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If you are a frequent buyer then no, you can't get any better deal than with an AD who knows you or if you are in a city with a lot of AD competition. If neither applies to you AND you live somewhere with a high sales tax, it might be cheaper to buy abroad than at home.

But there are deals to be had aside from "duty free", maybe not at the airport where they have captive consumers, but in the Caribbean where there a tons of watch stores you can work some magic. The last two nice watches I bought were a Breitling Aerospace and Colt Oceane and we visited a few dealers checking things out. Hit it off with a nice store clerk who was very helpful and had visited where we lived once, etc. etc. so she started offering some discounts. Then she got the store manager involved who was so thrilled I was at my Omega Seamaster I had on that he had to go to their other store and bring his back to show me. When we got back home in the states I visited the only Breitling AD and fake shopped and the best deal I could get was 10% off, which after a 9.75% tax wasn't much of a deal.

Author:	rplace [ Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:17 pm ]
Post subject:	Duty Free Watches
Just got back from an out of the country vacation. At the airport killing time I was checking out Breitlings and Omegas. Since I had just picked up a new watch I was just browsing. On the plane back I got to thinking is there any bargains to be had? I tried on a PO with mesh bracelet and the clerk immediatly said let me get you the manager for best price...but I did not even have him come over, as I knew I was not buying not matter what. Since then I have been kicking myself for not at the very least checking out the prices. So who has any experiance with that? I have bought plenty of duty free booze and it is quite the bargain. Are watches the same?

Author:	SVT [ Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:12 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
I was just on a cruise and as soon as we got off the dock the Jewelery store would open and people would flock to it. They carried Breitling and omega and some others. People were buying lots of stuff especially watches. I looked at the prices and I could get better deals at my AD. All people were hearing was NO TAX. Sure no tax big deal.

Author:	jnelson3097 [ Tue Feb 21, 2012 7:19 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
Discounts are no better than you'll get locally. You're also only allowed to spend so much on the islands and should report any purchases on your customs forms. I was just on a cruise last week and got the whole speech from the ADs about how their prices are better than anyone in US and got the whole no tax speech as well.

Author:	jhobbs [ Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:43 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
If you are a frequent buyer then no, you can't get any better deal than with an AD who knows you or if you are in a city with a lot of AD competition. If neither applies to you AND you live somewhere with a high sales tax, it might be cheaper to buy abroad than at home. But there are deals to be had aside from "duty free", maybe not at the airport where they have captive consumers, but in the Caribbean where there a tons of watch stores you can work some magic. The last two nice watches I bought were a Breitling Aerospace and Colt Oceane and we visited a few dealers checking things out. Hit it off with a nice store clerk who was very helpful and had visited where we lived once, etc. etc. so she started offering some discounts. Then she got the store manager involved who was so thrilled I was at my Omega Seamaster I had on that he had to go to their other store and bring his back to show me. When we got back home in the states I visited the only Breitling AD and fake shopped and the best deal I could get was 10% off, which after a 9.75% tax wasn't much of a deal.

Author:	SVT [ Wed Feb 22, 2012 4:55 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
jhobbs wrote: If you are a frequent buyer then no, you can't get any better deal than with an AD who knows you or if you are in a city with a lot of AD competition. If neither applies to you AND you live somewhere with a high sales tax, it might be cheaper to buy abroad than at home. But there are deals to be had aside from "duty free", maybe not at the airport where they have captive consumers, but in the Caribbean where there a tons of watch stores you can work some magic. The last two nice watches I bought were a Breitling Aerospace and Colt Oceane and we visited a few dealers checking things out. Hit it off with a nice store clerk who was very helpful and had visited where we lived once, etc. etc. so she started offering some discounts. Then she got the store manager involved who was so thrilled I was at my Omega Seamaster I had on that he had to go to their other store and bring his back to show me. When we got back home in the states I visited the only Breitling AD and fake shopped and the best deal I could get was 10% off, which after a 9.75% tax wasn't much of a deal. I agree im sure there are deals to be had but I tried to make a deal on a UN at Diamonds International in St. Marteen and it was like pulling teeth, I eneded up leaving the store and I think the guy was suprised I left. The wife later told me she saw him looking for me in the plaza. These places in the caribean I think they perceive the cruise industry crowd to be very uninformed regarding prices are have money to burn cause they sure do lick their lips when they see that ship pull in. To be fair most of the people I saw in those shops seemed completly clueless and most seemed like tire kicker window shoppers just wanting to try on a high end watch.

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Author:	Noob [ Wed Feb 22, 2012 5:19 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
I was just in st Thomas and im new to Breitlings but they were asking 6700 for a new navitimer with steel bracelet, they wanted 5700 for a galatic with factory diamond bezel and black alligator strap (on the 40% off section). I forgot what they wanted for the Bentley motors, but I want to say around 8300. I bought a used Bentley motors in like new condition with metal bracelet and brown and black leather straps for 5k

Author:	Noob [ Wed Feb 22, 2012 5:24 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
Here's pics of said galatic and navi timer, not sure what current value in the states are at an AD, it was at the little Switzerland store, and they had probably 10 stores on the island and 1 Breitling boutique

Author:	SVT [ Wed Feb 22, 2012 6:48 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
They had a all gold B01 on my ship for sale....................53k Ouch!

Author:	supertaz1 [ Wed Feb 22, 2012 10:18 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
The AD's I buy from in Vancouver always offer better prices than the Cruise pricing in the Caribbean including tax's.

Author:	Dracha [ Wed Feb 22, 2012 12:50 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
I am a frequent traveler and the best prices I have found so far were : 1) Schiphol Amsterdam airport , tax & duty free with negotiating room on Omega & Breitling, Rolex 'just' tax & duty free no negotiating 2) Changi Airport Singapore, every brand available more than Schiphol, but a close 2nd to Schiphol 3) HongKong , could not match prices from Schiphol airport but mainly due to exchange rates 4) Singapore itself , would match Singapore airport prices on new pieces but not Schiphol airport , haven for used watches , anything is available but (big but) the Best deals are to be had in the city themselves ie: US traveler in Amsterdam , all shops offer tax and duty free to non-residents, EU traveler in Singapore , again tax and duty free for non residents. Best part of going to a normal shop is 1st negotiating the price down , then take the tax off . This may sound alien to US residents as tax is added on top of the price , here its included in the 'window' price

Author:	jhobbs [ Wed Feb 22, 2012 6:08 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
I wonder if the stores jack up prices when the cruise ships are in port, or are just less willing to deal since they have so many eager beavers swarming into the stores. When we made our last purchase we had traveled to St. John but had a day to kill in St. Thomas and there were no cruise ships docked. There were actually some of the larger chain stores closed and were told some of the duplicate locations scattered throughout the city only open when a cruise ship is in port. Not sure if I ever wind up being able to splurge on a high end watch again if I would buy while traveling again or just go suck up to a local AD. No doubt though the selection is unbelievable, esp. in places like St. Thomas.

Author:	boogiebot [ Wed Feb 22, 2012 8:40 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
supertaz1 wrote: The AD's I buy from in Vancouver always offer better prices than the Cruise pricing in the Caribbean including tax's. supertaz1 what AD do you deal with in vancouver??

Author:	rplace [ Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:14 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Duty Free Watches
Well that is about what I expected. Better than MSRP, but not as good as you could do on your own with a bit of effort. The PO on mesh was nice to see in person, so that was worth my time in itself. I was at the airport, not a cruise, but still a captive audience. I'd suspect a boat full of fat, drunk, sunburned, people descending on a town all at once might actually yield a worse deal. Looks like I will stick to liquor and cigars where I know the prices very well and the duty free things seems to make sense. Thanks all!

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