authenticwatches.com?

[Richard Warren]

Anyone ever done business with this company (authenticwatches.com)? It is apparently in the gray market for watches, which does not offend me since I feel no obligation to maintain the distribution chain of a company that has no dealers who carry any stock in my area (or any other company for that matter). Its website claims to have something I want for a reasonable price (well not a reasonable price, but a competitive one). Should I buy from them?

 

[velomane]

Have you searched some of the watch forums? timezone.com or watchuseek.com would be decent places to look for any info regarding authenticwatches.com

 

[Richard Warren]

I've done some looking at various places and found it gets mixed reviews, as you might expect. I took the liberty of inquiring at this forum because its participants are generally fairly sophisticated, experienced, and honest. In other words, I would value the informed opinion of any user of this forum. Thanks.

 

[Talbot]

If I was spending that amount of money, I'm not sure I'd do it over the internet. I'd like some face to face with a dealer. In this climate you should be able to haggle.

My watch guy recently showed me a Rolex datejust he'd been given for servicing. It was extremely difficult to tell it was not geniune until the back cover was off. It was very well executed - the Unitas movement was the only clue.

Thinking of getting one myself and not risking the real thing when travelling.

Maybe I'm risk averse, but I'd hate to pay that amount of money for something and not be able to go back to the store if there was a problem.

 

[1911 Man]

I was looking to purchase a Breitling back in January, and had planned to go to an Authorized Dealer in the area (I had a pleasant experience purchasing a Tag Heuer from them a few years ago). I would not be able to spot a high quality fake, so I felt going to an AD was best. A good friend who has collected watches for years recommended authenticwatches.com, telling me that I could be assured their watches were genuine. Their website indicated the watch I wanted was not in stock, but would be available 2-8 weeks after order. I placed the order, and was told my credit card would not be billed until the watch shipped (I liked that part). At 9 weeks I had no word, so I called them. They told me they were having trouble getting the deployant buckle for the leather strap, but they would continue working on it. I thought that odd, considering they should be able to get the part directly from the Breitling factory. At 14 weeks after placing the order, they still had no time estimate on when the part would be available. I cancelled the order. I went to the AD I had planned to go to originally, and they ordered the exact same watch for me, and had it in just over a week. It really made me worry that authenticwatches.com might be getting some parts from non-factory sources, which makes me question their authenticy a little. My AD is very good about knocking a chunk off the list price, so the watch I bought was only about $50 more at the AD than at AW.com (although I had to pay another $135 in sales tax).

I don't plan on buying more watches anytime soon, the two I have are keepers. I plan to pass these on to my son or even grandkids in the future, so I am happy to pay a little extra knowing what I bought are the genuine articles.

 

[Richard Warren]

Thanks for the input.

The watch market where I live seems to be going through a serious contraction (not very surprising). Not too long ago you could find a pretty good selection of a number of brands. Now its only Rolex that's nearly completely stocked.