Ian Blowers - Hull (UK)

[NickTruswell]

Message to all you Rolex fans from the UK. Has anyone had any dealings with Ian Blowers up in Hull? Would really appreciate your feedback.

I accept that they aren't that great on price but have a fantastic selection.

Looking forward to your views

[timepieceaddict]

They are straight and honest. Can deal with confidence. Just out of interest, what are u after?

[PhilM]

Another vote for them, prices are sometime a little high but otherwise you'll be fine.

[danberger]

I have dealt with Mark Blower many times - a real gent. Have had GMTc and Milgauss GV unworn stickers in place models from him and always arrived next day by RMSD no problem. Prices on the "full" side but always willing to give a fair price on part ex.

[NickTruswell]

hi guys thanks for your comments. I've visited the shop a couple of times for look around and thought they looked ok but reckon its always best to check.

I've actually after one of four watch choices that I have for my next time piece; a 16600 Seadweller, a 16610 LV Sub, or either of a couple of Panerai Radiomir's a 183 or a 287.

Blowers is about the only place that have them all so I can try them all on before deciding.

Any views from you guys on the best choice???

[EchoBlueUK]

Good knowledge and selection but as you say prices are way high and p/x's are way low.

[WBROLEX]

Vote from me. Have dealt with them great bunch.

[Colnago]

They ripped a friend of mine off.....he sent a watch to them (an Explorer II) with a mind to trade it for something else (more expensive), they serviced the watch for him as part of the deal at full Rolex service price which also included a new crystal......he changed his mind about trading up, so Blowers returned it to him, fully serviced and of course he had to pay full whack for the service and crystal....but with no guarantee (Rolex or their own), done by "their man"....he then decided to sell the watch privately to me......when I got the "fully serviced" watch from him I noticed immediately that the bracelet had been re-brushed/polished up but not the watch head...also he had originally removed the crystal with the cylops lens because he preferred the plain crystal, therefore as previously mentioned as part of the service Blowers replaced the crystal returning it to original specification....only they didn't fit a genuine crystal....they fitted a copy-cat crystal....the cyclops was coming off and there was "oil on water" rainbowing between it and the crystal surface.....they offered him a shocking trade in value hence his reason for selling privately to me......I sent it to Bexley and had it sorted out by them....new (obviously) genuine service crystal (S in the LEC) and a full polish/brush up....the watch is now fantastic but cost me a fair bit more after the initial buy......my friend attempted to strike up a dialog with Blowers over the service annomolies but he was totally rubber eared by them, they would not even return e-mails never mind put things straight.....I would never ever deal with them....ever....just my opinion but it's first hand......beware

[gazp]

I recently purchased a dj bi metal off blowers...great price and good px price too , cost to change £1000 better than Goldsmiths! great service and buying experience off Richard .

Fancied a change so rang Richard and he offered a cracking deal on an old style bi metal sub BNIB so said I would drive the 135 miles from newcastle to Hull to purchase the watch ,Richard even went another £60 on the deal to cover my fuel costs and stayed open later coz the traffic was bad on the A1.
When I got there Richard was very helpful and did not rush me and gave me a premium experience and I ended up buying a TT ceramic sub ,3 months old for £4950 instead ! Again a fantastic experience !

This was on the saturday and on the monday I was going on holiday to Gran Canaria for a week ,with my new watch LOL, couldnt wait to show it off by the pool

All was going well until on the last night whilst enjoying a San Miguel on the patio I noticed a scratch on the minute hand , it seemed to be where the second hand passed over it

As soon as I returned home on the following tuesday I rang Richard and explained this to him . He was fantastic and basically said he would do whatever I wanted them to do .

I exchanged the watch for a brand new TT ceramic sub £5790 ,the list price was now £7230, so a great saving and they also sent it out next day delivery and I sent mine back the same way so that the watches crossed in the post ,they did not have to do this and a involved a great deal of trust on their behalf, which I appreciated,and was again a fantastic touch on their behalf.

When I got the new watch it was running fast so I rang Mark Blower and he apologised and suggested i wear it for a few weeks to let it settle in as it was a brand new watch with stickers etc still on it .I could not do this and sent the watch straight back to be regulated . The watch arrived with them on the thursday and I got an e mail off Mark saying that he would make my watch a priority and actually sent a lady from the shop up with my watch to the Rolex trained repair man coz the watch arrived after the driver had left with that days repairs.

Mark said that he would have my watch back on the saturday morning fully regulated and sure enough at 9.30am on the sat morning my watch arrived back and was keeping great time now .

Sorry for the long post but in this age of false promises and poor customer service it was so pleasing to deal with such slick professional knowledgeable people who actually DO WHAT THEY SAY THEY ARE GOING TO DO WITH NO BUL***** and their prices are fantastic too !

I would reccommend BLOWERS to anyone on this Forum and ,trust me , I expect a very high level of service THEY ARE FANTASTIC BOTH ON PRICE AND SERVICE.

PS I am still waiting for a phone call off the manager of Northern Goldsmiths ,whom i have bought at least a dozen watches off over the years ....he said he would ring me the next day and that was 4 weeks ago !!!!!!!

[Woody]

I have bought two watches from them in the last 12 months and they have been fine - I actually thought their PX rates were very good which goes someway to balancing out their strong prices. I certainly wouldn't worry about buying from them

[Johny]

just had a look. certainly not shy on their prices.

[daveathall]

I have sold them a couple of watches, they are not cheap but well respected, not too difficult to find and pretty easy parking.

[snog]

I looked at their prices and they d seem high,think I'll try on here,anyone know how many posts I need to be able to post a wtb thread?

[Puffy]

Prices are astronomicly high compared to other sites including TRF but they have one of the best selections in the whole of the UK

Never bought from them, I mostly buy from the US

[BH13GMT]

Bought a SD4000 a few years back, I had a 2 year old model held for me, I called over the phone to provide payment details. The watch held for me had been sold. They offered me a BNIB SD4000 for £100 upgrade which was a substantial discount over the sale price of the New SD. Was very pleased, no issues. However we have a member who had issues when they had a watch serviced with them, I think its mentioned earlier in the thread.

[duffman]

I have bought from them and was extremely happy with the service received. Couldnt recommend them enough!

[duffman]

I have bought from them and was extremely happy with the service received. Couldnt recommend them enough!

[duffman]

I have bought from them and was extremely happy with the service received. Couldnt recommend them enough!

[BH13GMT]

Bought a SD4000 a few years back, I had a 2 year old model held for me, I called over the phone to provide payment details. The watch held for me had been sold. They offered me a BNIB SD4000 for £100 upgrade which was a substantial discount over the sale price of the New SD. Was very pleased, no issues. However we have a member who had issues when they had a watch serviced with them, I think its mentioned earlier in the thread.

[chazha]

I am looking for 2 rollies that thry dont have in stock at this moment. Sent them 2 emails but they never responded.

And yeah their prices is flowing with the gold chart:)

If you are looking for a UK dealer try hackett watches. Great guy in central london. Dealt with him once.

[BH13GMT]

Bought a SD4000 a few years back, I had a 2 year old model held for me, I called over the phone to provide payment details. The watch held for me had been sold. They offered me a BNIB SD4000 for £100 upgrade which was a substantial discount over the sale price of the New SD. Was very pleased, no issues. However we have a member who had issues when they had a watch serviced with them, I think its mentioned earlier in the thread.

[BH13GMT]

Bought a SD4000 a few years back, I had a 2 year old model held for me, I called over the phone to provide payment details. The watch held for me had been sold. They offered me a BNIB SD4000 for £100 upgrade which was a substantial discount over the sale price of the New SD. Was very pleased, no issues. However we have a member who had issues when they had a watch serviced with them, I think its mentioned earlier in the thread.

[BH13GMT]

Bought a SD4000 a few years back, I had a 2 year old model held for me, I called over the phone to provide payment details. The watch held for me had been sold. They offered me a BNIB SD4000 for £100 upgrade which was a substantial discount over the sale price of the New SD. Was very pleased, no issues. However we have a member who had issues when they had a watch serviced with them, I think its mentioned earlier in the thread.

[gazp]

Originally Posted by Colnago

They ripped a friend of mine off.....he sent a watch to them (an Explorer II) with a mind to trade it for something else (more expensive), they serviced the watch for him as part of the deal at full Rolex service price which also included a new crystal......he changed his mind about trading up, so Blowers returned it to him, fully serviced and of course he had to pay full whack for the service and crystal....but with no guarantee (Rolex or their own), done by "their man"....he then decided to sell the watch privately to me......when I got the "fully serviced" watch from him I noticed immediately that the bracelet had been re-brushed/polished up but not the watch head...also he had originally removed the crystal with the cylops lens because he preferred the plain crystal, therefore as previously mentioned as part of the service Blowers replaced the crystal returning it to original specification....only they didn't fit a genuine crystal....they fitted a copy-cat crystal....the cyclops was coming off and there was "oil on water" rainbowing between it and the crystal surface.....they offered him a shocking trade in value hence h]
is reason for selling privately to me......I sent it to Bexley and had it sorted out by them....new (obviously) genuine service crystal (S in the LEC) and a full polish/brush up....the watch is now fantastic but cost me a fair bit more after the initial buy......my friend attempted to strike up a dialog with Blowers over the service annomolies but he was totally rubber eared by them, they would not even return e-mails never mind put things straight.....I would never ever deal with them....ever....just my opinion but it's first hand......beware

I e mailed Mark today and happened to mention about the comments on this forum.

He informed me that the watch WAS serviced by an authorised Rolex repair centre and it DID have a 12 month warranty and it was transferable to the new owner of the watch . Mark also said that he sent 5 e mails to the person regarding the watch etc.

Also regarding the prices if you look on their web site and see all the watches on there and actually go to their shop then you will see that they ACTUALLY have ALL the watches IN STOCK AND ON DISPLAY ...... AWESOME TO SEE !

I think it is very unreasonable for anyone on here to criticise their prices when most watches are about 15%off RRP! and Mr Blowers actually has to buy the stock with his own money , pay astonomical insurance ,i would imagine , pay for great professional staff ,who are knowledgeable too ,not kids who know nothing about the product, etc etc, and actually make aprofit !,not a dirty word!

With respect the sellers on TRF dont have anything like the overheads that Blowers have so come on guys get real its easy to criticise but please bear in mind these things.

As I said before A GREAT PLACE TO BUY YOUR WATCH FROM AT A FAIR PRICE WITH GREAT STAFF WHO PROVIDE A FIRST CLASS BUYING EXPERIENCE, and I have high expectations and Blowers exceeded them.

[spuds]

Originally Posted by gazp

.....As I said before A GREAT PLACE TO BUY YOUR WATCH FROM AT A FAIR PRICE WITH GREAT STAFF WHO PROVIDE A FIRST CLASS BUYING EXPERIENCE, and I have high expectations and Blowers exceeded them.

If they're good enough for Gary they're good enough for me.....

[Ear Pain]

Another very happy customer here.

Great part ex price on my PAM 183 against a Rolex Submariner.

Deal in confidence with those Hull Blowers folk.

[notlostyet]

I bought from them and it was just ok

[Xenophon]

I've bought and sold with them and have found them excellent. I would definitely use them again. I can't say fairer than that.

[gazp]

Originally Posted by spuds

If they're good enough for Gary they're good enough for me.....

Thanks Dan mate.......hope you are keeping well my friend

[Jeffa32]

Being in Australia, Blowers offer great prices on the Unused range. They are able to deduct 20% VAT for shipping oversea on any Unused watch. Postage is 50GBP.

So a unused 116610 SubC could land in Australia for around $6300. They retail here for nearly $10K.

If you haggle a bit you might get this even lower.