How Omegas are factory shipped…a question

Anytime I’ve purchased a new Omega, I’ve received the watch itself around a circular form, which is wedged into a wooden box that closes, and then around that there’s a thin Omega cardboard box, that sits inside a thicker, generic cardboard box. Then, that is placed inside the shipping box, usually with some padding.

My question is: does this pretty much duplicate how the watches are shipped from the factory to their country of destination? I’m a bit surprised that there’s never any padding inside the main wooden box, between the watch and the inside of the box, given how shippers treat them. I invariably have dents in the cardboard shipping box from less than gentle handling.

Watches are shipped in a plastic coffin containing the watch, the red cards and the hang tag. Boxes, instruction books, straps and any other items are shipped separately with the proper box and the total package (with the watch) assembled at time of sale. It all hangs on matching the correct box with the watch. Limited edition pieces usually find the right box/paperwork, but the average piece runs more of a chance that the wrong box is picked by the dealer at time of sale. Some dealers are more diligent than others.

In my experience, Omega’s packaging and shipping practices far exceed what some other Swiss luxury manufacturers do. I would have to say that Omega’s standard lacquered wooden watch box that comes with the Seamaster watches is one of the nicest that I’ve seen in the industry. The packaging and plastic display box for my JLC was downright spartan and cheap looking compared to Omega’s.

And this is why it is not uncommon to get the wrong box when buying the watch. The AD just has piles of boxes in the back or under the counter, and have to match the watch code to the correct box. Some don't care and just grab the nearest one.

When I sell watches, I generally wrap the watch itself in a lot of bubble wrap and place it on top of the box in the shipping carton (with a lot of extra padding all around.

When I ordered my Seamaster 300 from Crown & Caliber, I was a little concerned they would just send it in the box with no additional protection. But they put it in a padded watch pouch (a nice bonus, BTW), which is nestled in a cardboard box designed to hold the pouch and any papers/receipts, then all that is placed on top of the box in the shipping container. Kudos to them for going the extra step.