Online Watch Buying Woes
Friends, over the past few months I’ve purchased three watches online.
1. Christopher Ward C60 Trident Pro 300. This purchase experience and the watch itself was nearly perfect. The one flaw? The bezel, chapter ring and hour indexes are off. At first I thought I could live with it, but alas, it drives me nuts. This has been compounded by the bezel loosening. It’s not unusual for it to move a few places and I haven’t “clicked” it. Solid return / repair policy, correction in process.
2. Praesidus A-5 UDT. Limited edition, looked great online. Hated it when it got here. Returned the same day I got it
3. Mido Multifort 80th Anniversary GMT. Received it today. Absolutely beautiful watch. Wears HUGE. Can’t pull it off on my wrist. Will initiate the return tonight.
I’m starting to think I should only buy watches that I can try on and see what I’m buying. Sad, because there are so many awesome online microbrands. What are your thoughts? Experience anything similar?
Collector of all things cool and unique. Watch junkie, car freak. Why say no when it feels so good to say yes?
Lug to lug and whether it has a bezel or not. If it has a diver bezel, it’ll camouflage how big the watch is. If you have a thin bezel, the dial will look huge
I've not purchased a watch in-store since ~2010 (i.e. grabbing whatever at Target). I'd love to shop that way now, but - as you indicate - there's a huge selection of desirable, good-value watches only available online. I do plan to go to a nearby watch store within the year, not with anything in mind, but just to try out the experience. But regardless, I'll continue to largely buy on the web.
My experience is that after many purchases, and assuming good research of a particular piece, I rarely find myself with the wrong size or finish. Sure, it happens, and it's disappointing. Now that the smaller PRX is coming out, I'm strongly considering getting rid of my 40mm version, for instance. Handsome watch with a great vibe that's just a little to big for me to wear with full confidence. I'd watched/read dozens of reviews but I guess the dimensions really didn't click until I had it on wrist. (Ironically, that's a watch I could have easily tried out it person, for once!) Largely though, I've got enough pieces in enough styles that I can sort of cross-reference with the information from product listings or reviews.
One thing that's really helpful, and that I wish I'd picked up years earlier, is a digital caliper tool. They're an inexpensive way to help map out the scale of the watch/compare with existing pieces.
Your local ADs after reading about the online experience:
It sucks to hear that the Mido didn't work out- what a disappointment.
One of the challenges to this sickness, I mean, this hobby is that it's easy for people to say "always see how it feels in person" but often times, the watch we've been obsessing over is not available locally. And we shouldn't be limited to collecting watches because they happened to be within driving distance.
So then you buy online, and people say "always check the measurements" but measurements are misleading. Not all 42mm watches wear the same. Two people with 7 in wrists don't have the same wearing experience because each wrist has a different shape/geometry, despite being the same wrist circumference. Lug to lug measurements don't indicate how a watch feels on your wrist.
And so we keep searching for that perfect watch that...
...year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning——
So, we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
(The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald)
And that Mido is all dial with basically no bezel, so this type of watch will always wear extra large. It's a beautiful piece. I have looked at this one also!
I think this is the hardest lart of retail, the online experience. How do u meet the needs of customization with an e-retailing experience? Im sure it is done, but fit is very personal, and returns need to be applied even without a physical receipt, should have the online reference to fall back on, BUT that requires a whole Customer Experience to provide unwavering service and no questions asked policies. I struggle with it. Chime in and comment back, if your watch e-retail experience is like a Zappos (usa shoe e-retailer) experience where it was top shelf and no-hassle.