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  1. cmflynn Jul 21, 2017

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    Hi everyone, brand new to the forum, and am about to make my first quality watch purchase and am looking for some for some advice as to where I should buy from. I've decided on getting a Diver 300M Co-axial, and am going to go either gray market or reseller because of the cost savings. I've done my homework on the pro's and con's of gray market, and have narrowed down to 3 sites, as well a reseller, and would like some feedback as to which represents my best option. The 3 gray market dealers are PrestigeTime, Jomashop, and Amazon. Of the 3, Jomashop has the best price @ $2700, but I've read less than satisfactory reviews of the site concerning customer service or warranty service. Prestige has the watch for $2850, but seems to have better customer service, and will use their AD to send the watch back to Omega for service if their in house warranty can't fix it. Amazon has it for around $3000 (price fluctuates), and I have read good things about their warranty, though not concerning high end watches. Finally, a reseller with a good rep has it in new condition for $2900 with factory warranty, and a 24 hr return policy. The reseller accepts wire or paypal(+ processing fee) as payment options, and even though the seller has an excellent rep, I'm leaning towards using Paypal if I go with the reseller, as I'm assuming I would get better fraud protection than wire (if I'm wrong in this assumption please let me know). The only other downside to going reseller is I feel like I'm gonna have to pull the trigger a little sooner than I was planning to, but that's not a deal breaker. Any advice will be greatly appreciated
     
  2. shutterlife Jul 22, 2017

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    For the price difference, I would go with a trusted reseller just for the manufacture warranty alone. The good resellers on this forum have a great reputation with lots of references. just a simple search of the username would show the praises and satisfaction where it would be a no brainer to send a wire and save some extra money.
     
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  3. shaun hk Fairy nuffer Jul 22, 2017

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    There have been so many positive reviews of Kringkily (George) on this forum that this is the way I would go. Check out the sales forum and you will find his ads.
     
  4. Motman Jul 22, 2017

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    I was in a similar position when I was looking for a Speedmaster '57. Retail in the U.K. Was £6,000 but I had seen them from online retailers as low as £4,600. Only trouble was, you had to send your money off and wait for up to a month while they sourced one. That's a lot of money to be sending off to someone on the internet with no physical address. Eventually I saw one on the grey market for £4,750. That seller had three physical stores (watchfinder.co.uk) and they arranged to have it sent to one of their stores less than 10 miles from me for me to give it a full, no-obligation examination before purchase. I examined the watch and all papers, international guarantee etc and found it perfect, still with security seals and stickers etc and in 'as new' condition so I paid the price. I felt much more comfortable buying it that way and there was still a substantial saving. Interestingly, it had the price tag and international warranty that enabled me to see that it had come from an AD in Italy. The price tag in Euro's was €7,400 which converted as near as damn it to £6,500 - £500 MORE than the UK retail price! In this type of situation, I always find it best to trust your gut. Or sphincter in my case!
     
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  5. Shailor Jul 22, 2017

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    He's offering a new blue 300 for $2690. You can't go wrong and it comes with a warranty card.
     
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  6. Shailor Jul 22, 2017

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    https://www.chitownwatch.com/product/omega-seamaster-ceramic-bezel-blue-automatic/
     
  7. 67ViP Jul 23, 2017

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    Check an authorized dealer, Omega dropped the price on the SMPc down to $3K two months ago (part of the Vault Series). You should be able to find a blue or black with full warranty and new presentation box at that price or better.
     
  8. Shailor Jul 23, 2017

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    I just called the Omega Boutique in Michigan and they are listed at $4,400. what is the Vault Series? Sounds interesting.
     
  9. 67ViP Jul 23, 2017

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    $4400 is the full MSRP, Omega dropped the price to $3000 on these and other watches in their collection. I paid $3500 for my black one in March, then $3K for the blue one after the price drop. In the store the watches will have a silver tag that says Vault Series.
     
    PSX_20170509_201459.jpg PSX_20170626_153528.jpg
    Edited Jul 23, 2017
  10. Shailor Jul 23, 2017

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    That's cool! I'll stop by and dream!
     
  11. cjoedaniel Sep 4, 2017

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    I'm not seeing this price drop. The AD in town is priced at $4400 but willing to give 15% off to $3700.
     
  12. Shailor Sep 4, 2017

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  13. 67ViP Sep 4, 2017

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    That's about standard for retail. Only about 10 of Jared's stores are authorized Omega dealers, but that vault price offering is done. They are back to standard pricing on all the stock at my local store. Just a few weeks ago I still could have bought a SMPc Chronograph in 43.5/41.5 brand new with cards and wood box for $3k...but I passed, the thing is so big and clunky I just couldn't get enthused. It may have been an in house stock reduction, marketing ploy, or gross management error...but it worked out for me pretty well.
     
  14. AustinStm Sep 6, 2017

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    I'm wondering if it's even worth paying for the warranty for high-end watches. Call me hopelessly naive, but if Omegas are excellent, excellent watches, and what you're buying is brand-spanking new from, say, Amazon, what are the chances that your watch is going to need warranty protection? A Rolex is a tank of a watch and they have a 5 year warranty. That tells me: Nothing is going to go wrong with this watch unless you do something to it yourself. And if that's the case, the warranty is cancelled, correct? Does anyone have any experience with needing Omega's warranty protection for a new watch?