Buying a watch - Duty-Free or in the USA

[Maxf]

I'm off to Vegas and San Fran in a couple of weeks and have a bit of money burning a hole in my watch fund.

I'd be interested in maybe buying an IWC pilot chrono, Rolex (GMT or Deepsea) or perhaps an Omega. Where would be the best place to pick up a deal? Duty free will be 20% off UK list (I assume) but choice might be limited. Am I better waiting for Las Vegas, or even chancing the pawn shops (I assume they will be littered with half decent watches)?

Obviously Rolex will be tougher to get a deal on than the others - what kind of discounts might I expect in the US for IWC or Omega?

Thanks
Max

[Podie]

First thing I'd do is get a price in the UK.

Personally, I've always got better deals this side of the pond.

[onesickpuppy]

Go and see Rick from Pawn Stars!

[Stu R]

Rolex you'll be hard pressed to get much of a discount on in Vegas, none of the ones I've spoken to have had much room to move on price.

Try Vicci fine jewelry [sic] - they're based at the Forum Shoppes @ Caesar's Palace. If Bruce is still there he's a great guy to deal with, and he loves a bit of a haggle. I've bought 2 watches from him at a price that I couldn't get anywhere near in the UK. He'll tell you the same story on Rolex though - just no room to discount them much.

[jogon]

Depends where you are flying from. I find Gatwick is rubbish for high-end stuff but Heathrow has a decent watch shop.

I was looking at a white gold daytona on a leather strap, list price is C£17k, duty free at Heathrow was c£13k. Which is pretty much what they go for second hand.

The chap even said he could order in watches in advance if you let him know what you want and when your flying.

[Miopyk]

If you're flying from T3 or T5 the choice is pretty good and if you find what you want there I would buy it as you don't pay 20% VAT and if you call them before you travel they can often get what you want in for you to pick up when you are flying. Prices in the US are good if you can get a discount but popular models are less likely to get one.

If you know exactly what you want pick the phone up and ring the dealers in LV and see if the can match or better the price from the airport. If you can travel out of state you could save the sales tax as well by having the purchase forwarded on.

Good Luck

Miopyk