In-person Retail Experience- Authorized Dealers: solo or multi-branded stores? Easy or a Hassle to buy your watch if rural?

I live in Asheville, NC now. My experience here is different (but better) than when I lived in San Francisco (where I lived most of my life).

In SF, we had a few AD. I was a huge Omega fan and they didn’t have a standalone Omega AD there. I ended up getting my Omegas in Chicago at the AD there. I did get a Rolex at the AD in SF though. Really I miss the Swatch store the most!

Living in Asheville, we have found an amazing Reeds here with a great staff. They can get almost any major brand you want and quickly. There is no AD attitude, and they know your name here. They also get excited about microbrands and geek out like many of us do.

I really think it’s about the people and not the store. The graciousness of the south is much more evident than the big city.

Thx Eric! Reeds sounds like a great retail spot. And yes, that Southern charm is evident all-around.

I am lucky to live near Tokyo and work in the walking distance from Ginza area full of boutiques and multi-brand ADs.

It must be very difficult for Rolex enthusiasts living in the areas far from major cities in Japan because they don’t have waiting list in this country. You just have to visit them and see if they have the watch in stock. I can visit 6 boutiques in a couple of hours but they need to travel for hours only to find nothing in stock😢

Thx Nicola! I empathize as well to those hence the post.

I'm based in Kentucky, so I usually travel to Nashville, Cincinnati, or LA to shop for watches, especially at high-end boutiques. I've shopped at boutiques inside South Coast Plaza like your pictures-and I'm open to visiting New York, Dallas, Miami & Chicago. Eight of my RedBar friends just spent a week in Geneva for Watches and Wonders—so, I'll go wherever the watches are! I understand that some brands require picking up watches in person, which just gives me another reason to hop on a plane for a nice long weekend.

Locally, I mainly deal with Rolex, though I've also picked up a Daytona from a Watches Of Switzerland in Ohio. It's all about building relationships for those hard-to-get allocations. Taking day trips to boutiques in Nashville and attending special events like the IWC Boutique Grand Opening and touring Cameron Weiss's factory has turned watch shopping into an exciting adventure with fellow RedBar watch members.

Dude - there is hardly any place in the world like South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa (maybe only in Dubai). It's like Watches & Wonders everyday there.

For those who have never been...here are the brand boutiques within the enclosed mall...all in less than 5 minutes walk of each other...

A. Lange Sohne

AP

Breitling

Bulgari

Cartier

Chanel

Chopard

Harry Winston

Hublot

IWC

JLC

Louis Vuitton

Montblanc

Omega

Panerai

Patek Philippe

Piaget

Porsche Design

Roger Dubuis

Rolex

TAG Heuer

Tudor

Vacheron Constantin

And there is a Bucherer with all of the following brands available...

Blancpain

Breguet

CF Bucherer

Girard Perregaux

Glashutte Original

H. Mosier & Cie

Longines

Nomos

Ulysse Nardin

This is why WatchTime holds its West Coast event every year in September at South Coast Plaza.

I live in a city in MA that 99.99999% never heard of lol. There’s no high end watch stores. If I want to experience that luxury watch buying feel I have to travel to Boston, Providence RI, etc. Although there’s a Jewelry store only 15 minutes from my house that sells Omega, Oris, High End non Grand Seiko’s and I’m sure a few more I’m forgetting🧐But higher end watches nope.

Sounds like a special trip- that is lucky to have nearby in the big cities at least u dont have to get on a plane or bust out a passport.

I live in rural Kentucky. It is a watch desert.

I wouldn’t say really lucky lol. We’re known for three main things Whaling, when it was legal, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and supposedly having the biggest fishing port in the US but not one single High End Watch store☹

Where this coming from too is thoughts of an early retirement for me to a far away place -very rural and "off the grid". Passports required and a whole change of scenery.

Apparantly some good horse racing though.

An embarrassment of riches:) highest retail mall in the USA

Indeed. And top shelf bourbon. I'm a Louisville expat. I miss it. I've been away so long that I always seem to forget when the Derby rolls around again.

Longing in London we have all the brands but super high demand - so I think it’s harder to get things here than smaller places. Across Rolex, Patek and Audemars, I’ve only ever “got the call” for some easier to get Rolexes (Explorer and Datejust.) I live in hope.

Depends on stock availability. If it's in, it's fine if it's a boutique exclusive, you have to go to the store. If it's Rolex, Vacheron, AP, RM and Patek, forget it. No chance.

I'm out in the sticks but all the retailers are central to each other - I'll swing by every few months and take half a day doing the rounds, usually as a detour if I'm in the area.

I don't find it a hassle, but I am only a bit over an hour out.

☻

If you want it, Central Munich has it.

Living in Fairfield County CT, there are a few local shops, but the best with the greatest selection is Manfred Jewelry. https://www.manfredijewels.com/pages/manfredi-greenwich-ct

Do u prefer this set up versus a visiting the single branded store in Manhattan, which is not too far away?

Thank u Anthony. What a fun detour and get-away.

Yes I do. I don’t enjoy going into NYC