47th Street Experience

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by vh2k

Actually, I find it the OPPOSITE of high pressure.



If I see a piece that I believe is worth $10,000, and they are selling for $13,000… they either budge or they don’t. 75% of the time, they say “Try to buy it somewhere else.” Conversation over!



Other times, I see a piece that has been sitting in the case for months. Cash is better than stale inventory so they just want to move it. They can’t make $5,000 or $10,000 on every single watch. Sometimes, they have to take 0 profit just to get their money back. Lots of dogs that are hard to move. Fall in love with cash, not your merchandise.

Ying and yang I suppose but I hate haggling for a watch.

To each their own

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[swish77]

As a longtime New Yorker and watch lover, I'm very familiar with West 47th Street and I'm often there.

In short, you need to know what you're doing and, more importantly, where to go if you're in the market for a watch. Some of the best dealers are not on the street level but are in offices/showrooms in the buildings.

Just walking down the street and window shopping is not a great strategy, and as mentioned above, you need to deal with the borderline harassment of guys trying to get you into certain stores.

Good deals can be had on modern and vintage Rolexes on W. 47th, and it can actually be fun, but you need to do your homework before going there.

[honuswagner13]

Originally Posted by swish77

As a longtime New Yorker and watch lover, I'm very familiar with West 47th Street and I'm often there.

In short, you need to know what you're doing and, more importantly, where to go if you're in the market for a watch. Some of the best dealers are not on the street level but are in offices/showrooms in the buildings.

Just walking down the street and window shopping is not a great strategy, and as mentioned above, you need to deal with the borderline harassment of guys trying to get you into certain stores.

Good deals can be had on modern and vintage Rolexes on W. 47th, and it can actually be fun, but you need to do your homework before going there.

Well said. My wife and weren’t prepared for the high pressure sales tactics. Just too aggressive for us.

[edisonstar23]

Originally Posted by honuswagner13

My wife and I went to NYC on Friday, and visited some of the dealers on 47th Street for the first time.

Here's my experience:

I didn't know that they had employees standing outside most stores.

The very first display window we looked in, a gentleman came over and asked what we were looking for. I said Rolex and AP, my wife was just said that she liked the diamonds they had on display. Next thing I know we were basically trapped and almost forced into the store. They were very quick to deal, and very aggressive.

If you didn't do any homework, you can get in over your head. You really need to know what you are looking for, and market prices. Their prices for watches were really absurd.

I asked to see a Blue Skydweller. The one shop had one, a 2018 complete set for $33K. I told him I can get a 2021 for around $29,500. He looked at me, and then went into the back room. He spoke with another person, but in a different language. He came back and said he had a 2021 that he can give me for the same price I quoted. The issue was the "safe was locked upstairs, and he needed about 15-20 minutes to get someone to unlock it.

I think this may have been their way of saying I need 15-20 minutes to source the watch and I will have it here for you to look at. I actually heard that line 3 different times. It was kind of funny the third time I heard it.

Here's the bottom line from my experience. The one vendor was discussing a diamond with my wife. The stone alone was around $20K. He told me that if I was to "bundle" the diamond with the Blue Skydweller, I can have the watch at his cost of around $24-$25K. We all know that the margin on diamonds are way better than the watches. I guess if you are in the market for a diamond, you can really get a better deal on a watch, i f you so choose.

The games that are played for these watches is crazy, but that is the market we are currently in.

You are the guy that was asking for advice on where to go and how to approach the Diamond District. I think based on what you were told on the last thread and your experience wasn't much different. I personally do not like the dishonesty and the selling approach all those dealers have. I will never buy a Watch from them EVER! I much prefer getting it from a trusted seller. I always wondered how the 47th dealers will approach a complaint in case something goes wrong with a watch or maybe turns out to be a "franken". I feel like they will put you in question rather than thinking it might have been their mistake.

However, I do like to go there to see their inventory and all the hard-to-see watches. You can pretty much see everything without driving to multiple places.

[edisonstar23]

Originally Posted by swish77

As a longtime New Yorker and watch lover, I'm very familiar with West 47th Street and I'm often there.

In short, you need to know what you're doing and, more importantly, where to go if you're in the market for a watch. Some of the best dealers are not on the street level but are in offices/showrooms in the buildings.

Just walking down the street and window shopping is not a great strategy, and as mentioned above, you need to deal with the borderline harassment of guys trying to get you into certain stores.

Good deals can be had on modern and vintage Rolexes on W. 47th, and it can actually be fun, but you need to do your homework before going there.

Any good dealers you have actually dealt with?

[rlx123]

Originally Posted by huncho

rule #1 of walking in the diamond district is not to tell the people outside you're looking for anything lol. the people outside are scummy and like vultures and they can smell a tourist from a mile away. the people inside are much more friendly

but did you get the skyd?

Oh I see….good cop bad cop routine?


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[rlx123]

Originally Posted by swish77

As a longtime New Yorker and watch lover, I'm very familiar with West 47th Street and I'm often there.

In short, you need to know what you're doing and, more importantly, where to go if you're in the market for a watch. Some of the best dealers are not on the street level but are in offices/showrooms in the buildings.

Just walking down the street and window shopping is not a great strategy, and as mentioned above, you need to deal with the borderline harassment of guys trying to get you into certain stores.

Good deals can be had on modern and vintage Rolexes on W. 47th, and it can actually be fun, but you need to do your homework before going there.

I do noticed that the dealers with showrooms upstairs with no store front are more agreeable to deal with and they are sometimes cheaper than the street level shops.


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[Ny325]

A native New Yorker myself. I personally would not purchase a watch/jewelry from 47th street.

[swish77]

Originally Posted by edisonstar23

Any good dealers you have actually dealt with?

For modern watches, I'd recommend First Class Timepieces. They occasionally list on TRF. Avi & Co. are also good but expensive, so you'd need to negotiate hard there. They both have showrooms where you can look at a lot of new and used modern watches, mainly AP and Rolex.

For vintage, the best I've seen recently is Manhattan Watch Company at 15 West 47th, Booth E4, right at the front, with a window on the street. Some very impressive pieces and reasonably priced. Otherwise, you need to dig around a little and go into the sea of booths in some other street-level showrooms.

[bswizzle2552]

47th street is a riot love it there

[1995akcoop]

Originally Posted by ks58

I wouldn't buy anything from 47th St, but I guess people do or they wouldn't be in business. There's still plenty of suckers out there ready to give away their money.

Suckers? They’re not giving their money away…. some actually get a watch in return.


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