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Isn't there a value that triggers customs duties - like $800 $US? Every overseas buyer whose watch I have looked at says Customs duties are the buyer's "responsibility." ????
Thus far, buying the superior Citizen Solar watches, I have had no customs problems. The problem is delivery. Fed Ex and DHL seem constitutionally incapable of final delivery. Instead, my neighbor gets the package, or a guy two roads over (two miles west) gets the package, or it is floating in the roadside ditch near my rural mailbox, or it was hung from the flag of said mailbox in a thin, clear plastic bag and only the tattered stump of the bag is there when I get home. Or I was "not available" (lie) and the package it at a drug store miles away. Last DHL experience, I happened to be leaving when the DHL truck pulled into my neighbor's driveway almost 100 yards away. I hailed the truck and, sure enough, it was my watch I was expecting from Japan - NOT intended for neighbor Kowalski. Every order is an adventure. USPS takes stupidly long to get packages to my area, but when it gets to my local PO, it is delivered promptly. UPS is in the middle - weaker than USPS but at least they hang the plastic bag in a tree half way up our drive, where no one on the road is likely to see it, or actually put it on our porch in a protective plastic bag.
Our local "Super" Walmart has not gotten a new Casio in for at least six months. All the new stock trickling in are uber cheepo "George" models. Its "jewelry" department is unmanned as part of their workforce reduction plan that is doing away with cashiers.
Our three closest Targets no longer sell watches, except for really cheap but colorful "Smart Watches" in "Electronics." Zilch in "Jewelry." Two of the stores managers were on site. I asked why their formerly fairly large watch selections had disappeared. They explained that store space has to be allocated by sales. "Showing me their bare wrists, one asked "Who wears a watch these days?" and the other asked "Why do you ask?" as he displayed his "mobile device."
Why? Except for showers and yard work, I wore a Seiko Kenetic Auto Relay for 21 years. It started getting pretty tackey, so I got another watch - an Oceanus OCW-S100-1AJF. No reason to wear it all the time. My old Seiko still merits some wrist time and the G-shock, now over 20, will get yard work time. Just me, I guess, Don't like [un]reality TV either. Enjoy your "challenge."