Hello,

Just wanted to share my personal experience in California at the Costa Mesa boutique.

I've visited watch shops in this mall twice in my life, once without a nice time piece and once with my newly purchased time piece.

The second time, once they saw that I was an omega owner they took time to answer all my questions, were super friendly, and showed me all the watches my heart desired.

I'm also fairly young(in my twenties) so my opinion is based on limited visits to these establishments. But I felt treated like a prospective buyer this time around. As opposed to the other times when I felt like they were more distant and assumed I wouldn't buy anything(which may have been true that day but could be a totally different story after saving up for a few months/year/etc).

Just wondering what other people's experience is when visiting a boutique.

Regardless, I had a great time visiting and viewing the watches.


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I experienced something similar yesterday. I'm in Macau where visitors tend to be fairly wealthy, so generally staff assume you have cash. I was wearing my vintage Constellation which they noticed. I then received excellent service. It's hard to explain. Usually they follow me around the shop, but this time they were a little more alert, definitely on their best behaviour.

They also asked me if I was buying for me or my partner, which I guess means they assumed I was buying. (I told them I am not buying today, just looking, but they still gave excellent service.)

The only problem with watch shops in Macau - and there are a million watch shops in Macau - is they all cater to the China mainland market who tend to only want extremely blingy stuff. Some of the new Omega's are lovely though.

 

That boutique is hit or miss, really depends on who is working. That mall is insane for watches though. Basically everything is there. I do notice when I wear my orange PO chrono watch store staff tends to be a little faster to respond to me. But that thing can be identified from 50 feet away

That mall and high end watche stores caters heavily to Asian shopping tourism. The Asian women esp at that boutique tend to pre qualify people that walk in. Hence my comment on depends on who is working.

 

Thats most likely the iPhone app to access the forums.

 

I've had three or four experiences at Omega's flagship in Dubai Mall, all overwhelmingly positive.

The first time, more out of naïveté than anything else – to talk to them about the lume plot/ball of an old Seamaster that was loose and rolling around below the crystal.

After a quick look, they offered to have it taken care of by their service department. One of the clerks had inherited a similar piece and just seemed genuinely service minded and wanted to put this watch right.

They brought it in for service and had the lume dot remounted, and at no charge. Kind of stunning. They were all but apologizing for the inconvenience.

Note, this was not an especially valuable (50+?) year old watch. And I wasn't buying anything, or for that matter even dressed like an especially good prospect.

I've been in a handful of times since then for the service of other watches, or just to look at their NATO straps, and had other positive experiences.

I agree with @Foo2rama on the hit-or-miss experience of most boutiques, so it's hard to generalize – but I've only had positive, down-to-earth interactions in this particular boutique. And one has to imagine this is a reflection of training and values that come from a higher place – if that is the store management in Dubai or brand values from Bienne I can't say.

Not coincidentally, they are also the only boutique in this cluster of Swiss-based retailers not to have a very large and/or thick-necked man standing just inside the door. OK the average value of their watches is obviously much lower than those inside Rolex or Roger Dubuis …still, the signal it sends isn't lost on me. (There are no smash-n-grabs in Dubai mall anyway, so it's pure theatre!)

 

A few weeks ago at Schiphol airport, I had a few minutes before boarding and I spotted a brand new Omega boutique. After a friendly hello, I asked if she had the new blue FOIS and we started talking watched. Every beauty I wanted to see up close quickly popped up. And when I was drooling over one of them I heard her say; "If you are interested, I could offer you a good deal". And all that was before I pulled up my sleeve to take off my vintage speedy.

In Italy I spotted a Zenith dealer and went in with a question. I think I mentioned power reserve and case diameter. The old lady asked me to wait for their watch expert to come down. He seemed bored and started talking specs on auto pilot. Quite quickly we started to talk about the El Pimero. And when I asked about his future grail watch, the conversation lit up. A smile appeared and he started talking passionately about the Reverso.

So of course a big part on what happens depends on who is in the boutique. But when you openly share your love for watches (and listen to theirs) there's a big chance you will afterwards both say goodbye with big smiles.

 

I went couple of time in a Omega boutique Paris, once with an anonymous Chronographe Suisse '50, once with a Constellation 62 and the last time with Speedmaster 65 they were each time very helpful and available. The first time they allow me to wear the new Seamaster 300 while i was just buying a buckle (20e)!
The fact is where i went with my vintages Omega, the dialog was more easier especially with a seller himself vintage collector. Overall, the sellers are very well trained (IMO) and friendly. I have experienced very bad reception in high standing boutique here in Paris...never at Omega!

 

Yeah the tapatalk is just the iPhone app that I use to view/post when I'm on the go. I'm not sure how to delete that signature.

And they didn't ask me if I was buying but explained that I could make payments for 18 months with no interest.
She told me this right before I left but was not pushy at all so I had a good experience.

 

The OB on 5th Ave in New York are always pleasant, but on my visits wearing a vintage Heuer Carrera or even a 145.012 they didn't seem to take me 100% seriously. When I walked in on a whim one day while I happened to be wearing my Apollo XI 45th LE though, they were my best friend for a half hour or so...

 

My daughter works for Coach at the local outlet mall and I often have to walk past the Fossil Boutique (joking...store) and occasionally walk in. They are always friendly. Except the wrapper-upper lady (you pick your own watch box). She was a super grouch. The fancy people mall in Dallas has about every brand your average Texan can imagine. Omega, Rolex, TAG, etc. All of them (surprising to me) have treated me well under all circumstances. All of them seem to quite enjoy pulling watches out to show me...before or after I purchased a ridiculously expensive watch.

Around these parts the general jewelry stores seem far less welcoming than the Name Brand Boutiques.
I have twice gone into a particular jewelry store (one of a chain) and the snotty lady was perfectly snotty both times...with or without my Breitling Colt on...which she (the store chain) is one of the few vendors of in the DFW area.

 

I have been to the Costa Mesa OB a dozen or so times and agree with @Foo2rama. All depends on who is working and how busy they are. I usually bypass the asian ladies and go straight to one of the two asian guys or my favorite Alex (tall blonde). I have always wore an Omega in there and get more attention once its recognized.

 

That's my local OB. The first time I went in there, I was wearing a Seiko 5 and explained that I wanted to know if a watch as large as a Speedmaster Pro would be too large for me. The guy helping me was named Hiroo, and he was genuinely helpful and very patient. He's usually there when I visit and I've always been comfortable browsing around in there.

Same thing at the Rolex Boutique next door. Guy even asked me a few questions about my T-Touch (he knew what it was).

The thing about South Coast Plaza is that it is hard to tell who a prospective customer may be based on how they are dressed. Orange County in a nutshell.

 

I do not have an omega watch yet, and stopped into Scottsdale OB to look at the difference between the hesalite and sapphire speedies. I wasn't wearing any watch at the time, and I found the service to be very good. I was greeted immediately, and both watches were taken out and given to me to try on. The sales person was very friendly and informative. Pretty much the level of professionalism and engagement I would expect with a high end store.