mad dawg 0 Posted February 24, 2010 Well, the missus insisted we go to Chinatown for some market shopping. While she was looking at handbags and shoes I cast my eyes over to the watch dealers. Despite the rumors, there is at least one dealer who is half decent, I don't have much time so I will share factoids of my learning; 1. The good stuff is kept in cases under the counter. 2. I didn't see any super-reps but there is plenty of middle of the road stock. This suits me because I aint into chronographs (the ones pictures are for friends). 3. Prices are better than online HOWEVER the kicker is that the dealers grade the pricing by the watch functions and strap/case material, not by the rep accuracy. Therefore if you know your stuff you can get a bargain (and vise versa). 4. Try before you buy. I was able to closely inspect and function test all the watches before handing over the money. This is a big positive (ask anyone who has bought online). Also you can compare the good stuff (under the counter) with the cheap stuff (on the display shelf) and make a judgement if the additional cost is worth it. 5. Be a serious purchaser. Getting the cases out from under the counter is not very productive for the dealers so ensure they understand you are there to buy. Once that is established then getting the cases out is no problem and getting runners to find stock from other sources is also not problem. In this way I was able to see hundreds of watches of all type and brands (that was fun in itself). PS my wife bought more shoes than I did watches! See what I purchased below... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dingle 57 Posted February 24, 2010 awesome MD! looks like you got a lot of nice ones there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 83 Posted February 24, 2010 Looks like there were one or two VERY nice finds in amongst that lot (not that the rest aren't nice... you get my drift)... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KinCaidk 0 Posted February 24, 2010 Well done!! What did you pay? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mad dawg 0 Posted February 24, 2010 Well done!! What did you pay? Well... the cheapest for USD0 for the Casio rep (so it should be) then second cheapest was USD54 and the most expensive was USD115. As I said before, having the opportunity to inspect before purchase was best factor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KBH 7 Posted February 24, 2010 Very nice. Are some of them quartz? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luthier 1 Posted February 25, 2010 More expensive, than in Guangzhou stores, but it's understandable - shipping cost added. A few very good buys - PAM, Cartier, Chopard, but ... G-Shock??? I bet replica cost more, than genuine... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Member X 91 Posted February 25, 2010 Well done that man! Some nice stuff there, I'm liking the B&R especially Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mad dawg 0 Posted February 25, 2010 Very nice. Are some of them quartz? Yeah, the Ferrari and the Hublot chronos are quartz. The chronos are gifts and I prefer reliability in this instance. For cheap chronographs I reckon the reliability of quartz is more practical; the only give away is that the tiny seconds subdial movement(provided the stopwatch is not running) and you have to be "inspecting" the watch to notice that. MD Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
