Wandered down to Old Bond St to pass a nice sunny day. Still very few people out, which isn’t surprising. Popped into both the main Omega boutique there and the vintage shop. Not the friendliest vibe in the Ole Arcade, I seem to have been deemed not worthy. Some nice pieces inside including a stunning 2998 priced at £40k. Didn’t get a picture of that case. They also had some amazing Connies which I didn’t photograph. Here’s what was in the display windows .
Earlier this year went to Omega store in Florence. Super friendly staff and they even took out platinum tourbillon so I can play with it. Its like russian roulette, obviously.
the folks in the normal boutique were great. They even gave me a free pair of spring bars for my Ed White. It was the vintage boutique that couldn’t be bothered.
He's an old school antiques dealer. Collectors absolutely are not his market There's a few similar threads if you do a search - same story every time: collector goes in, nice stuff on display, owner / staff ignore anyone who doesn't obviously work in finance / big £ professions, or is so ostentatiously wealthy that it's obvious they don't have to work. It's understandable really - nobody else would pay those prices Best thing you can do is be a total tourist, take a ton of pics of anything you like the look of and post them here. You might even get served, if they mistake you for a foreign tourist who's into watches
Well I reckon I looked like enough of a tourist, I’m a Texan in a cowboy hat. He didn’t seem to dig that vibe though. but yes I certainly didn’t have any intention of buying.
I remember going there one day (quite some time ago now) when I had taken the novel idea (still a vintage noob at the time) that I could simply go find a nice 120 diver. I went in early-ish, got the cold shoulder, saw some very pretty things, probably rightly assumed I couldn't afford the one they had that looked like what I (thought) I wanted, and went from there to pick up some clothing from my tailor. I passed back by the shop later that afternoon, and I guess the marques on the shopping bags convinced them, the same staff suddenly wanted to show me everything. Maybe it was just coming back a second time. But by then I was running behind anyway, so didn't really get to play in all the fun pieces. Very quirkily hit and miss, IMO.
Beautiful all, great display... quite sure, Bond Street is not known for its bargains. It's wonderful that you have a store that has such an extensive collection of vintage Omega watches... I'm sure they'd kick me out after a couple of hours of browsing.
indeed it’s pretty tiny! But there’s a few hours worth in the arcade. The Vintage Rolex Shop is pretty mind blowing.
You should have payed attention to the cases across all displayed watches. Was the first thing I noticed..looks like they all go to the same welder Alternatively you could walk in and ask about authenticity, but this story can be told better by @tyrantlizardrex
30% of on Submariners, you don't see that very often Those two Day-Dates in the top left corner looks interesting, stella dials?
Last time I was in London I visited the vintage Rolex store.. awesome. Closest I've seen to such an incredible collection of vintage models in California was in Carmel-by-the-Sea, a store called Fourtane. For all the Europeans... plan to visit Carmel if you are anywhere near San Francisco, its worth the day trip. https://www.fourtane.com/product-tcategory/watches/vintage-rolex/watches/vintage-rolex/
Every time I’m in London I have to go check their windows in the arcade, i think it’s great to see all those Omega models together in such a tiny space. I agree sometimes their pieces give the impression they have been “prepared” not for collectors but for someone with deeper pockets and lesser knowledge (have seen in several occasions DNN bezels on EWs and 105.012s) however the sight is always exciting..
I'd probably have to go a little south of downtown Carmel by the Sea, as Clint no longer owns the Hog Breaths Inn, but instead owns a restaurant and hotel in Carmel called Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant.
