If I buy a new DeVille at Heathrow London (airside) from the AD should, with the emphasis on the should, I declare it and be liable for any duty when I return to the UK.
Same question if I find one at an AD in either the EU or the US?
Or maybe just haggle at an AD in the UK

 

If you are going through T5 the AD (Goldsmiths) often sells ex VAT with no need to disclose, depends what offers they have on.

Haggle in the UK first, then try the airport, you can always buy when you get back.

if you buy elsewhere you are subject to tax on return...how morally corrupt are you? Are you a gambler??

 

Prices ex-VAT at Heathrow are often higher than full price at a US AD due to the strength of the pound. Try a US AD and see if you can get the customary 15-20% discount

 

Odds are, you wouldn’t be caught. But if you are, the fines can often exceed any potential savings, and could be as high as the value of the watch. It’s up to you if you want to take the gamble or not.

 

Don’t know when you looked at the dollar/pound trading rate, but the pound is far from strong at the moment due to Brexit. I’m not saying you can’t get a better deal in the US, but don’t assume you will. I bought a Seamaster 300 MC at Heathrow in April when the pound was even weaker than it was today (and before the UK adjusted prices up) for around $4500, which was significantly cheaper than any quote I got in the US for a new watch with full warranty.

 

I don’t know what the answer to the OP’s question is but how would you get caught? Even if you have all the boxes etc in case how would they know where you’ve bought from?

Could’ve had it years and taking the box abroad with you....

 

...date on the guarantee card?

 

I am not endorsing or supporting any behavior that would be considered illegal, but if you buy a watch (wherever), wear it out of the shop, put warranty card, COCS cert and booklets in your carry-on and ask the shop for a cardboard box and ship that home via regular post (box is worth what- $100?) then you are shipping an empty box back home.

 

Week before Christmas, when you'd expect them to be pushing deals. This was at the Watches of Switzerland in T5, A gates. Some brands cost as much in pounds as they do in dollars in the US (i.e. 6000 pounds vs 6000 dollars), others not much less. After VAT would have been removed, it was still significantly more expensive than buying full price in the US.

Meanwhile, the very next week, Feldmar Watch in Los Angeles was offering 15-20% off all models right off the bat if you were serious. And they had a far better selection!

 

Thanks for the info -- they really jacked up the prices to account for the fall of the pound in the last two years. But like I said, this is because the pound is strong, it's because it's weak and sellers have raised prices to account for that.

 

Really important ... know your price points before you hit those shops. You are on your own recognizance regarding VAT and duty.

 

Out of curiosity, I looked up the prices on the Seamster I purchased on the Watches of Switzerland website. I got the steel version on leather. It's currently listed as 4700 GBP, which includes the 20% VAT. At the duty-free shop in T5 (which is where I bought mine), that would put it's price at 3916 GBP, which is about 300 GBP more than I paid in April. I bought mine with a card that doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee, and the final price on my card was $4726. At the current prices, that would be $5111. In the US, the watch retails at $6500. Assuming the 20% you saw, that would be $5200. I paid $120 in duty when I imported mine, so I still came out slightly ahead.

So, the current duty-free price is comparable to a US dealer with a 20% discount (and here I'm not applying sales tax). When I was looking before I went overseas, I couldn't find any dealer offering more than 10% on that watch. I can't find any watch on the Watches of Switzerland site that has the price in pounds equal to the retail price in dollars (i.e., a watch that retails for $6000 in the US sales for 6000 GBP in the UK). Including VAT and converting from pounds to dollars, the UK retail price is still a few hundred less than the US retail price.

Do you know what brands had equivalent cost in GBP and dollars, because that's really a ripoff!

 

I don't know the rules outside the United States, but in the US, if customs thinks you are bringing something in without declaring it (i.e., they search your bags and find the empty boxes), it is on you to provide evidence that it was not purchased overseas or that duty has already been paid on it. If you cannot do that on the spot, they can (and will) seize it and issue a fine. You can of course fight this with lawyers, but that will take time and money.

Again, odds are nothing would happen, and the times I have declared a watch and paid duty, the customs agents were a little shocked and it took them awhile to figure out how much I owed. One even told me no one ever does this. If you are taking multiple watches overseas with boxes and planning to bring them back, there are customs forms you can fill out identifying they were purchased by you before the trip, but this has to be properly stamped.

 

Here in the UK if you walk into a bank with £5000 or more they want to know where it came from.
I also know that credit card purchases of the same value and upwards have additional filtering on them.
Is it beyond fantasy to have purchases at the airport checked against passenger flight data and customs and excise officers waiting for you once you’ve made the decision to exit via the “nothing to declare” channel.

 

There are no fines for trying to bring items into the UK without declaring them. Unless they are illegal of course.
If you get caught you either pay the duty (20% in this case), or you go home and say goodbye to your watch.
You are given a twenty eight day period to decide whether you want to pay the duty owed or not.

 

If this is the case why would anyone declare anything? Surely you would just chance it every time and if you get caught just pay what you would’ve paid anyway...

 

The banks ask where the cash has come from but they do no checks to verify that you are telling the truth...

 

Because many people are rule followers? Because they are afraid their stuff will get searched/ trashed? I've heard stories from lots of people about them bringing expensive clothing, jewelry, etc. into the US without declaring it.

 

I think there was a thread a month or so ago about declaring watches, prompted by the journalist who got pinched last year at the Basel Fair. I've travelled internationally for almost 40 years and have yet to be picked out for any sort of random inspection. I have a sister-in-law who used to be a customs agent at JFK (late 80's), they were NOT interested in some guy wearing a new Rolex getting off a Swissair flight from Geneva, their main focus was drugs and cash. Was then, still is. Bottom line, these people have more important stuff to do than calculating a duty on your shiny new watch.

The Caribbean is one of the world's largest markets for watches, diamonds and luxury items, yet when you disembark any cruise ship now in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale you don't even fill out the old-fashioned declaration card, not needed anymore. You walk up to the Immigration counter, they check your passport, and you walk out of the terminal. I'm not even sure where you would go if you did want to declare your items, I didn't see any customs agents. Maybe they are lurking around in plainclothes, if so they are well hidden. If they wanted to collect duty on your watches, jewelry and booze this would be a ripe area, they aren't interested.

But let your conscious be your guide. If you want to search out an agent, show him your items, and spend time and money while he/she fumbles with the customs book to calculate duty based on jewel count, type of movement, type of case, strap, etc, go for it. You'll make his or her day.

 

maybe this...

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...l-penalties-for-contraventions-of-customs-law