Buying a Rolex in Saudi - financially beneficial?

[blackburnbmw]

A female colleague who is a Rolex wearer is off to Saudi on her holidays soon and knows that I have a hankering for a Submariner. She has suggested that it wouldn't be a problem for her to buy me a Sub whilst there as they are so much cheaper than the UK, and I can pay her back. Is this for real, and an opportunity not to be missed? I am not planning a trip to Saudi myself...

Any views from folk that know, would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[tomtom]

Financially beneficial for her when she pockets your £3k and presents you with a £10 'beach' job.

[baz1950]

Do you know her well or could she fit you up with a snide If there is a price advantage, i would seize the opportunity. Be aware though a new Sub is en route, more like the new style GMT with a ceramic bezel

[phumy]

If she can get it for less than 2200gbp its a bargain, otherwise LHR departures will be your point of contact.

[BigWithey]

Holiday to Saudi!!!! Having spent a couple years there it's the last place you'd want to go for a holliday

[blackburnbmw]

BigWithey said:

Holiday to Saudi!!!! Having spent a couple years there it's the last place you'd want to go for a holliday

Holiday may not be the right word - Pilgrimage maybe?

[Asterix]

I'd be wary of any price less than LHR duty free as well.

If it's bought from an AD then I doubt she'd get much more than 20% off MRRP.

[118118]

i found that saudi and dubai etc are actually more expensive than uk plus the fact you could get stopped at customs and pay duty makes it even worse

J

[phumy]

I live and work in Vietnam, ive visited a couple of Rolex dealers in the last month or so out here and the buggers are charging over the odds for theirs, the Submariner was US$7500 and the Sea-dweller was US$8500. This "inflated" cost was, apparently, due to luxury import tax bringing them into Vietnam.

Bangkok airport doesnt have any Rolex dealers, but the watches being sold in the watch shops, Breitling, Omega and all the other big names are being sold at their relative RRP, no, or very little, discounts given.

Shopping in Kuala Lumpur is good for discounted watches, sometimes up to 30 or even 35% off in some dealers but be prepared to bargain hard and know what they normally sell for, do your homework first.

By far the cheapest i have seen around the UK is at LHR departures, at least you know you are getting the proper deal in UK as there are so many scams and replicas around now, good ones too.

I went to look at a replica Sea-dweller last week and i was amazed at its authentic "look" especially after seeing a website which spoke of the differences between a real and a replica SD. The replica i saw seemed to have all wrongs, righted, the weight, the feel and the very small detail was exceptional. Im sure it would have been very difficult to tell the difference between that and the real thing, it was offered to me for US$240, that was without any bargaining so i expect $200 or less wasnt out of the question.

I am in the market for a Sea-dweller but im paranoid about it being genuine, although i want one for as little money as possible, so i just need to find that elusive AD who will give me more that 25% off, or i will have to bit the bullet and buy one in LHR

[blackburnbmw]

Thanks all for the wise words. Methinks that very careful consideration is required.

Richard.

[Asterix]

If it helps at all, I got hold of a Glashütte Original at $1,000 less than I could get in Dubai.
Perhaps its less of a well known brand but the discounts simply weren't there. The Dubai list prist was WAY over the standard international MRRP.

My Sea Dweller here was AED 21,000 at max discount - around GBP 3k

[cyberface]

phumy said:

I went to look at a replica Sea-dweller last week and i was amazed at its authentic "look" especially after seeing a website which spoke of the differences between a real and a replica SD. The replica i saw seemed to have all wrongs, righted, the weight, the feel and the very small detail was exceptional. Im sure it would have been very difficult to tell the difference between that and the real thing, it was offered to me for US$240, that was without any bargaining so i expect $200 or less wasnt out of the question.

I am in the market for a Sea-dweller but im paranoid about it being genuine, although i want one for as little money as possible, so i just need to find that elusive AD who will give me more that 25% off, or i will have to bit the bullet and buy one in LHR

It has to be said though that the SD is the best replica that the replica makers actually make. The current iteration of the 'best' SD was made from a real one, and is near-as-dammit identical to a genuine watch.

Neat trick for all you worriers - the replica SD uses an ETA 2836-2 and is a fine enough movement in its own right, so unless you're saturation diving (which the replica has been tested with, and survived, though the slightly poorer quality steel corroded a bit - it's an interesting article if you google for it) then it's a good watch. But you can tell the difference between the Rolex movement and the ETA very easily if you're given the watch, because the quick date set operation works in opposite directions... turning the crown clockwise advances the date on an ETA, however IIRC you turn the crown anticlockwise to advance the date on the gen Rolex movement (or at least some of them... Rolex's numerous 'small' changes to their watches over the years makes it very easy for replicas to be identical to at least one year's model... )