Buying watch in switzerland what town is best ?

[B16JUS]

In the uk we have london bond street and surrounding roads

Where is best in switzerland for buying i have a few watches i would like and planning a couple of days to pop there for a look and see prices etc

anyone got experiance there ?

J

[toohuge]

My fiancé says there is a tax free area or something in Switzerland with loads of watch shops, I will ask her today and try and get an answer.

[itsnotarace]

Think you mean Livigno which is in Italy but can be accessed via Switzerland

http://www.livigno.com/en/ospitalita/acquistare/at...

[lowdrag]

Avenue du Rhone down by the lake is the big watch place in Geneva. All the major makes are there plus of course the clothing and accessory shops. I looked the windows but didn't go in and try to haggle so no idea on prices. They don't show prices in many of the shops anyway just to get you to go in.

[Silver993tt]

toohuge said:

My fiancé says there is a tax free area or something in Switzerland with loads of watch shops, I will ask her today and try and get an answer.

It's called Samnaun in Switzerland only accessible from Austria. It's the other side of the Ischgl ski area.

[toohuge]

Silver993tt said:

toohuge said:

My fiancé says there is a tax free area or something in Switzerland with loads of watch shops, I will ask her today and try and get an answer.

It's called Samnaun in Switzerland only accessible from Austria. It's the other side of the Ischgl ski area.

Yep, that's it!

[Whitean3]

As said above, Samnaun is tax free but is a real bh to get to. Probably not worth the hassle of a 4 hour journey through Austria to get there. You'll also find that due to the typical Swiss practice of price fixing, coupled with the unfavourable exchange rate, it really isn't worth buying a watch here in Switzerland as you'll find the prices way higher than in the UK, even though there are plenty of watch shops here!

[Roop]

Whitean3 said:

As said above, Samnaun is tax free but is a real bh to get to. Probably not worth the hassle of a 4 hour journey through Austria to get there. You'll also find that due to the typical Swiss practice of price fixing, coupled with the unfavourable exchange rate, it really isn't worth buying a watch here in Switzerland as you'll find the prices way higher than in the UK, even though there are plenty of watch shops here!

+1 Strong CHF vs GBP means you can probably get the same watch for less money at your local jewellers.

[Whitean3]

I forgot to add that VAT in Switzerland is only 7.6%- so tax free savings won't be huge if you were to purchase in Samnaun or at the airport! And I'm pretty sure that discounts and haggling would be frowned upon!

[Silver993tt]

Whitean3 said:

I forgot to add that VAT in Switzerland is only 7.6%- so tax free savings won't be huge if you were to purchase in Samnaun or at the airport! And I'm pretty sure that discounts and haggling would be frowned upon!

There's also the duty that is to be saved also on top of VAT since Switzerland isn't in the EU.