Just received a watch that came from a seller in the EU. The watch was sent fully insured and fully disclosed for value purposes via DHL. The important thing for the clearance was the perceived value of the parts (literally the strap, the case and the movement). Is that the norm?

 

I have purchased 2 watches from Europe, both through DHL and both times with the full amount disclosed (upwards of $5K). Purchases were 12/2014 and 03/2015 and have not received any custom duties yet.

 

In my experience, it is the norm. I have had half a dozen watches shipped over the past year, fully insured and declared - paid no duties on any of them. One did get held up until the seller provided details and attested to the value of the strap, case, and movement - separately for some reason. I reside in the USA.

If I ever have to pay duties, I will, but hasn't happened yet. yMmV.

 

I had to do the worksheet myself for a WatchCo Seamaster 300. Wasn't a whole lot compared to what I paid for the watch.

Tom

 

US Customs values a watch by its value broken down by into components.

Movement: auto, hand wound, quartz, how many jewels ?
Case: steel, precious metals, diamonds ?
Bracelet: leather, steel, precious metals?

A steel, hand wound watch has a realitively small customs charge.

The regs are online and formula is on online.
If the breakdown is not supplied, Customs can charge a higher rate, 8.5% approx, on the entire value.

 

Indeed... and we "fudged" on mine. I supplied value for the case complete and bracelet from ofrei.com and the leftover had to be the movement.

Tom

 

I fill out the watch work sheet hundreds of times per year - it is required for every watch shipped to the US (at least using a courier - for postal shipments different customs forms are required).

I simply start with the insured value of the watch, and break it down accordingly. The numbers are never challenged, so it's not a big deal. As has been mentioned, it includes the material of case, case back, bracelet (or strap), type of display the watch has, type of movement, number of jewels, if it's a chronograph or not, and the breakdown of values for the case, bracelet, movement, and battery are needed, as well as the country of origin for the movement.

In my experience with FedEx, unless you provide this the watch will be held in customs until it is supplied. It is the responsibility of the sender to include this information.

Cheers, Al