Hi folks,
So a mate and I will be heading down to London on 10th Jan in the morning and have a few hours to spend looking at watches before heading to the Chelsea/Newcastle game and then getting some form of drunk. I'm starting to put a list together of places to look at watches and found the following thread useful as a start:
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ghlight=London
There are some particular brands/watches that I have little first-hand experience of that I'd like to get to pick up and look at:
Blancpain, particularly the FF
Zenith
JLC
Patek
The list I have so far is:
Watches of Switzerland, Regent Street
Burlington Arcade, Bond Street
Patek Philippe, Bond Street
Bond Street in general from what I recall when being down there in the summer (although I was being led by my wife looking for LV)
Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated
Harrods has a wide selection in their fine watch room, don't expect stellar service though.
David Duggan is in Burlington Arcade. Had a great chat with him about a few watches, he had lots of time for me even though he knew I wasn't buying anything that day.
The Selfridges Watch Gallery is worth perusing too. There's a camp Asian guy in there who waves a fan in his face and looks like a Bond villain who'll be happy to help. You'll be able to try on all of the above and more. It's not far to trot across the road to Watches of Switzerland either. Enjoy!
You could check out Austin Kaye in The Strand if looking used watches.
Just had a look in the new Blancpain boutique on Bond Street, big selection in there as you would expect! They're next door to Breguet and if their service if anything like Breguet's (same company after all), it'll be a very nice experience.
Harrods is great for a look and the staff are very helpful. On my visit this week the JLC lady was a wonderful and Alex in the Panerai section was a brilliant chap to chat to and a credit to the store.
Likewise in Selfridges also, all very keen to chat and assist.
Have fun
Paul
Thanks for the tips so far folks. Looks like everything is pretty close together.
Burlington Arcade's worth a visit if you like vintage stuff.......... prices are a bit heavy to say the least!
Paul
I like Harrods Watch Room for the sheer convenience factor. Bond street is great - I particularly like Marcus for the expensive and exotic..... Have fun.
WOS Regent St. is a bit souless, Selfridges has far more atmosphere
There's a fairly new Blancpain and Patek shop on Bond Street. You'll also find the longstanding JLC shop next to WoS (more Pateks and Rolex) on corner of Bond Street and Piccadilly. The final brand you mentioned, Zenith, I'm pretty sure you can find at Wempe (again on Bond Street).
I'd also recommend checking out the fairly new Breguet shop close to Blancpain. JLC seem to be opening a new boutique on Bond Street also (passed it yesterday) but doubt it'll be ready by 10th Jan.
Selfridges is a must and look up the watch club to see if they have any interesting, albeit, expensive stock.
I can definitely recommend Watches of Switzerland.
Excellent customer service when I visited, and a great range of watches.
Thanks guys. Reckon we've got all we need there for a few hours of watch porn. I'll post some feedback on return.
London has many watches that are great to look at, maybe try on but that realistically you would not want to own. I wonder how many watches a day some of the high end boutiques sell a day and how many they need to sell to cover their costs. I am just guessing but maybe you could be close to a million pounds per year to have a shop on Old Bond Street.
Had me snorting into my pillow at this! I know just who you mean!Originally Posted by CH47Driver
He's spent many a time telling me he doesn't like the watch I've selected to try and "how about this?" (Cue hideous white Hublot or such-like monstrosity).
When I tell him it's not for me he says "you & I have different taste."
Yeah, no sh*t Sherlock.
He's a bit annoying but you can't fault his enthusiasm.
Definitely try Blowers as well, next to Claridges, great to deal with and very fair IME
His name's Otto, he's a top lad.
Next to The Mayfair Hotel but close ;)
RIAC
If you are an infrequent visitor to London, it has so much more to offer than staring at a few watches, for which most brands on your list can also be seen in other largish UK cities.
I know this is a watch forum, and we like watches, but enjoy the city.
Also try the Royal Exchange - Watchfinder, Patek/Boodles, Omega and WOS there too.
Blancpain on Bond Street have great service. Went there for a service question and stayed for two hours!
Ok, I'm getting old and it was a long time ago now ;)
Thanks, I do enjoy the city every year with my wife but this is a specific trip with a mate to do lad stuff, ie. look at some watches, go to a game, eat some nice food and get drunk
Just back from my first (whirlwind) visit to the WoS Regent St. store. [Needed to drop my PAM 177 in for a repair and have a mate who works there, so got a bit of a tour].
OMG. Ace selection.
And it seems if can 'afford' the Lange & Sohne I 'need' if I never eat again and the wife and I don't spend anymore on our current house renovation ;)
If going down New Bond Street from Oxford Street try the Watch Centre, Wempe, Watch Club Old Bond Street, Mappin & Webb Piccadilly then Burlington Arcade.
If you're interested in a purchase rather than just browsing, it's worth a visit to Second Time Round in Grays antiques arcade, behind Bond St. They have a good selection of reasonably priced used pre-owned stuff, and the guys who own it are a decent bunch.
Thanks for that! Sounds interesting
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