Do you play it low-key and wear something non-descript or do you don a favourite watch and risk letting a seller know you have knowledge and awareness?

 

Agree that this is important….sort of…but where do you stop?

pants?shirt?socks?shoes?

and the lucky underwear to score a Rolex?


To be honest I wear something that for me represents a similar niche, not for the store/sales person, but to see if I “need” the watch.

 

Dress down or dress up sends a message, I imagine, but I'm thinking more about whether people think it best to downplay the fact that they have some expertise, or perhaps better to send a message that they know what they are talking about in order to put the seller on the back foot a little?

 

Personally I feel its best to dress nicely and wear a watch that transmits your expertise and expectations. Interestingly, I had my Reverso on when shopping for a gold dress watch years ago. The sales woman at PP AD responded to my attempts to adjust the price of two watches, by looking at my wrist and saying “JLC is not at the same level as PP. We don’t negotiate”. Still my Reverso did its job, I wasn’t into the watches at list price anyway. I politely excused myself from her snootiness.

 

Hilarious comment given that JLC has made movements for Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, VC and IWC. JLC is as well respected as any luxury house among those who know - which obviously didn't include that salesperson.

 

While watch hunting, one does not wear a watch for obvious reasons.

 

I typically go in with relatively low expectations (except at OBs) and adjust how much I immediately share with the sales person based on how much they seem to know and/or info they are willing to share so that I never come across as arrogant or know-it-all (also for the simple reason that I do not know it ALL and consider myself rather “an expert” in a few models rather than the entire line up anyway).

On the other hand, if I start feeling that they are BS-ing me, then I may just drop a few key elements to “confront” their BS before leaving.

I recently stopped by the Watches of Switzerland in SoHo, and I was honestly very pleasantly surprised by both the knowledge of the sales associate for some models (JLC Reversos, Cartier, Omega, Rolex,…), and especially by his ability to sometimes concede that he didn’t know the answer to my question or that he wasn’t a specialist in some of the brands or models (eg, JLC Atmos, Freak from Ulysse Nardin, …). It made for an VERY enjoyable experience and I could tell that he was really passionate about the products and the hobby… while proudly wearing his rose gold Grand Seiko anniversary.

 

Where is the risk? You make it sound like you want to deceive the seller.

 

I agree with Larry: I dress and wear a watch to set the expectation that (i) I know what I want, (ii) I have the ability to buy it, and (iii) I know the value & won't be taken advantage of

 

That's a touch misleading. JLC has produced ébauche, or unfinished movements used by those manufacturers, and some were "reserved". But the movements were finished by the other manufacturers, and, with rare exceptions, to a higher standard than that of JLC's production models.

That's not to say that the base movements weren't of very high quality, but finishing is a big part of how the reputations of the "big three" were made.

 

I don’t disagree with your additional information, Tony, but the “base” calibers manufactured by JLC for those other houses were among the best. Otherwise, why would the big three risk their reputations by using them? And the level of finishing that JLC puts into its own watches is certainly done to a very high standard. Here’s a photo of the movement in my JLC Master Ultra Thin Moon.

 

Not deceive, but in any negotiation one would wish to decide when to show their hand. Nothing deceptive about that.

 

Not obvious to me - please say!

 

I don't wear any clothing in particular - I'm never trying to track down anything unobtainable where I really need to signal wealth. I do often wear something mildly unusual on my wrist as a conversation starter - a vintage Seiko, my Omega Apnea, etc.

I feel it helps me to weed out normal salespeople from those who actually care for horology. The latter seem rare. Seems like the ratio is 10:1 in favor of people who just keep telling you that you can never lose money by buying Rolex.

 

I dunno... As a seller I really don't give a dang what you are wearing when you come to buy. I am not going to sell something to you cheaper just because you 'look poor', or look rich, smart, or dumb.

But if you roll in with a small posse toting portable lights and iPhones I'll give you the item(s) for free if you promise to highlight me on your TicTok/ YoueTube feed...

 

No free watch is worth being one of those guys.

 

"If you look around the table and you can't see the mark — you're the mark". Knowledge is power, and sometimes you want to subtly convey that. I personally choose a vintage Connie in this rare situation, but I did wear my Batman when I was invited to a Patek viewing event.

 

That very rarely works and usually only accomplishes drawing a line in the sand and potential standoff.

I see we need a dedicated thread for hints on buying 2nd hand watches.

 

I'm a foolish Millennial and almost exclusively hunt online. If I'm in boutiques, it is just to try on or kill time. So whatever I have on at the moment.

If I was to buy in person, I'd consider perhaps my Seamaster 1957 reissue so they can understand the nerd level .

 

You need someplace to put your new watch.