Are watches cheaper in the USA?

[Easty-5]

I am off on holiday to Florida mid October and I am currently looking to buy either a Raymond Weil Freelancer or a Tag Heuer Aquaracer Chrono day-date. Freelancer is circa £1295 on the high street and Tag is about £1850. However, I was at Heathrow airport recently and the World Duty Free shop in terminal 3 had the Freelancer for £1030 and a The Swiss Watch Shop in terminal 1 (a Goldsmiths branch according to the net) had the Tag for £1195.

So my questions are; Are there any decent watch shops in Gatwick South Terminal? Are watches generally cheaper in Florida?

Found the Freelancer I want on Ebay, its from the USA and a hell of a lot cheaper than over here. What's the catch? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-MENS-RAYMOND-WEIL-FREELA...

[spaximus]

They used to be but the exchange rate took care of that. For Tag there is an outlet store halfway up I192 forget the name, and there are lots of watch purveyors in millenium mall. They will deal but don't expect half price bargins.

[Vipers]

Would be nasty to find/buy a watch in the states, and get caught coming in, and having to pay duty on it.

Oh and the catch, well big catch, its on ebay, secondly you could still get zapped on import duty, if it ever arrives that is.

But good luck on your quest.

Edited by Vipers on Tuesday 21st September 08:16

[toohuge]

I have found watches to be very similarly priced, but in Florida especially the range available is much greater. There are lots of serious watch shops that will cater for all your needs and having been over recently (not Florida mind) there were lots of used bargains to be had from jewellers.