This is going to be a lengthy and detailed review which other obsessive compulsive watch collectors will hopefully appreciate...
Over the past 4 years, I've been obsessed with collecting high end watches. I'm EXTREMELY OCD so I never buy pre-owned or "grey market" watches for fear of purchasing damaged or fake items. I do a lot of research on everything I purchase and will ultimately always buy from an authorized dealer (and pay full retail) so I can sleep at night knowing I didn't get ripped off. In doing my research, I do go to eBay a lot just to see what the secondary market values are for a watch I'm going to purchase and to look at pictures. That is when I first stumbled upon Best Watch Source. On eBay, their user ID is (WATCHFINDERNY). They always seems to have the most clear and comprehensive pictures so I use their auctions a lot to do my research. I also noticed that they have 100% positive reviews and always are the most competitive on their price. If you do a lot of watch shopping on eBay, you'll notice that a great majority of the high end watches are posted from sellers based out of New York. As I found out recently on a business trip to NYC, 95% of the New York based sellers are from shops in the Diamond District on 47th Street.
When I visited NYC recently, I had a list of watches that I wanted to see in person before I ordered from an authorized dealer. As I walked through 47th Street to get to Best Watch Source's location, I was bombarded by sketchy looking store owners trying to lure me into their stores. If you've ever been down that street, shops have A TON of high end watch inventory just sitting in the windows. For a die-hard watch collector like myself, it was awe-inspiring to see so many watches I love and would want to own, but having hundreds of them stacked up in the window somehow cheapened them for me...
I did walk in a few stores to do some due diligence before reaching Best Watch Source, and although those shops had incredible inventory and pretty good pricing, it was their attitude that really turned me off. I know a lot about watches, but when I speak to stores reps, I pretend I don't know anything just to see if they're trying to swindle me. Although I came to believe that all of these stores actually carried real and quality watches, the hard-sell and price games were a turn off for me. Often, as soon as I said, "let me think about it", they would change attitude and basically not give me the time of day, or increase the pressure tactics. Being from Southern California where we don't really have this type of Diamond District market setting, I wasn't used to the attitude and it made shopping (browsing) VERY unpleasant.
***FINALLY*** we get to the part of the review about Best Watch Source. I had to provide all of the other information so you can get a better picture of the difference between these guys and everyone else.
When I arrive at their booth, I was pleasantly surprised at the upscale surroundings (as compared to the mom & pop looking shops that I had recently walked out of). Although their booth was small in comparison to the other shops (which I mentioned had hundreds of watches in their windows), everything was neatly displayed in a fashion that was befitting of watches that cost ten's of thousands of dollars. I had the pleasure of speaking to two very friendly gentlemen named Abba and Mike. Abba was well versed on watch pricing and Mike seemed to know everything there was to know about watches! I viewed the watches that I wanted and found one of them to be a piece that I absolutely had to have. Again, I've never not purchased from an AD before before, and for the high value of the watch, I was of course still hesitant. Unlike the other store owners that seemed to want me to just buy something then get out, or get upset at me for taking the time to think about my purchase, Mike tells me to "Think about it, sleep on it and decide whether or not you really want it. I want you to really love the watch otherwise I'd feel bad selling it to you." WOW! A shop owner that didn't make me feel like an A-Hole jerk for not just handing them my hard earned money!
I did go back to my hotel and thought about it. Two days later I went back and purchased the watch. The whole transaction was smooth, EXTREMELY PROFESSIONAL and flawless...I received my watch in a meticulously packaged FedEx box the next day after I arrive back home. I am now a client for life! Thanks guys! ***The only downside to this is now I realized just how much I've overpaid on all of my other watches I purchased from AD's...*** read more
