patek dress discount in europe
 

Im interested in gold models - calatrava 5227 or 5205. Is a discount available at ADs in europe for these models? I will also get VAT back, but inquiring about discount at the AD. Do you recommend one (france, belgium, UK)? Happy to take PMs.

i can offer just one advice: negotiate the discount before you mention the VAT return! very important!

Will he need to use a fake English accent to pull this off? :rofl::rofl:

"I was just out for a spot of lunch and thought I would buy a Patek. What can you do for me old boy?"

By the way you have VAT back forms? lol

As with discounting anywhere in the world, it depends on the inventory the AD has in store and how long the watch has been sitting. Small ADs with slow sales will discount more than large ADs with a lot of traffic.

you mean no americans reside in the UK?

Just Tyler and he left.




I wasn’t making some literal statement I was just making a joke. Dealers in the US can often tell I’m not from that area so I think it’s safe to say the dealers in the UK can spot a tourist.

Agreed, otherwise they'll try and bundle the VAT-refund as 'part of your discount'.

It really is like buying a used car nowadays.

they can surely spot a foreigner but he could be a local resident. for politeness' sake they wouldn't ask upfront, would they..... at least it never happened to me and i am a foreigner and non-resident in most places i go to and most of my time:::))))

so can anyone recommend an AD? i assume a boutique is out of the question.

Boutique you wont get a discount but you will most likely get a free service and some goodies, but most imporatntly purchase history which may help your case to get other watches. Though if you are not local to that patek boutique, it becomes more complicated, in which case just go to an AD and negotiate hard.

If you want to get a 5227 or 5205 from one of the Patek Salons (Geneva, London or Paris), I am sure they will sell you one. The 5227 should be easier to obtain than the 5205. But even the 5205 shouldn't be too difficult, unless you are looking for a blue dial 5205G or one of the other popular versions.

There are plenty of foreigners (non-locals) that purchase watches from the Salons. However the Salons give strong preference to locals for the high demand pieces (Nautilus, Aquanaut, etc). For many popular pieces, they will simply tell you to go visit your local AD and purchase it from there.

Having said that, traveling abroad simply to purchase a Patek or Rolex watch is a hit or miss. Unless you travel regularly for business to those destinations, you will not know the inventory ahead of time and the ADs will treat you as a one-time tourist shopper rather than a regular return customer.

For most Americans, purchasing a watch in the UK is easier than continental EU because of the language barrier, unless you can fluently speak one or more of the other European languages. Speaking from my personal experience of visiting the 3 Salons numerous times, I find the London Salon to be the easiest to work with. They are more friendly and more used to American visitors and watch collectors. Paris and Geneva Salon staff speak some English, but there is also a cultural difference and my experiences at Geneva and Paris Salons have been mediocre at best.

Unless you are looking for the "Salon experience", I would recommend purchasing the 5227 from a regular AD with a decent discount. As for the 5205, shop around and ask which ADs have the specific color dial and metal case you are looking for, as these are slightly more difficult to obtain than the 5227.