is not going to be an issue, since the dealers are not authorized to do the servicing/repairs, so they send it for you to the nearest service center in the country or region, or you can send it in yourself. You might want to check out JLC's or Zenith's policies regarding this if it is important to you that it is serviced locally

 

[Dancing Fire]

[quote="canuk-gal|



DF:

Since that watch is D/C'd--what is your second choice?

cheers--Sharon[/quote]



here's one..

http://forums.watchnet.com/index.php?t=tree&goto=572629&rid=0

 

[Dancing Fire]

[quote="Alexiszoe|

For Lange having it serviced locally is not going to be an issue, since the dealers are not authorized to do the servicing/repairs, so they send it for you to the nearest service center in the country or region, or you can send it in yourself. You might want to check out JLC's or Zenith's policies regarding this if it is important to you that it is serviced locally [/quote]


there's only one person in the U.S. who is authorized to service Langes and his name is Alkis in NYC.

 

[TravelingGal]

[quote="canuk-gal|



DF:

Since that watch is D/C'd--what is your second choice?

cheers--Sharon

here's one..

http://forums.watchnet.com/index.php?t=tree&goto=572629&rid=0[/quote]

 

[canuk-gal]

[quote="canuk-gal|



DF:

Since that watch is D/C'd--what is your second choice?

cheers--Sharon

here's one..

http://forums.watchnet.com/index.php?t=tree&goto=572629&rid=0

[/quote]



OHHHHHH, we loves this one!!!!

cheers--Sharon

 

[Dancing Fire]

[quote="canuk-gal|



DF:

Since that watch is D/C'd--what is your second choice?

cheers--Sharon

here's one..

http://forums.watchnet.com/index.php?t=tree&goto=572629&rid=0

OHHHHHH, we loves this one!!!!

cheers--Sharon[/quote]
then make him an offer...

 

[canuk-gal]

[quote="canuk-gal|



DF:

Since that watch is D/C'd--what is your second choice?

cheers--Sharon

here's one..

http://forums.watchnet.com/index.php?t=tree&goto=572629&rid=0

OHHHHHH, we loves this one!!!!

cheers--Sharon

then make him an offer... [/quote]


DF:

Yes, but I didn't see his name on the "good guys" forum. How do we know? I am unsure of how this unfolds.

cheers--Sharon

 

[Dancing Fire]

[quote="canuk-gal|1349395939|

DF:

Yes, but I didn't see his name on the "good guys" forum. How do we know? I am unsure of how this unfolds.

cheers--Sharon[/quote]


Sharon
if you do a search on " good guy forum" he do have good references. i think his Co. is Time Piece Perfection..

 

[canuk-gal]

[quote="canuk-gal|1349395939|

DF:

Yes, but I didn't see his name on the "good guys" forum. How do we know? I am unsure of how this unfolds.

cheers--Sharon

Sharon
if you do a search on " good guy forum" he do have good references. i think his Co. is Time Piece Perfection.. [/quote]


DF:

In all fairness--I did only a cursory search. Thank you for the clarification and your help. I will follow up!

cheers--Sharon

 

[jerichosmom]

We've bought a few watches...ebay and grey market.

Ebay - I have to find the retailer....paid $2500 for a $7000 new diamond bezeled Omega. The authenticity papers were not Omega's but the jeweler's and we had a 2 week return policy. I took it to Omega/Swatch in LA (Omega is owned by Swatch) for a tune-up. They had to open up the watch and quoted me $500. Obviously, if it was a fake they would have told me so. So for $3K I got an new, authentic Omega with a 1 yr Omega/Swatch warranty.

http://modernvintageclassicwatches.com/contact/about-us/

2 years ago I bought a Zenith El Primero Concept watch for my hubby. We usually do business with Beverly Hills Watch Co but they quoted us $14K for the $18k watch. Not much discount. I found Michael through his Ebay listings and met with him since he was local. Coincidentally, he answered a WTB post on a watch forum that I posted on. I bought the smaller version of the Zenith for $7000 but it was too small. We upgraded to the XL for $8000. Both watches were fedexed overnight from NYC and were brand new, in original packaging with papers. Michael keeps the warranty (or his supplier does). They are grey market watches and Michael told me that if I had any service issues, to go back to him as the would "take care of it" since they had the warranty papers. If we had any doubts about the authenticity of the watch we would have gone the same route with my Omega and had it "verified" by Zenith in the form of a $500-1000 "tune-up".

Michael at the time was the internet sales guy for a well known LA watch/jeweler seller which I shouldn't name. He has his own business that he does on the side and charges a lot less due to low overhead.

 

[canuk-gal]

We've bought a few watches...ebay and grey market.

Ebay - I have to find the retailer....paid $2500 for a $7000 new diamond bezeled Omega. The authenticity papers were not Omega's but the jeweler's and we had a 2 week return policy. I took it to Omega/Swatch in LA (Omega is owned by Swatch) for a tune-up. They had to open up the watch and quoted me $500. Obviously, if it was a fake they would have told me so. So for $3K I got an new, authentic Omega with a 1 yr Omega/Swatch warranty.

http://modernvintageclassicwatches.com/contact/about-us/

2 years ago I bought a Zenith El Primero Concept watch for my hubby. We usually do business with Beverly Hills Watch Co but they quoted us $14K for the $18k watch. Not much discount. I found Michael through his Ebay listings and met with him since he was local. Coincidentally, he answered a WTB post on a watch forum that I posted on. I bought the smaller version of the Zenith for $7000 but it was too small. We upgraded to the XL for $8000. Both watches were fedexed overnight from NYC and were brand new, in original packaging with papers. Michael keeps the warranty (or his supplier does). They are grey market watches and Michael told me that if I had any service issues, to go back to him as the would "take care of it" since they had the warranty papers. If we had any doubts about the authenticity of the watch we would have gone the same route with my Omega and had it "verified" by Zenith in the form of a $500-1000 "tune-up".

Michael at the time was the internet sales guy for a well known LA watch/jeweler seller which I shouldn't name. He has his own business that he does on the side and charges a lot less due to low overhead.

HI:

Thaks for your reply. I have looked at BH Watch Co--but I cannot recall for what which model.

Although we have not yet decided on which watch--we have narrowed it down. We ended up eliminating many because I want a watch that in produced in house, not using kits/parts manufactured elsewhere (very common).

cheers--Sharon

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Still looking for the ultimate Lange watch at an ultimate awesome price!

cheers--Sharon