Cartier watch question

Viz_2

Not sure if the right board but....

I'm looking at buying a new Cartier watch as a gift for my wife. But travelling to Bond Street for the whole 'experience' (if spending a huge amount) is a bit inconvenient.
Looking on the internet I have found a website that sells premium watches for a slight discount. They do have a store which I could visit (60 miles away). The reason they sell cheaper is because they are not an authorised dealer.
The cheaper website is www.blitzwatches.co.uk Their price is around £1600.
The Cartier store and other shops such as Goldsmiths sell for around £1800.

Has anybody used blitzwatches and could recommend them ?

Is it worth me buying from a non-authorised store ?

Any thoughts welcome

anewman

I am no expert, but as I understand it many of the premium watch manufacturers: Rolex, Omega, etc - ONLY allow authorised retailers to sell them. The implication is that if you buy a "new" watch from any other source that it is a fake, grey market, black market, stolen etc etc. I would recommend buying from an authorised reseller. There may be no come back for the sake of £200 difference should you find anything wrong.

Consider buying one while on holiday, the saving could pay for your flight ticket, and possibly more. Just check that a worldwide warranty applies (it should do for such a premium brand, but check). There is a good range of shops at Amsterdam Schipol airport which is only a short flight from the UK (but I cannot guarantee they will sell Cartier).

I bought myself a Tissot watch in Germany (Nuremberg) at Galeria Kaufoff. Was nearly £20 cheaper than the UK but the watch was only about £80. Tissot watches are only sold through authorised resellers, so I would have had difficulty saving any money on UK retail prices.

bcl999

Have you tried asking Goldsmiths for a discount? I was offered 10% off a new Cartier Roadster by Watches of Switzerland, so I know the authorised sellers do discounts. Might depend on the model though.

fwhorn

If you are going to treat yourself to a Cartier watch, then don't mess around go to New York for a long weekend and buy from their. You should get for around Half the price.

Tip. If you do go Away to buy a watch, find out if it is sold in departures at the airport when you are coming back and ask them to reserve you one. This was the cheapest way I found when I bought my Gucci, plus you know then the price.

Good luck and let us know when you get it.

Browntoa

been quoted on the guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1595253,00.html

FloFlo

Its worth checking where your nearest goldsmiths is, they have some outlet stores at factory outlet villages.

Fenella

I have bought from Blitz (a Tag Heuer). As I live close by I was able to go and see for myself. They are genuine brands but I don't think they have the same warrantee if you buy from an authorised dealer.
I also bought myself a pair of diamond earrings from them on line and as I changed my mind about them I was able to get a full refund easily.

dmg24

My feeling is that, if you are spending that amount of money, you really should go to an authorised dealer. You will almost certainly have no real warrantee if you buy it this way.

Another way to look at it is, if you wanted Chanel perfume, would you buy it off a market stall?! x

Inactive

When you get one sorted, I do hope it will keep perfect time like my watch from Lidl's that came with a 3 year warranty for £2.99.

:rolleyes:

sancho

Inactive wrote: »

When you get one sorted, I do hope it will keep perfect time like my watch from Lidl's that came with a 3 year warranty for £2.99.

:rolleyes:

Well done you :rollingeyes:

vincenz

I havent bought from Blitz but I have bought from aatime.co.uk twice, which is a similar setup.
In the documentation you get with the watch you get the manual and instructions and where you normally get a manufacturers garuntee paper you get their own waranty.
The reason they do this is to hide where they bought it from, I was once told they get alot of stock from the US, which would make sense due to the exchange rate.
I really have no concerns buying a watch like this, it is nice to have the original gaurantee paper, but all that matters is that its brand new and original.

As mentioned above, Goldsmiths, Watches of Swtzerland etc will usually offer a discount for cash. But this is model dependent.

At the end of the day, your buying a watch from a company that buys them overseas, theres mark-up in it for them and theres a saving to be made for you. As i've stated above, the only difference from Bond Street will be the garuntee paper that comes with it. But to be honest i've had several expensive watches and none of them have ever needed treatment, and the manufacturers warranty is only for 2 years anyway.