Rolex at Heathrow.

[sudheendrar]

Am transiting through Heathrow and will pop in to see what they have. Question though - for US Nationals buying duty free Rolex (or any other watch) any experience on declaring this at US customs upon landing at an American airport?

[Stratos]

It is departure as everyone else said.

Passed twice on November.
An Air-King and a Milgauss were all they got.

The chances are slim but you never know.

[ChappieP]

Just went into Rolex at terminal 4. Only SS they had was an Explorer.

[zeeww]

Originally Posted by Jackumi

I am a British national but reside in Japan. When I was visiting London last October I purchased a Sub from a London AD. I paid MSRP but they provided the VAT paper work which I presented at Heathrow Airport T2 VAT reclaim desk. On presenting my paperwork I had to show my Japanese residence card before they would accept my claim. The VAT was refunded to my bank card one month later. However I then proceed to the Rolex AD in T2 and saw they had my model Sub in the window and their price was minus the full VAT (20%) where I only received a 16% VAT reduction after paperwork costs. I am not sure a UK resident can obtain these VAT free prices, are you not obliged to provide evidence of your country of residence at the Airport AD's.

Once you’re airside at the airport residency doesn’t matter, only destination matters. The price you pay is depending on where you fly to

[upthehill]

Follow up - My wife went to heathrow today and didn't get a GMT. She went into Watches of Switzerland and the guy wouldn't tell her if he had one unless she bought another watch. She suspected he had one. I feel this is crappy behaviour. Obviously they have the right to sell to who they want but its not the way to win over new customers. I'm not part of the super rich that afford to drop stupid money on stuff but watches have always been my thing, people always laugh that my car costs less than some of my watches... I have a decent collection cartier, patek, iwc, rolex but what I learnt today is that Watches of Switzerland likes playing games and clearly wants to piss people off or be greedy rather than get new customers that will return time and time again.

[997.2]

Originally Posted by upthehill

Follow up - My wife went to heathrow today and didn't get a GMT. She went into Watches of Switzerland and the guy wouldn't tell her if he had one unless she bought another watch. She suspected he had one. I feel this is crappy behaviour. Obviously they have the right to sell to who they want but its not the way to win over new customers. I'm not part of the super rich that afford to drop stupid money on stuff but watches have always been my thing, people always laugh that my car costs less than some of my watches... I have a decent collection cartier, patek, iwc, rolex but what I learnt today is that Watches of Switzerland likes playing games and clearly wants to piss people off or be greedy rather than get new customers that will return time and time again.

Check out the Federico talks watches vid on YouTube called “truth about Daytona’s”

On mobile but rough quote , the AD asks himself “what makes you so special?”
If you walk out that door with a new Pepsi GMT he essentially gave yoh a new Pepsi and a bag with $5k inside of it to boot. His actions are par for the course in today’s rolex landscape and you need to be a) famous b) ready to pay to play or be a VIP customer who spends a lot c) have connections

Unfortunately life isn’t fair. Unfortunately your wife didn’t get a free $5k grab bag.

[Sarosh]

Didn’t see anything great yesterday. A few DJ41’s and one YM TT 37mm

[upthehill]

Originally Posted by 997.2

Check out the Federico talks watches vid on YouTube called “truth about Daytona’s”

On mobile but rough quote , the AD asks himself “what makes you so special?”
If you walk out that door with a new Pepsi GMT he essentially gave yoh a new Pepsi and a bag with $5k inside of it to boot. His actions are par for the course in today’s rolex landscape and you need to be a) famous b) ready to pay to play or be a VIP customer who spends a lot c) have connections

Unfortunately life isn’t fair. Unfortunately your wife didn’t get a free $5k grab bag.

I never claimed life was fair, in fact I did say that they can sell to who they want. I just dont enjoy the silly games.

Funnily enough my wife is famous :) so does that count as VIP too ? She is not an arse doing the "do you know who I am thing" and I suspect that that guy only knows about sad soap stars and the kardashians anyway.

[dardeca]

Last time I was in Heathrow T3 they had a milgauss as the only SS professional model.

[jabbawock545]

Flew through terminal 5 on saturday. They had not seen any sports models in months.


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[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by sudheendrar

Am transiting through Heathrow and will pop in to see what they have. Question though - for US Nationals buying duty free Rolex (or any other watch) any experience on declaring this at US customs upon landing at an American airport?

yes, declare it

its really reasonable considering you are getting close to 17% off with a VAT refund and paying in USD its already cheaper than US retail. So adding around 3% to import is not a bad deal at all.

Going the other way and someone buying in the US and importing to the UK it costs 20% VAT plus fees + its already a more expensive watch to begin with due to the weak GBP. So you get the best end of the export/import situation

[DP63]

Originally Posted by jabbawock545

Flew through terminal 5 on saturday. They had not seen any sports models in months.


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Told me the same last Thursday when I passed through when leaving the country, at least they spoke to me this time, I didnt even get asked if they could be of assistance when I was returning home just before Christmas.

[hornchurch]

Passed through a few weeks back.

TBH not much selection, no SS models.

Bought the wife a 2 Tone on an Oyster in St Thomas..
She is happy...

[TimeToWatch]

Was just in Heathrow 2 days ago. They had a nice Smurf but not much else

[hornchurch]

Sorry forgot to add, prices at Heathrow very good.

Not much selection though..

[Going_dicey]

No luck today. Sounds like they’ve had a shipment since the New Year so it didn’t sound like they’ve been dry. They were all snapped up though.

[russellg]

Hi Guys,

I'll be passing through Heathrow T5 in a couple of weeks. Just wanted to check if someone had a contact I could reach out to. I know the AD at Heathrow do not offer reservations and the chances of getting SS are slim.

Just trying my luck as I am building my collection and would really like to get my hands on a SS Sub or GMT Master II.

Thanks,
Russ

[peacocknation]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

yes, declare it

its really reasonable considering you are getting close to 17% off with a VAT refund and paying in USD its already cheaper than US retail. So adding around 3% to import is not a bad deal at all.

Going the other way and someone buying in the US and importing to the UK it costs 20% VAT plus fees + its already a more expensive watch to begin with due to the weak GBP. So you get the best end of the export/import situation

Reading this comment and an old question I had popped up. Theoretically one could bring a watch acquired overseas through US customs wearing it or in their bag - not declare it - and be just fine. However, I realize it's illegal and almost everyone on here says don't do it.

With that said, is the import tax really only 3% of the item's value? Is that just for jewelry/watches?

[Dr. Robert]

I think US customs is 3%, a lot less than my state’s sales tax.