Vacheron polishing & papers & customs, oh my!

jspdl

This watch is in another country, and while I will be coincidentally visiting there soon, it would require either declaring it and paying duty, or risking not, so I'm also curious to hear folks' experiences who have gone the latter route.

gatorcpa

You don’t mention your home country, but this article has a synopsis of rules from several countries:

https://quillandpad.com/2023/05/21/...g-but-heres-how-to-avoid-the-worst-reprise-3/

IMO, always best to declare if returning to US, even if might require you to spend a little extra time in line. Most Customs agents have little idea how to compute proper duties on watches and you have an $800 per person exemption to start with. Unless this is a very expensive watch, the juice for them isn’t worth the squeeze in most cases. Remember, they have lines to keep moving and they really don’t like extra paperwork.

gatorcpa

jspdl

Wow, do people really register their watches with the CBP upon leaving the U.S., and declare their watches for personal use upon entering foreign countries?

jspdl

When paying duty, are the rates the same as applied during importing a shipment via Chapter 91 of the HTS?

Tony C.

As mentioned, more photos are required for any serious assessment.

Broadly speaking, I would argue that it is "penny-wise, pound foolish" to purchase high-quality, vintage gold watches that have been polished to any significant degree. It will cap/limit their value going forward, as most serious collectors will shun such watches, and they have also lost an integral part of the original design. If you have the opportunity to handle a very well preserved vintage gold watch in person, I encourage you to do so, as the look and feel of a case that retains its original lines, and light-reflection, is far superior to those which appear to have melted, as may be the case with the one in your first photo.

gatorcpa

Yes. That is appropriate section of the code.
gatorcpa

jspdl

Oh the U.S. is my home country. Wow, do people really register their watches with the CBP upon leaving the U.S., and declare their watches for personal use upon entering foreign countries? I didn't even realize these were recommendations/requirements.

And this would be a much more expensive watch than $800. When paying duty, are the rates the same as applied during importing a shipment via Chapter 91 of the HTS? https://www.usitc.gov/publications/docs/tata/hts/bychapter/1401c91.pdf

jspdl

Then can you help sanity-check me that if this is a precious-metal watch (9101), automatic (9101.21), with over 17 jewels, the duty is actually FREE (?!) on the movement/case (9101.21.50) and 3.1% on the strap (9101.21.10 or 20)? (And column 2 only applies for products of the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, correct)?

gatorcpa

I’m not even going to try. You need a customs broker, not a CPA.
gatorcpa

jspdl

But since you suggest that the first one may be more "melted", what aspects of it are suggesting that to you, so that I may be able to look out for them in person? And do you have fewer concerns about the condition of the second one? E.g. is the "faded" serial number not a concern? Do these photos help any more?