Hello,
It's my first post here so I would like to greet everyone.

I have a question to you guys. Is there any difference in prices of Swiss watches between Switzerland and other countries? I'm interested in two brands: Certina and Tissot. I'm wondering if it's worth to buy one of those brands during the visit in Switzerland or it doesn't matter where I'm going to buy the watch?

If you buy a watch here while traveling you can get the price reduced by telling them the watch is for export only. They will remove the VAT (sales tax) and have the watch sent to the Airport where it will be giving to you as a duty free item but.. you may have to pay sales tax on it in your own country.

Both these brands will be cheaper in Asia.

Many people come to Switzerland to buy watches from the dealer to ensure they are not buying a fake. The good shops will also fix your watch should anything go wrong. Bucherer fixed my watch free of charge in the first year when the crown broke.

It depends what country you are coming from and the reference currency you are using. A few years ago, it was true that a quality Swiss watch bought for export was a little less expensive here than in the USA. But that was when the US dollar was worth CHF1.50. Today with it closer to CHF1.10, I doubt that any watch will be cheaper here than in the USA (or as someone mentioned places like Hong Kong and Singapore).

Given the price point of the two watch brands that you mention, I do not think that there will be significant amounts to be saved by buying the watch in the lowest cost country. If you buy it in Switzerland, it will not cost the double of your reference country (Asia?).

The nice thing for you in buying the watch in Switzerland is that every time someone asks about your watch, you can mention that you purchased it on your trip to Switzerland. Then you can talk about your trip etc. Good memories are always a positive thing.

Good luck with your decision.

Hi

In my experience, one of the critical factors to consider is the range of choice that one has here in Switzerland of essentially quite rare watches. Only a very limited number of the high end Rolex / Patek Philippe etc. watches are made every year, and unless you're very lucky / prepared to wait, you are most likely to find the watch you want in one of Switzerland's large cities.
Until the GBP tanked recently, watches were cheaper here than in the UK, and many retailers in Zürich have arrangements with large Swiss firms that allow their staff discounts of 5 - 10 %, (SwissRe, my wife's employer does for example.) We were a bit sneaky, bartering for a 5% reduction, and then showing the 10% off agreement the shop had with SwissRe. They gave us rather pained looks, but cut 15% from the shop price.

Cheers

Jim

Thanks guys for your posts. I thought there could be a significant difference between Switzerland and other European Countries. But as I see I was wrong.

I bought a Certina recently for 500fr. Quite a nice watch that will tide me over until I find my perfect Breitling

Hi all,

Could someone recommend a few mid range Swiss pocket watches and where to buy them?

Many thanks

Try:

Where to buy "Schmuck" in Switzerland

http://www.fratellowatches.com/

http://www.wenger.ch/watches

i can verify that this is true for Singapore and Hongkong, but not for China (and possibly Taiwan).

a few months ago, i compared prices for a watch that cost CHF8000 in CH but CHF6000 in SG and CHF10000 in China. not to be used as a rule-of-thumb, but definitely reason enough to compare prices if you're keen to get an expensive watch.

Rolex and Omega are easy to find all over the world, but for Tissot and Certina it could be more difficult, so I 'd definitely recommand to buy your watch here. You will have more choice here and the possibility to try on and compare both brands on a same day.

Enjoy your Swiss watch

Save your money, don't waste it in Certina or Tissot. Look for a proper mechanical watch (stay away from Quartz).
In the low end of Swiss mechanical watches you may find stuff from Zeno, Louis Erard and Atlantic (there are more but I can't remember now).
Take a look on Ebay.ch

Patek were instrumental in developing quartz watches and still manufacture quartz watchs so why stay away as Patek Philippe are still considered the best you can buy

1. Except of the last sentence, I must fully disagree: I can assure you that you can get Tissot watches in any larger Chinese department store I have been to, while you can only get a genuine Rolex in a major city with high end jewellers. (and even then I would be scared that somebody might screw me...) The choice was easily the same between a rural Chinese department store and the Manor in Zurich, but we all knew that before

2. Having bought several as presents: You can get Tissots much cheaper here, typically twice a year and luckily it is right now: Manor as well as Christ has currently sales where you can get 50% discount. This will never happen in markets where a 500 CHF watch is a luxury item.

3. Why exactly was this thread unearthed?

A newbie used the search function, found a relevant (well, close) thread, and posted his query within. Hooray! Good job magic116

I disagree on that.The low end mechanical watches (and also most mid-range watches) typically feature a mass production, swatch-made caliber that is in no way fancy, but causes the watch to be more expensive and less exact than a quartz watch. I'd rather have a well-equipped (saphire glass, date, stop-watch and stuff) quartz watch than a bad and expensive mechanical one.

Not sure this is strictly true. Quartz watches were pioneered by Seiko in the late 60s; and while some Swiss houses tried their hands at quartz movements in the early/mid 70s, their output was limited. In the case of Patek, I believe their concentration was largely in Women's models (which is still the case today).

What is the difference in buying the watch of say Swatch from India and swiss...cause in India its more cheap...the same watch...same model number...almost a difference of CHF 40 - 50 depending on the cost of the watch...
Is there any difference in the MADE or Assembly???

Hi guys,

I have been wondering if there is a (permanent) solution for people with nickel allergies who want to wear watches. I'm not picky about which watch I wear (plastic/gold/metal/other), but I'd like a method to secure that there is no contact between watch and wrist.

Of course, carrying a mobile phone or other electronic device can solve the "there is no clock close by, so OMG I'll miss the bus/taxi/whatnot"-moments, but I'd really like to wear one.