New Chicago Rolex Boutique (Tourneau)

[rosspanics]

Was in Chicago today and got to stop by the opening of the new Rolex Boutique on Michigan Ave, its owned/ operated by Tourneau. (Next to Cartier.) Pretty cool, very similar to Vegas. Good selection of all of the colors/ metals/ sizes/ etc... Salespeople seemed pretty "new", although apparently today was opening day. Anyways, something to put on your list next time you're in the Windy City...

[horseco]

Tourneau, bringing greasy used car salesman tactics to a boutique near you...

[dddrees]

Thanks for letting us know. I saw the store when I was there a couple of weeks ago, of course it had not opened yet. I did however visit the Tourneau down the street in the Water Tower. Didn't have such a good experience there, Tourneau isn't always the best place to actually purchase a watch.

[MortgageGuy]

Will certainly check it out the next time I am in Chicago, purchase there.... certainly NOT but nice place to look around IMO

[rlpolo694]

I was in there today and it was very nice. Very good selection and I did not get the tourneau vibe at all, everyone was very nice and not pushy. (The GM even came out of the back to talk with me for a bit) Defiantly worth a trip if you find yourself in Chicago anytime soon!

[Le Chef]

If you're in Chicago metro and want to talk Rolex there are far better places to go; AD's where the staff are knowledgable and you get real customer service. With Tourneau you get to hold your ankles and are given a dollop of KY for your privilege.

[ddnyc77]

I think one is opening in NYC too. I think its on the same block as NY RSC but is also on the same block as a Tourneau location.

[horseco]

agreed!!!!!

[rosspanics]

Originally Posted by Le Chef

If you're in Chicago metro and want to talk Rolex there are far better places to go; AD's where the staff are knowledgable and you get real customer service. With Tourneau you get to hold your ankles and are given a dollop of KY for your privilege.

Absolutely. For instance, I had a great experience at Sidney Garber today. Tourneau is definitely not the best place to buy, but this new Boutique is a fun place to look.

[rudegar]

The one in SF has a great selection. I go there to window shop but I will very likely buy from my local suburban AD who I dont want to harass with all my "visiting". (besides they don't have as good a selection to browse through).

[moldowan]

the tourneau in San Antonio is alright, probably due to the fact that Texans are friendly peeps to begin with. It's is a bit of a struggle to get good discounts from them though.
the last watch i bought from them was IWC 3717 and got 15% off, not bad for a very high demand watch. but in the last 4 year they missed out on over 100k of purchases that could have been thru there store but they were just to ridgid on price.
It is kind of satisfying to walk in with "another new" watch and have them see it and realilze they missed another sale!
the store used to carry ALL the marque brands... now they just lost IWC and only have Hublot, Breitling and Omega as their top brands at that location.... almost no need to even window shop there anymore :-(

[Joey_V]

Nice info... I'll be headed there shortly.

[rosspanics]

Originally Posted by dddrees

Thanks for letting us know. I saw the store when I was there a couple of weeks ago, of course it had not opened yet. I did however visit the Tourneau down the street in the Water Tower. Didn't have such a good experience there, Tourneau isn't always the best place to actually purchase a watch.

Did you see their pre-owned SS Daytona for the bargain price of $14,990?!?

[z0mghenry]

Anybody had experience with the Tourneau in Atlanta? I'm actually looking to browse some Rolex and JLCs this weekend. If i'm going to get harassed like people are saying then I will find somewhere else.

[ATH]

Tourneau is the worst of the worst. I dropped by their store in Vegas last weekend- what a joke. I watched as they pissed one buyer off with a quote for his prospective trade-in- a WG daytona on bracelet. They wanted to give him rock bottom wholesale in credit for his watch and sell him a YG YMII for full retail (but save him the tax by shipping out of state). What a deal! The guy, who I could tell was one of us, laughed as he picked up his watch and walked out. Other than that, the store was completely dead. I listened as they tried to explain the recent upgrades to the Submariner line to another buyer who didn't know any better and the salesperson, who could barely speak English, had no idea what she was talking about. The Patek selection was near nothing with zero complicated pieces. The prices in the pre-owned case were worse than retail. The only thing I can figure out to explain how they stay in business is they must prey on first time mid to high end watch buyers who just don't know any better. My dad bought his first nice watch at their store in NY (a Patek 5022 Officer's Calatrava). He got screwed and I could have rung his neck when he came home with it. It was 1987 and he still loves the watch but never bought from them again.

Anyhow it is a nice place to kick tires.

[onryo]

I stopped by the Tourneau in Pentagon City (Arlington, VA) when I was in DC a few weeks ago. The only vintage Rolex they had was a '68 5513 with a terrible relume job and service hands for $8995. Thanks, but no thanks.

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by rosspanics

Did you see their pre-owned SS Daytona for the bargain price of $14,990?!?

I saw a Daytona, but I didn't check out the price. Doesn't suprise me though. Hey it's a good place to window shop, but Tourneau really isn't a good place to buy a watch for me personally. I can do much better somewhere else.

[rosspanics]

Originally Posted by dddrees

I saw a Daytona, but I didn't check out the price. Doesn't suprise me though. Hey it's a good place to window shop, but Tourneau really isn't a good place to buy a watch for me personally. I can do much better somewhere else.

Agreed. Yeah, that was the price though. I told the saleslady I'd rather just have a new one for $10k and she told me that was "impossible". LOL...

[mtrunner]

Originally Posted by rosspanics

Agreed. Yeah, that was the price though. I told the saleslady I'd rather just have a new one for $10k and she told me that was "impossible". LOL...

That is what I was told as well at the NYC Tourneau where they were sellng a used SS Daytona for $15,995. The lady literally told me good luck getting a new Daytona for under $11,000. They are unreal.

[tkc324]

Wow... thanks for the update... i live not far from that store... always pass by and wonder when it would open. Now, I know. Will try to stop by next week to check it out.

[dannyp]

Originally Posted by mtrunner

That is what I was told as well at the NYC Tourneau where they were sellng a used SS Daytona for $15,995. The lady literally told me good luck getting a new Daytona for under $11,000. They are unreal.

One could interpret that as her saying they mark up the prices of Daytonas when they come in, or are otherwise playing fast and loose with the rules, something I'm sure Rolex would be interested in. I wonder if they ever run "sting" operations to catch dealers discounting and marking up watches inappropriately.