Buy UK or Thailand ?

[Speed 3]

I've got a landmark birthday coming up in Feb and plan to be treated to a decent watch. I'm not a watch fanatic, just want something classic and wearable daily. Personal taste (as always) has narrowed down the choice to something like one of these:







They're not necessarily comparable prices new but not fussed about buying used in good / serviced condition. Would prefer an auto as it'll be da daily but can live with a manual in the Speedmaster's case as I don't like the arrow hands on the Seamasters.

We are also going on holiday to Thailand at Easter, staying in Bangkok for a few days. Whilst I haven't tried any of these on yet (and I have quite skinny wrists so have always avoided metal straps in the past, but a new Omega comes with alternate), from a cost perspective, assuming I like all of them, would it be best to buy the Speedmaster new from Dom (£2700ish), the Zenith / Jaeger from a used broker (probably US based) or buy any of them new in Bangkok ?

[bazza.]

Grey import would be hard to sell if you ever you wanted to

[PJ S]

bazza. said:

Grey import would be hard to sell if you ever you wanted to

My reply to that is short and sweet – bks!

[nikaiyo2]

Speed 3 said:

I've got a landmark birthday coming up in Feb and plan to be treated to a decent watch. I'm not a watch fanatic, just want something classic and wearable daily. Personal taste (as always) has narrowed down the choice to something like one of these:







They're not necessarily comparable prices new but not fussed about buying used in good / serviced condition. Would prefer an auto as it'll be da daily but can live with a manual in the Speedmaster's case as I don't like the arrow hands on the Seamasters.

We are also going on holiday to Thailand at Easter, staying in Bangkok for a few days. Whilst I haven't tried any of these on yet (and I have quite skinny wrists so have always avoided metal straps in the past, but a new Omega comes with alternate), from a cost perspective, assuming I like all of them, would it be best to buy the Speedmaster new from Dom (£2700ish), the Zenith / Jaeger from a used broker (probably US based) or buy any of them new in Bangkok ?

All the major brands seem to be roughly the same price in Thailand, last time I was there all the Omega, Rolex etc had prices almost identical to the uk list price. The £ was stronger then...
They would be more open to a haggle I recon, but I was not really buying if you get me.
I will be in BKK for a day next month, will have a look at prices.

Or get a nice open heart Rolex in Patpong Night Market for 1500Bhat

[___MIKE___]

There's some decent shops in Paragon, also remember to claim the vat back at the airport.

[Du1point8]

[quote=_MIKE_]There's some decent shops in Paragon, also remember to claim the vat back at the airport.
[/quote]

Do remember this...

I do it with all purchases over $300 in AUS or Singapore, although not got round to a watch, but on my Canon M3 I got back $93 and that was on a $1000 purchase

[benjijames28]

bazza. said:

Grey import would be hard to sell if you ever you wanted to

Why would it?

Only as hard as selling any watch without the original warranty card present, these things are easily lost.

[benjijames28]

My only advise is to avoid the zenith, go for the Omega, or the JLC.

As for where to buy, I have no experience buying in Thailand, that Archie Luxury nutter on YouTube does tho, email him.

With the pound been weak i would assume you would be just as well buying over here. Especially the omega, you can get them dirt cheap grey market, and even at an AD I would be shocked if you walked in with cash and didn't come out having paid at least 20 percent below rrp. My local omega Ad is always having 20 percent off sales on the full omega range.

[Speed 3]

nikaiyo2 said:

I will be in BKK for a day next month, will have a look at prices.

If you can benchmark the Speedmaster that'd be great.

nikaiyo2 said:

Or get a nice open heart Rolex in Patpong Night Market for 1500Bhat

Last time I was there (20 years ago) Tags were all the rage. Don't think we'll be doing Patpong in particular with my 13/10 year old daughters in tow this time

[Speed 3]

benjijames28 said:

My only advise is to avoid the zenith, go for the Omega, or the JLC.

As for where to buy, I have no experience buying in Thailand, that Archie Luxury nutter on YouTube does tho, email him.

With the pound been weak i would assume you would be just as well buying over here. Especially the omega, you can get them dirt cheap grey market, and even at an AD I would be shocked if you walked in with cash and didn't come out having paid at least 20 percent below rrp. My local omega Ad is always having 20 percent off sales on the full omega range.

Interesting, thought the Zenith had a decent rep.

I will do some window shopping here first to see what kind of deal I get.

So grey imports effectvely have no warranty but will have pretty much the same residuals long term ?

[benjijames28]

Speed 3 said:

Interesting, thought the Zenith had a decent rep.

I will do some window shopping here first to see what kind of deal I get.

So grey imports effectvely have no warranty but will have pretty much the same residuals long term ?

If you buy from a UK based grey dealer, you usually get a full warranty.

I originally bought a Tudor Pelagos from the most well known grey dealer in the UK, they sent me a badly damaged watch.

Personally I would not trust them again.

I took my cash to a Tudor AD in Harrogate and did a deal. Only worked out a few hundred quid cheaper than grey market price.

Very happy with it nearly 2 years on.

[___MIKE___]

However he wouldn't be buying grey market, plenty of authorised dealers in Paragon. Get the BTS to Siam and check it out. Make sure at time of purchase to ask for the vat refund paper.

[bazza.]

benjijames28 said:

Why would it?

Only as hard as selling any watch without the original warranty card present, these things are easily lost.

Some people don't like the idea of buying a watch which the tax duty hasn't been paid on I've seen it
Happen a few times on TZ with guys pulling out of deals after they find its a grey import

At any point you could be asked for proof you paid import tax on it

I had it the other day in Germany with a compound bow just because I order something for it from the US
The police wanted proof that I paid duty on the bow it was for was a real nightmare id had the bow a few years

[griff7]

As far as i 'm aware any luxury goods in Thailand are subject to rather large taxes ie cars handbags watches but only the ones that come under the luxury bracket.If you want a rolex then it is subject to the taxes but not a run of the mill watch.If you say you are from the UK Louis Vuitton outlets tell you they are far more expensive in Thailand.The exchange rates are also terrible at the moment.

Get something from the airport on the way out.

Andy

Edited by griff7 on Sunday 25th September 20:36

[Speed 3]

griff7 said:

Get something from the airport on the way out.

Andy

Yes, forgot to state that option. Did a similar thing on a Rolex for the other half a couple of years ago. If I go for the Speedmaster, they do them pre-orderable at LHR T3 for just under £2700. Just curious if there were other bargain routes and of course if the Omega doesn't suit when I try it on, back to square one. Hey-ho, first world problems.

[bigkeeko]

Speed 3 said:

benjijames28 said:

My only advise is to avoid the zenith, go for the Omega, or the JLC.

Interesting, thought the Zenith had a decent rep.

It has. Never take advise (sic) from someone that takes Archie Luxury seriously.

[mikeveal]

Yes, the Zenith is an excellent watch.

If you do buy from outside yhe EU, don't forget to wander through the red channel and pay 20% import duty. If they catch you in the green channel (box and papersin your suitcase are a dead giveaway), they can get very grumpy.

Personally, I'd source 2nd hand, Dom Hackett or Chrono24.

[Yex 450]

I bought my Breitling Blackbird in Bangkok quite a few years ago and claimed the tax back at the airport

I made sure the warranty was worldwide at point of purchase and used an authorised dealer. They should be still trading so if you are in Bangkok have a look out for "Pendulum" as they had a few stores in the major shopping centres and were very nice to deal with.

[TheGuru]

Siam Paragon (department store and the individual shops) definitely one of the better places, many brands you will be able to get 20-25% immediately. Then around 7% tax refund at the airport.

[jshell]

bazza. said:

Some people don't like the idea of buying a watch which the tax duty hasn't been paid on I've seen it
Happen a few times on TZ with guys pulling out of deals after they find its a grey import

At any point you could be asked for proof you paid import tax on it

And how exactly would you prove it? Customs only give a CC receipt. They don't give a signed certificate saying 'This watch has had import duty paid'!

Anyone refusing an overseas sourced watch is a little dim to be honest...

TZ has a few duty-justice-warriors who seem jealous that others are getting decent deals elsewhere.