Traveling and Watch Buying Advice Needed

Thanks for the recommendation!

The thing to be aware of is your own countries customs and duty charges i.e do you have to declare goods over a certain cost when coming back home and what possible import duties you could face.

I recently returned from London with a new Longines on my wrist, box and papers in my backpack. No one asked me a single question.

That was my thought… if I’m wearing the watch and the box & papers are in my luggage… who’s to say?

If you buy a watch overseas, you will be detained for questioning when leaving. Be prepared to answer questions such as:

"Are you registered with a Rolex AD? How's your butt?"

"What makes you think you can just walk into Italy and buy an Eberhard watch?"

"Please describe the perfect escapement in Slovokian."

I should know, my cousin Jimmy got caught at customs and failed to answer one of their questions and they took his head clean off.

You should cancel the trip.

My wife has been buying luxury bags in Spain, Italy, and Greece.

Make sure you bring your passport for tax-free shopping.

Its better to do tax free shopping in the same country you plan to leave the EU from. For example, we bought a LV bag in Italy but then we went to Spain. Left the EU from Spainish airport. The tax refund system did not like that, and they asked us to mail the tax-refund forms to Slovakia. We never got the refund afterwards.

Customs is a luck thing. I travelled with 2 kids. They never checked me.

Yeah and they need you to prove your Roman citizenship. Otherwise they put you in the gladiator ring in the center of Roma city.

Please don’t speak anything bad about Gaius Octavius. Hes the new emperor now and he doesn’t like gossips. WAIT which century are we from!????

The customs officer on a random bag check. Slim chance of happening but better to know where you will stand should it happen.

I’ll just scream… “Are you not entertained?!?!?!”

Travel there without a watch and they will not notice you leaving with one. Find something with a Canadian flag on it to wear so people think your Canadian as Americans are not as well liked in Europe. I have heard from some American friends that it helps.

I was stationed in Europe for a few years, and yeah that’s what people recommend when traveling especially in the early aughts.

The joke was, how can you tell who’s American? It’s the guy with the huge Canadian flag on the back of his jacket. 😂 A small 🇨🇦 flag on a backpack should do.

Hi first I hope you will enjoy Portorož while there, stop by in Piran too if you will have a chance. For all comments above it is not Slovakia but Slovenia😜 As for watch purchases when I went abroad with intention to buy I went with watch travel case, had max 2 watches with me ( one on hand and one in case ) and then when I bought it I put that one on my wrist, invoice and warranty in my wallet and box in check in luggage ( worked twice so far, no questions at customs ). If you want to be even more safe just send the box via UPS/Fedex... and nobody will know your watch is brand new and just bought. If the watch is expensive better paying box transport than customs. If the watch is of lesser value then just declare it

I would suspect that prices in Venice would be tourist prices. Try and contact some shops before hand and ask about tax free shopping. You don't want to waste time while your there enjoy the visit not the shopping.

I actually tend to purchase my more expensive watches when on trips. When buying in the EU though, be sure to find out how to get the VAT refunded.