OK in this day and age it is possible to buy almost anything with a click of the mouse and let it be delivered to just about anywhere in the world.

But sometimes, in our line of buying, there are occasions when perhaps a better deal can be made by agreeing to a cash/collect transaction in person.

I live in The Netherlands and I've twice driven to Germany to buy a watch, Düsseldorf and Hanover, once for a Bullhead and most recently for a Constellation. 400km round trip for Düsseldorf and just over 700km for Hanover.

I also once flew Amsterdam-Bristol Bristol-Amsterdam in an afternoon to pick up a Seamaster 300 CK2913 lollipop, a round trip of 1150km!

Needless to say my wife thought me completely stark raving!

What's your furthest?

Chris

 

Drove up the NJ Turnpike into NYC. How mundane is that compared to your jaunts?

 

Agreed. The complete other side of the world can't be beat.

 

Day turn around for once in a lifetime opportunity.



There are 943 miles from Chicago and Houston and 1,084 miles by car.

 

Alright, now you must share pictures of the final outcome from this road trip! Fedex/UPS have mastered this task...

 

Well, I opened my big mouth, so..
There was an auction on eBay a few years ago for the watch.
It seemed like a scam. But these watches never come up for sale,
so I was following it and emailing the seller fequently trying to get
something that would give me confidence that it was legit. He claimed
he was a Longines Wittnauer salesman in New York area in the mid-1960's,
and that he ordered this watch direct from the factory when they first
came out. He said the watch had never been serviced and that it has
been in his safety deposit box for many years. I asked if I could call him,
he said no he had hearing aids and didn't do well on the phone. I asked
if I could talk to him through his wife and he said "she's not avilable to
talk to you". Well, everything pointed to a scam. Well it came down to the final
hour, and I was still emailing him like mad, still searching for legitimacy.
In the end, I didn't bid because it was a Big amount and I felt it was too risky.
I emailed him and told him I chickened out and why. I told him if the deal didn't
go through to contact me, I was a buyer. He sent me an email the next day
saying that the buyer was an big ebay seller but that he was buying the watch
for someone in France and would it be ok if a third party paid him by credit card.
The guy freaked out. He asks me in the email if he can get out of the sale.
I then had to read all the ebay rules and told him 3rd party payment is not
acceptable in an ebay auction. Also his terms were Paypal only and the
guy wanted to pay by credit card. I told him to tell the buyer he will only
accept Paypal and no 3rd party payment. I said ignore any email except
one on those terms and if they haven't paid in 4 days open an Unpaid Item Dispute.
The buyer threatened him, etc, but didn't fork over the payment. There's a lot more
to the story. More drama, he thought I was a scammer, thief at the end. But
I flew down and picked up the watch.
It's an early 1965 LeCoultre Polaris, of which only 500 were produced. There
were 50 prototypes made not offered to the public. The 50 prototypes and the
first 100 of the 500 were made without the snapin cover for the alarm. This
watch is the exact configuration of the prototype(Dauphine hands, no holes caseback,
big dot little dot hour markers) The seller told me he recieved the watch he
ordered directly from the factory, in a plain box and only wrapped in plastic with
a rubber band around it. I have suspicion and hope it is one of the 50 prototypes.
Well here she is. Gilt LeCoultre,Swiss, and Hour index print, Silver on the rest. 44mm Not including crowns

 

What what what!. DIBSSSSS!

 

This is what I will sell my entire collection for. Well, almost all.

 

The Force is strong with this one.

 

I flew from Stockholm to Zürich once only to trade a simple PP for a GMT-master, cheapo flight was the same price and easier than the risk and possibly customs trouble with shipping the two watches...

Went to an interesting WIS-gathering and looked at some more cool stuff, still remember an awesome Hanhart and was surprised at how many of the participants wore submariners...

 

And this weekend to Rotterdam huh?

To be honest, I also had my eyes on that, but physically not possible to travel and pick it up from the seller.

 

From Jakarta to Bandung, which is around 400 km round trip. I have done virtual purchasing with this collector guy. The next purchase I drove to Bandung to see the seller directly and bagged 3 nice vintage watches (2 Connie and 1 Seamaster) at decent price instead buy one by one via his blog.

With very high cross border duty & tax ( close to 40%) for watch and no discrimination between used and new item, I am tempted to flew to Hong Kong (6,000 km round trip) just to purchase LE Speedy and may be some vintage Connie. Any purchase above USD 1,000 will justify the ticket and accomodation cost .

 

"Gilt LeCoultre,Swiss, and Hour index print"

Stunning. I'd be on that plane like a shot as well.

I have been from London to Milan in one day to get a watch. Cost less than the price of a courier and I had a nice lunch as well.

 

Charlotte NC to Troy MI.... Ok so it was a business trip, but I did buy a watch

 

Great story, and a helluva watch!

 

Traveled probably to my mail room and back to my desk at work lol

 

Drove by car 900 km in one day to pick up a Railmaster 2914-3. When I sat at the seller's kitchen table, the phone rang, and there was another collector calling about the watch. If I had not made that drive, I would have missed out on it, so I guess it was worthwhile to go!