Tour of Canal Street

[WebWind 1]

Great read and lot of useful information.

Thanx for sharing.

[Distinct 0]

A great write up! :P

 

 

I actually quite like the look of these, from what I can make out of them lol

 

 

Thanks.

 

A major point about the Bell & Ross radar watch replicas. Instead of circular discs that are all flush and form a dynamically rotating face, these are just standard hands with the ends painted to mimic the marker that is on the circular discs of the real watch.

[Member X 91]

lol Ah yes, I remember seeing an online pic! :P

[hytbibhatype 0]

Ahh, the fun Canal Street: Creepy, Sweaty, and Loud!

[slask111 0]

Great thread! So this is the mysterious Canal Street! Awsome to know that you actually can get good stuff there. Again, great job.. you should work at the fbi with your photo skills

[MJC 0]

Crazy info, wow...

 

All week long I was walking by Canal to go up to SOHO lmao, I always see the most garbage stuff... Not even worth walking down Canal I though, just too much trouble when you can get the best of the best, hassle free online.. I guess, for a tourist though and without our resources, it could be cool and part of the 'experience'.. Ah well, thanks for sharing

[jcglobal 0]

next time you go PM me.

[pollux1 3]

Great write up mate, it's always nice to read about these places.

[geniejc 0]

Great report and a great insight. Has to be said I was expecting something else when I saw the topic title.

 

as someone mentioned Canal Street is the notorious gay quarter in Manchester UK.

[catinhat95 0]

That was really interesting, I was down there last week and it was so overwhelming, I left and went to Donut Plant.

[kwatch 0]

Great post. I get to canal street in NYC from time to time and have fallen "victim" to the cheapies, but I don't go over $50. Which sometimes for what you get is not worth it. I have learned although and will go to the "sellers" and I will agree that taking your time to examine the watch is IMPORTANT, they will try and rush you but you should just ignore them. I found the key for the best price is to be willing to walk away, even from the sellers. I've always found my best result after spending the time to analyze the watch for what it is and then haggle. Then after all that I get the vendor to a price just below what he's comfortable (or in reality, somewhere below where I'm comfortable) and low ball and start walk away. At this point the seller has been standing in front you watching you fondle watches for 15-20mins and doesn't want to lose the sale. 99% of the time he'll offer something in between, then bingo!

 

Albeit, I like the rep dealers on this forum and the quality reps and service they provide, but every once and awhile it's just rather fun to do some haggling. I recommend having dim sum first and then haggle on a full stomach! Also I find reading all the reviews on this forum and absorbing all the comments as posters rip apart even the best reps make me more aware of what to look for when I dive into the canal....

[simplygreen 0]

I've been to Canal St. twice. Once when I had no idea about the replica market and once after having experienced Luohu Commerical City - eye opening to say the least.

 

In my first trip, I was fairly confused as I only saw the cheap non-branded/homage imitations the stores offered. I had heard stories from the "golden days", when goods were sold out in the open. Having heard those stories, I did not trust of the callers/touts, so I avoided them. I thought at the time the replica market simply provided only the cheap non-branded options.

 

After having discovered higher quality reps at Luohu, I decided to give Canal St. a second look. It turns out the touts, like in Luohu, can be your best friend in finding what you are looking for. Most are between Mulberry and Lafayette. They are easy to spot and most dress similarly. They look to be waiting around and will call out "Prada" and "Rolex". I recommend finding one who you can communicate well with. The ones who speak limited english, may not be able to properly convey what you want to the sellers - including brands, colors, etc. The entire neighborhood seems to be in on the process and seem to accomodate it. All the touts use cellphones to stay connected and contact others. I believe the touts get a percentage of the sale from the seller.

 

The sellers will give you a sheet with items available (vs full catalogs in Luohu). Once you select items, they will ask you to confirm you will buy. You say yes, and they will either run to get the merchandise themselves or have someone run it to them. Pressure to buy right away is high and inventory seems to be low. Sellers seem to know very well what they do and don't have in stock. Most sellers seem to have the same inventory (with very slight variation). The wrapped items will be shown to you and you will need to quickly decide to purchase or not. Sellers will just run off. Prices start at $85 for watches. I saw sellers walk away from offers of $65. All movements were 21j and one of the 3 I purchased was broken.

 

Stores do exist, mostly for purses and women's accessories. Entry seems limited to select touts. The sellers seem very nervous, I don't know if I went during a crackdown, but the energy of the whole thing was a turn off.

Edited February 27, 2012 by simplygreen

[ShiroTenshi 0]

Awesome report! Hope they have something like this over in my country..

[Vector 0]

Is there a UK equivalent?

 

There is a street in Manchester called canal street.It is the Gay district.Last time I heard some one had scratched out letters and it now reads

 

'anal treet'

 

Scousers no doubt...

regards opus 9.

 

Also known as the "gay village". It's a good night out , apart from being hit on by the man folk !

[Ncj 0]

Thank you, great post.. I was in Nyc last weekend....followed your advice...I was looking for a good Bell&Ross, crap in the stores, girls on the street got me to several different people, but all bad copies, I kept being persistent, until finally meet a guy who said he can get good items but will be about $200. Showed me two BR 01-92 really nice and the chrono....I bought the BR 01-92 perfect.

Took about half hour to get to the right person. I took a picture to show them what i was looking for and did my research, what to look for.

Thanks again....

[jacobarch 0]

cool write up. It's nice to see the differences between buying in america vs. China.

[Distinct 0]

Thanks Guys. It was a lot of fun (aside from the heat) to do this and happy to contribute to this forum that has done so much for me.

 

I've been back since originally writing this. All the replies are right in the sense that getting cheap replicas on the street on holiday is still fun for cheap stuff if you have low expectations and you are doing it for the experience. I look for higher end-replicas and so I only ever buy from the TD's here.

[Sparkitekt 0]

I was there recently and had seen quite a few watches that looked similar in appearance and feel as the ones sold from TD's. I'm not saying they're equal to. Just seemed off.

[emsacl 0]

Does anybody have any idea whether Canal street has changed since this post was still made? I am going to New York next week, and thought of checking Canal street out.