Hi folks,

There are multiple Omega boutiques in London, but I was wondering if anyone has had good/bad experiences in any of them, or if there are any they'd recommend in particular?

Thanks

 

Used the boutique in the Royal Exchange a few times. Service has always been top notch.

Watchfinder is next door which is always good for a browse too.

 

The one on Regent Street has always been good to me.

 

The Royal Exchange and Regents Street teams have both been a pleasure to deal with.

Sloane Street Incredibly helpful and have great coffee.

Old Bond Street are friendly, and more than happy to talk watches.

 

IIRC - only the Regent St OB has a watchmaker on site

 

Think you're right - Bond Street, and Sloane street used to but I don't think they do anymore from what staff have said.

Stratford have one... but I'm loathe to call that shopping centre London proper.

 

Ahhh... good stuff to know. (Thanks for asking the question Nick.)
Gonna jot those places down. This kind of experience from those 'in the know' is very helpful when, like myself, you are a novice.

I go home to London fairly often but my experience on the South coast of England, so far, falls mainly into two categories:
A) Slightly pompous and not overly helpful.
B) Trying to put one over on you.

Last month I was looking to buy a leather strap as an alternative to my 1171. The 'Eagle eyed' assistant said "hang on sir I will get our Omega expert to advise you." Out came this bloke, dressed in a Crombie (looked like the 'spiv' in the old St Trinians films) . Put his little eye glass thing in. Squinted at my brown dial, mid 60's Speedy and said "Hmmm???... think it's a 71 or 72. Are you interested in selling it? I would put it in the window at £2000 but it needs a clean and a service and we have overheads so my buy in price to you would be £800".

Another so called vintage watch expert looked at my 105.012 and said "it looks like a 145.022 with an 861 movement from the 1970's. Are you looking to sell it?"

Thank the Lord you chaps are around to point us in the right direction regarding dealers and service agents. I would've been 'done up like a kipper'!

 

I found all the London boutiques the most expensive places in the country, ideal to look and decide what you want them shop around for the best deals
OmegaSean

 

Many thanks folks, much appreciated!

 

Charging RRP that's to be expected surely?

 

Frankly, the jumped up shop assistants piss me off no end. I went into the local AD last month to see if they had the new PO in - they didn't.

So, cut back - I went in just before Christmas for the same thing. Really nice, bubbly sales assistant offered me coffee (thanks, but I'm fine - I'm on my way to pick up some coffee beans anyway); explained they still didn't have the new PO but I was welcome to look at any of the others. I was wearing my Tag Heuer Titanium, took that off, placed it on the little leather tray and tried on the PO's they had. Anyway, sales assistant loved the old tag. Her manager, she called over, loved the old tag. We all had fun. And left it that I'd pop back in the new year to see if the new PO was there yet.

Come the New Year, come the new sales assistant. This time I was wearing my ghosted 220. On a mint 1039. They had the GMT in but nothing else ... and this time, I accepted the offer of a coffee. There were a number of comments about the watch I was wearing again ... ohh, you want to get rid of that old thing ... you should definitely replace that bezel .... why don't get get a new strap for it? The only reason I didn't stand up and leave was the fact that I really quite wanted to coffee sitting next to me.

I'm not sure who they think pays their wages and bonuses (shit, I'm turning into a genuinely grumpy old man because I don't think I've ever even thought about using that line before) ... but, FFS, you don't alienate your customers with the first three things to fall out of your mouth

 

This is by no means idiosyncratic to Omega - I've had similar with other brands when wearing vintage pieces. First and foremost, from Omegas perspective, the staff in the boutiques are there to sell new product and are therefore conditioned to a default position of "it should look perfect". Probably goes someway to explaining why watches come back polished from services by default (or even without a choice) from some brands.

To gain a full, detailed appreciation of the history and pedigree of a brand and range would require a massive investment. As a minimum, the staff for example, would know the basic history of the moonwatch but not necessarily much more.

There will of course be the odd one or two staff who have been there longer, have an affinity and relationship with their employer and will have invested the time to learn more. These are true assets to the brand and will invariably be willing to spend time chatting to existing customers and developing a deeper relationship.

Suggesting you "want to get rid of that old thing" is however a rookie mistake. The far better approach would be "oh I see you already have an Omega and it looks like you've had it a while - tell me about it" then segway into the "have you seen the latest LE moonwatch model to mark the 2017 canine olympiad in Korea - it has snoopy on it" sales pitch.

 

It's actually kind of amazing how ill-informed Omega sales reps are regarding vintage watches. Most of the ones I've dealt with are very friendly, and absolutely great to talk watches with (modern Omega especially, of course), but they know essentially nothing about vintage Omega. One rep I was talking to at the OB in King of Prussia told me that a woman had come in a few weeks ago with an "extremely old" Speedmaster. Apparently it was her father's and she wanted to know how much it would cost to restore. I happened to be trying on the FOIS at the time and he mentioned that the watch she brought in looked very similar. So I said, "Was it a 2998?!" And he said, "Yeah, that sounds right, maybe!"

At first I was horrified that this woman may have actually sent her 2998 back to Omega, but then he said that once he quoted her the cost of an Omega restoration ($1000+ IIRC), she walked right out. He thought it was a shame -- I (internally) breathed a sigh of relief.

 

I had a good experience in the Oxford St store with helpful staff willing to hold a Tin Tin for me over the Christmas period. Also a good experience in the Regent St store where the assistant checked my watch over to make sure it was keeping good time etc. No pressure and good customer service.

 

Generally they know what they need to know - enough to sell a new watch. Occasionally you will find a watch salesperson who is a true watch enthusiast, but most are not. I have been fortunate to run into a few that really were enthusiasts and collectors, but never at a brand boutique. I recently saw a few adverts for sales associates at some brand boutiques that were opening soon (not Swatch but brands under the Richemont group that are way higher up on the food chain than mid-level Omega is) and knowledge of watches was not a requirement for the job, but if you knew Mandarin, you certainly have a leg up. As a watch sales person, you only have to know more than the average buyer does, not the hard core collectors.

Going to a store that sells exclusively modern watches and expecting them to know every detail about vintage watches, is like expecting the person scanning your purchases at the grocery checkout to be a trained chef...

Cheers, Al