I visited a couple of boutiques in London today.
I treated myself to the black alligator/rubber strap with deployant for the PO. I’m looking forward to putting it on to get a differing look from the stainless steel bracelet.

I came away with this, is this pretty standard when buying a strap with deployment?

 

Looks nice - Impressive packaging. I have yet to get by an OB myself.

 

Yes, it is

 

very nice added goodies

 

I assume it's the deployant bit that means you get the springbar tool and extra packaging? I've only bought one strap from an OB and just got the strap (and some great service I must say).

If I'd have seen the above packaging I'd have bought the deployant at the same boutique rather than my AD. You live and learn.

Nice looking strap though. Enjoy.

 

I didn't get that when I bought a strap and DP in Jan 2019 from an OB for my CK2998. But I visited the OB in Houston yesterday for the first time and a had a nice 30 min chat with one of the managers. I told him I was in town for some medical appointments and to celebrate our wedding anniversary. He immediately went back and presented me with a bottle of champagne, totally unexpected. The OB's run a pretty class act.

 

I think it’s hit or miss if you get them at a boutique, but they are now standard if you buy a NATO strap in the US via the online shop on the Omega website.

The first kit was nice to get, but now I have 4! I’m probably gonna try to sell two on eBay at some point and see what the market says they’re worth.

 

Interesting. I'm starting to think about an OEM nato for my 2018 SMP - just about given up on getting the rubber strap AND buckle for mine anytime soon.

I'll see if the springbar tool comes in the UK package and report back.

 

I've had a couple in for service over the last year or so at the Montreal service office, they returned the watches in one of these cases each time. Had a couple of followup issues and got another case each time! They told me at the desk that they had boxes of these things out back!!!!

EDIT: no springbar tool came with the cases, and mine did not have the webbing separators, just foam inserts.

 

Yes same here for me. I've had a hard plastic outer with a nice zip/travel case for the inner. Nice touch from Omega. As was the champagne for Evitzee above. I've had the unexpected champagne treatment before when I went in to discuss strap options. It's the little things that count. free springbar tools, card wallets and of course complimentary booze is always a good thing

 

Fantastic strap, I have it for my GMT. Fits the lugs better than anything else out there, which to me was important given the height of the case coupled with a short lug.

 

My simple Omega Nato came with the same packaging (see my thread). $145 for the Nato and probably 85% of it was the packaging!

 

This thread is making me want to book a flight to an OB!

 

Thanks for posting, I’ve just looked at the thread.
It is pretty impressive on Omega’s part.
I didn’t really expect it, but it is very practical and very useful.
Somewhere to store the bracelet safely, avoiding scratches, and not to mention important parts like spring bars. Even the red suede rectangle to place the crystal on, whilst completing the job, is essential to keeping the watch from getting damaged.
It’s not excessive at all. It’s all a necessity.
I just hadn’t realised when first purchasing.

 

OB do not really give you discounts but they make it up with great service. At he end of the day i5 is worth it.
Happy wedding anniversary!

 

Always offered copious quantities of fizz whenever I visit a boutique, never quite sure what their intention is

 

lol. It's so the alcohol buzz escalates swiftly to the well known phenomenon of retail therapy buzz. Not that I've ever succumbed to this strategy...

DISCLAIMER: The prior sentence may or may not be a complete lie

 

The team at the Houston OB is very nice, but they're also a little paranoid about how many people they let in at a time. One of them told me that corporate actually watches the video feeds and "suggested" there not be too many customers at one time. I find that a little hard to believe.

 

Coming from a customer service/attentiveness background that makes a lot of sense to me if in fact they have a lot of foot traffic at the location.

Imagine if the people who have posted in this thread about their great experience were not met one on one for the duration of their visit. Do you think they would have had the experience they had and in turn shared that with the hundreds (dare I say thousands ha ha) of us here? Probably not. It may have been just another visit to the local jewelry store never to be mentioned of again.

I have to travel a few hundred miles for my nearest OB and I plan on doing so next year. I hope it is as awesome as most of the stories I have come across here and on the web.

I make a living by supplying goods and services to people so I know what is expected of me and my employees do as well. It’s a very good example of why I love Disney World. I know what it takes to deliver that experience of “bang for buck” and separating my business from everyone else. We are treated fantastic every time we are there so my money is spent there annually without issue.

If an OB can do that time and time again, why wouldn’t you want to spend your watch money with that location/company?