Visiting LA ADs in Person?

[RealMadrid1988]

Happy Thanksgiving for all who celebrate!

I’ve been visiting family in LA for the holiday and am here for a little while longer. Been on the hunt for a Submariner but no luck back home. Curious whether it’s even worth visiting one or more LA ADs and asking for the new sub (or ExpI) or if the odds are less than 0% and it would be a complete waste of time

Do TRF members visit ADs while out of town for the fun of it and to seriously hunt for watches they can’t find back home?

[Me4u2night]

I was in LA for a week and popped in inquiring about a SS watch. They told me to come in Saturday, they should have it in stock. With that being said, this was 2yrs ago, the market has changed. The opportunity may be slim, but it never hurts to try.

But if you’re up for waiting a few months, you’ll be able to find it in NYC. Pop into an AD and start building a relationship.

[RJRJRJ]

Never hurts to try, but you'll find out it's just as dried up as NYC.

[woowoo]

Local LA here. I would say 99% of the time they won't sell it to you in such a situation but you never know. Ironically it often seems like tourists get better treatment than locals do. It's not unheard of to catch an AD at the right random day and time and they sell it to you because they like you or because it's just convenient. Rare but it happens. Is it worth changing your schedule for this fluke while on holiday? IMO no.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by RealMadrid1988

Do TRF members visit ADs while out of town for the fun of it and to seriously hunt for watches they can’t find back home?

I did, years ago. When travelling I would look up ADs on the Rolex website and make detours to go check them out. These days, though, I wouldn't even bother crossing a busy street if I saw a Rolex AD on my travels. I'm more likely to get hit by a bus on the way over than find an SS sports model.

[Geaux Tigers]

I generally visit ADs while traveling and come across some nice folks. As someone else stated I wouldn’t alter plans to do so, but can’t hurt if you have the time IMO.
Enjoy!


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[Setarip]

I would say odds less than 1%.

Would only stop by if its along your path and see if by chance you get lucky. Otherwise I wouldn’t make any special trips out.


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[EEpro]

Gearys will have some TT pieces.

[Andad]

Is there another way to visit AD’s?

You may make some good contacts?

[RealMadrid1988]

Originally Posted by Andad

Is there another way to visit AD’s?

Haha, guess not! Was just looking for stories/hopeful anecdotes of people being in the right place at the right time. I suppose I meant the above as opposed to calling around asking, which I presume would certainly end in disappointment, rather than just very likely ending in disappointment.

[pulseyou]

I stopped by a few LA AD's this week on my way back from Ventura, most cases were completely empty save some DJ's / lady watches. No stainless steel sports are making it to the case. One of the dealer's I spoke with said he got 500 calls a MONTH for submariners...

[Danny83]

My cousin lives there and he goes all the time to the ADs!! Lol best thing he saw was a blue dial DJ 41 jubilee. But good luck

[Atone]

I live in LA. If you score a nice SS piece on your trip, I’m going to NYC and am gonna buy all the SS watches there!

Shoot me a pm and I’ll tell you where I think your best shots are

[KrismanX]

Happy hunting! LA native here the ADs are nice to look around.. Be warned the Glendale Galleria - Bhindi Jewelers are usually bare bones with their SS Rolex. Sometimes a smurf or a green Daytona or something like that will be there for a couple of days. They’re worth a call though. South Coast Plaza may be your best bet bc it’s a big tourist spending area; but iono how Covid is affecting the situation currently.

[ArtNouveau]

I last stopped into several LA area AD’s in February right before the world changed. Just a hunch but the Santa Monica Gearys Boutique might be your best bet. They had the most pieces on display and all of the personnel were very friendly.
Keep in mind I entered wearing my 116500 and wasn’t “fishing” for anything high demand. They did offer me a great deal on a discontinued 36mm DayDate on strap. Very pretty but not really my thing. The two Gearys stores in Beverly Hills, Boutique and regular AD, were both quite friendly too but less inventory in the cases. The AD pulled out some SS Datejusts they had under the counter.

[214270Explorer]

It is always a crap shoot.
Personally, I would not visit unless one or two were very close by and the visits would not interrupt my more important activities.

[Rado63]

It doesn't hurt to stop in and look around. I believe in this current time period the AD's seem to want repeat clients and will put you off and say come back for such a watch as steel SUB. Since you don't live in the area just ask for anything and see what turns up. Good Luck.

[Son Goku]

Originally Posted by KrismanX

Happy hunting! LA native here the ADs are nice to look around.. Be warned the Glendale Galleria - Bhindi Jewelers are usually bare bones with their SS Rolex. Sometimes a smurf or a green Daytona or something like that will be there for a couple of days. They’re worth a call though. South Coast Plaza may be your best bet bc it’s a big tourist spending area; but iono how Covid is affecting the situation currently.

Don't waste your time at South Coast Plaza. The AD there is owned by Tourneau and the staff is horribly rude and pretentious. They don't have anything and will only prioritize VIP spenders.

I'd recommend Geary's in LA. Nice staff and frequently have TT or PM pieces.

[Robf52]

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It's fun checking AD's out.

[djyolky]

South Coast Plaza is a joke. I only value two Rolex ADs in all Southern California.

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[EEpro]

Originally Posted by ArtNouveau

I last stopped into several LA area AD’s in February right before the world changed. Just a hunch but the Santa Monica Gearys Boutique might be your best bet. They had the most pieces on display and all of the personnel were very friendly.
Keep in mind I entered wearing my 116500 and wasn’t “fishing” for anything high demand. They did offer me a great deal on a discontinued 36mm DayDate on strap. Very pretty but not really my thing. The two Gearys stores in Beverly Hills, Boutique and regular AD, were both quite friendly too but less inventory in the cases. The AD pulled out some SS Datejusts they had under the counter.

Truly a side benefit of the 116500. I even get to try on other peoples' watches from the back room to see if I like any of those hot pieces.

[brucethemanlee]

i can't imagine LA with hollywood, celebrities, and sports figures, hi-tech people will make picking up a Exp1 any easier than NYC

but can't hurt to try

[puckybadger]

Originally Posted by Me4u2night

I was in LA for a week and popped in inquiring about a SS watch. They told me to come in Saturday, they should have it in stock. With that being said, this was 2yrs ago, the market has changed. The opportunity may be slim, but it never hurts to try.

But if you’re up for waiting a few months, you’ll be able to find it in NYC. Pop into an AD and start building a relationship.

Does that mean buying things you don't want?

[7sins]

Been in LA several years and have zero luck with any rolex ADs. Last week I went into an AD in Century City wearing a WG Daytona, talked with the SA a bit and inquired about a few different pieces. Asked if I could be put on a list, they said no, laughed and said even if they did a list it would be thousands of people long. They also noted most pieces go to existing VIPs. Very frustrating experience.

[Me4u2night]

Originally Posted by puckybadger

Does that mean buying things you don't want?

No, building a relationship doesn’t necessarily mean buying items. There are other ways people build relationships, like popping in and talking watches, etc.


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[scombs263]

Don’t waste your time unless u plan to drop major coin on stuff people don’t want or some bs jewelry to help sweeten the deal in order for them to pull the good stuff out of the safe.

[shipitfresh]

My wife and I purchased 1 SSDJ41 at 2 different Geary's. Both times we we contacted within a week of our first contact. Mine is SS41, white sticks, jubilee with a fluted bezel. My wife's is SS41, blue stick, jubilee with smooth bezel.

Can't say enough good things about Geary's.

[RealMadrid1988]

As an update, I took the advice of “not canceling plans to visit ADs” and only dropped in to Gearys in Santa Monica. Friendly staff and I had a nice chat with one of the SAs. Beautiful store, though unfortunately the only things they had on display were Datejusts (36 and 41) and Day Dates in WG, RG and YG (including a YG model that had diamonds in each bracelet link—hadn’t seen that one before.) They also had a two tone YMII and a YMI that I didn’t take a closer look at.

Thanks all for the advice—hope other LA aficionados have better luck than me!

[TswaneNguni]

Luck do not favour the lazy .

[PBJ1925]

Kind of like the lotto in the sense you have to play to win (visit). Chances maybe slim but you see 1st timers hit every so often, best of luck with your hunt! Stay safe out there.