TheOC16 said:

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I'm currently in Las Vegas and going to take the opportunity with a free day tomorrow to look for watches I can't find in College Station.

To my knowledge the only things in CS I can see are Oris and Tag at Montelongo's and Rolex and Tudor at DG.

The one really on my mind I'd like to see in person is Omega Speedmaster. Any other recommendations for things to look at while I have access and time on my hands?

(Background - I've never owned anything nice, coming from Fossil background but have been following this thread for a couple months and doing casual research on getting a new hobby/purchase addiction.)

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So…what did you see and like? I assume zero inventory at AP/PP/Rolex outside of women's watches. Probably a decent selection at Breguet/Blancpain/Omega/JLC etc. ceramic speedy dark side of the moon is pretty cool and one to check out for sure.

Octavarium said:

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TheOC16 said:

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I'm currently in Las Vegas and going to take the opportunity with a free day tomorrow to look for watches I can't find in College Station.

To my knowledge the only things in CS I can see are Oris and Tag at Montelongo's and Rolex and Tudor at DG.

The one really on my mind I'd like to see in person is Omega Speedmaster. Any other recommendations for things to look at while I have access and time on my hands?

(Background - I've never owned anything nice, coming from Fossil background but have been following this thread for a couple months and doing casual research on getting a new hobby/purchase addiction.)

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So…what did you see and like? I assume zero inventory at AP/PP/Rolex outside of women's watches. Probably a decent selection at Breguet/Blancpain/Omega/JLC etc. ceramic speedy dark side of the moon is pretty cool and one to check out for sure.

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zero inventory at AP/PP/Rolex outside of women's watches.
Precisely

Probably a decent selection at Breguet/Blancpain/Omega/JLC etc.
Went to the Omega boutique at the Wynn after Watches of Switzerland. They had the white faced Seamaster but not the blue (those were the two I was wanting to compare/consider). They had the blue/gold. Didn't have the 007 either.

Todd Beamer's Datejust

ChipFTAC01 said:

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This is a dumb question because I don't buy fancy **** when I travel (or generally when I'm at home either) but other than ethics what's to keep you from wearing you're shiny new watch home and not declaring it at all? How is the guy a the airport going to know that new watch was purchased while traveling?

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Story time. Once upon a time not too long ago I did a bit of international business travel. One time on a trip to London a colleague bought his father a Burberry cashmere sweater that was something like $900 USD. In customs he was asked if he had anything to declare and he said "no". He was asked to follow a customs official (this is where his story picks up), who took him to a room with a chair and a projector. They asked him "what is this?" and "this" was basically a list of all his charges while out of country on the screen, and they pointed out his $900 Burberry charge. They basically told him to be more careful and disclose everything over $800 going forward and let him go, sweater in hand. So yeah, the tax man is watching you even when you're overseas.

Red Pear Realty said:

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ChipFTAC01 said:

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This is a dumb question because I don't buy fancy **** when I travel (or generally when I'm at home either) but other than ethics what's to keep you from wearing you're shiny new watch home and not declaring it at all? How is the guy a the airport going to know that new watch was purchased while traveling?

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Story time. Once upon a time not too long ago I did a bit of international business travel. One time on a trip to London a colleague bought his father a Burberry cashmere sweater that was something like $900 USD. In customs he was asked if he had anything to declare and he said "no". He was asked to follow a customs official (this is where his story picks up), who took him to a room with a chair and a projector. They asked him "what is this?" and "this" was basically a list of all his charges while out of country on the screen, and they pointed out his $900 Burberry charge. They basically told him to be more careful and disclose everything over $800 going forward and let him go, sweater in hand. So yeah, the tax man is watching you even when you're overseas.

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I assume he claimed vat return in EU? You need to provide passport number to get it so I suppose there is a way the customs could find out. You are right that they are very lenient with small ish purchases even if over $800.

For big ticket items, the consequence is seizure of property, fine assigned equal to the value of the seized property, and then you have a very limited timeframe to hire a lawyer to at least try get your property back. As improbable as getting caught sounds, it happens all the time.

That hublot watch made from the lab grown sapphire is wild.

So something big is going on. I just had someone buy a large number of my watches as a package. I list all of my watches on Chrono24 at inflated pricing just to see if anyone bites. If someone makes an offer I can decide if I'm still enjoying that watch or not and decide if I want to sell it.

A buyer from San Antonio came along and bought one of my watches, and while we were doing the deal inquired to 5 others and bought them as well.

These are all watches I don't wear very often. Two Omegas, a Breitling, a Hublot, and a Grand Seiko.

I wonder if there's expected to be a major slowdown in watch manufacturing.

How many of the 5 sold were sold above msrp?

Octavarium said:

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How many of the 5 sold were sold above msrp?

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only 1 (the breitling), but they were all above the price I paid for them, since Rolex/AP/PP/VC are the only watches I pay MSRP for, and I won't pay above MSRP for practically anything.

If I had to guess, it is probably Thanh you is a popular grey dealer. I believe he is out of SA.

aa1101 said:

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If I had to guess, it is probably Thanh you is a popular grey dealer. I believe he is out of SA.

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I know Thanh well but it wasn't him

Just going to be honest. If you are waiting for a high demand Rolex its not happening within 5+ years-though I would wager closer to 10.

My suggestion is bite the bullet and buy on gray market or move on to virtually any other brand (except AP and Patek).

Joe Boudain said:

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bthotugigem05 said:

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I went and chatted with my Rolex AD on Friday just to check on my order and everything. He and I were chatting for a bit and I mentioned that I had visited an AD in Helsinki and they actually had watches for people to try on. He was excited for me and excitedly asked if I had found one like I ordered, which I thought was kind of curious.

He said he was hoping I had found one because, based on what he was hearing, he just had no idea when I would be able to expect my watch to come in and was just really excited for me to get my watch.

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My man, I doubt he really has you on a list anywhere. Rolex dealers right now aren't really special ordering watches, they just have a list of people who want them, and they call the most important when it comes in

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I special ordered it back in July when he confirmed Datejusts were not on allocation yet. They've since been put on allocation.

bthotugigem05 said:

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Joe Boudain said:

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bthotugigem05 said:

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I went and chatted with my Rolex AD on Friday just to check on my order and everything. He and I were chatting for a bit and I mentioned that I had visited an AD in Helsinki and they actually had watches for people to try on. He was excited for me and excitedly asked if I had found one like I ordered, which I thought was kind of curious.

He said he was hoping I had found one because, based on what he was hearing, he just had no idea when I would be able to expect my watch to come in and was just really excited for me to get my watch.

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My man, I doubt he really has you on a list anywhere. Rolex dealers right now aren't really special ordering watches, they just have a list of people who want them, and they call the most important when it comes in

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I special ordered it back in July when he confirmed Datejusts were not on allocation yet. They've since been put on allocation.

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Which DJ? Perhaps shifting to a two tone, instead of ss may do the trick.

bthotugigem05 said:

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Joe Boudain said:

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bthotugigem05 said:

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I went and chatted with my Rolex AD on Friday just to check on my order and everything. He and I were chatting for a bit and I mentioned that I had visited an AD in Helsinki and they actually had watches for people to try on. He was excited for me and excitedly asked if I had found one like I ordered, which I thought was kind of curious.

He said he was hoping I had found one because, based on what he was hearing, he just had no idea when I would be able to expect my watch to come in and was just really excited for me to get my watch.

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My man, I doubt he really has you on a list anywhere. Rolex dealers right now aren't really special ordering watches, they just have a list of people who want them, and they call the most important when it comes in

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I special ordered it back in July when he confirmed Datejusts were not on allocation yet. They've since been put on allocation.

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Actually I stand corrected, you may get a DJ. Truth be told though, I don't think those are going for a premium, so you could probably pick up NIB from a grey market fairly easy for msrp

They're going nuts right now like everything else, the one I want (41mm blue dial, pretty much the most popular one) is going for like 13-15 on Chrono24 versus the $8k MSRP.

man, you're right. I see Thanh has one you can probably get for $12,500; but that's not that much better

Everything SS is no bueno. Saw a two tone Wimbledon dial for 14k vs 12.5k retail on Chrono24 so not a crazy markup at this point. I assume the desperate crowd wanting a Rolex at all costs will soon take anything even if it was their 4th or 5th choice from an AD so wait times for everything will go through the roof.

There are a bunch of nice looking two tone non-ceramic Daytona to be had for 1/3 less than the ceramic bezel ones.

Craziness

Just give your AD a 1k gift card and see if it works. Some dude on rolexforums says it works like a charm.

Joe Boudain said:

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There are a bunch of nice looking two tone non-ceramic Daytona to be had for 1/3 less than the ceramic bezel ones.

Craziness

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Indeed. Two tone is the way to go at this point. Will probably be too late soon.

I was just in Watches of Switzerland in NYC looking for ss DJ for my wife. All they had was 3 yellow gold models. I thought I might have better luck with a ladies watch in NY but no luck so far. Not sure if I'll go uptown to some other stores. Sad to see a bunch of empty cases in a prime location.

Joe Boudain said:

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So something big is going on. I just had someone buy a large number of my watches as a package. I list all of my watches on Chrono24 at inflated pricing just to see if anyone bites. If someone makes an offer I can decide if I'm still enjoying that watch or not and decide if I want to sell it.

A buyer from San Antonio came along and bought one of my watches, and while we were doing the deal inquired to 5 others and bought them as well.

These are all watches I don't wear very often. Two Omegas, a Breitling, a Hublot, and a Grand Seiko.

I wonder if there's expected to be a major slowdown in watch manufacturing.

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Apparently Omega are clamping down hard on discounts, could explain a bit of it:

Case in point

2021 Champagne 2 tone Daytona~20k (Thanh discounts a little)

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=818360


4 year old white faced ceramic daytona ~ $34,000

https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/fsot-rolex-116500ln-cosmograph-daytona-ceramic-white-dial-warranty-full-set.5339153/

I've never wished I had 20 grand more. That ceramic one is freaking gorgeous though.

I will own that watch one day.

Sea Speed said:

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I will own that watch one day.

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It's nice, depending on what you are looking for. Friend of mine has the white dial 5711. I personally find it completely underwhelming relative to the AP royal oak, where particularly the bracelet and dial are unmatched execution imo in this category of watches. And you have some chance of getting AP royal oak (15500 not 15202) at retail in a decent timeframe even without prior purchase history. PP zero chance.

I particularly enjoy the inspiration for the design, which is what really drives my desire to own one.