The hunt for Rolex in Japan and of course...Incoming

[tle156]

Hi guys,
I've been lurking around in this forum to read and learn from you all for a long time. Today I have enough encourage to make my 1st post here to share my own experience of Rolex's hunt in Japan (mostly Tokyo). Hope that my thread can help some of you to make it easier to find your own Rolexes in Japan. Oh, also, I do apologize if there is any mistake or "hard to read" part in my post since English is not my native language
First, I used to be in the States before. Just love the country so much and my interest in watches also was born here. However, given the strong USD now and no tax refund for tourist, the States is not a great to buy at the moment.
In my Southeast Asian country, there is 2-3 Rolex ADs and the price is a bit higher to compare with ones in the States. But depend on the relationship with the AD, some can get 5-10% discount.
2 weeks ago, I got married and my wife and me decided that we should go to Japan for a honeymoon trip. My wife decided that it would be a great idea to get a new Rolex for me to celebrate such an important milestone in our lives (yeah, such a great wife indeed).
Lurking around in this forum, I've read about thread of buying Rolex in Japan. So I decided that I should send Gaijin (aka Tom) an pm to ask for his advice. And I was so surprise that he is so very nice to answer an PM from stranger immediately! Conversation with Tom helped me a lot to make the hunt in Japan easier. By any chance if you can read this thread, I just want to say Thank you so much, Tom
Now, focus on the story in Japan only. As it's our honeymoon, I decided that I may visit a couple of stores but not too many because I don't want my wife has to spend too much time to come to those places with me
Oh, I almost forgot, my target is either Sub date 116610LN or GMT 116710LN. (but a bit more on the side of the GMT). The price for both in my country ADs is about 1,000,000 yen or USD 8700 (of course I can get 5-10% off).
To sum up, here are several things I want to share:
- Quarks: our hotel is located in Shinjuku (very crowded area) and there is one store near the Shinjuku Station. Before coming to Japan, I knew that their price is not competitive. And yes, it's true. To compare with Jackroad, Kame-Kichi, the price of Quarks is higher. However, I came here not only to buy a Rolex, I wanted to sell my Explorer as well. Surprisingly, Quark is place that offered the highest price for my used Explorer. So, it was where my Explorer and me to say goodbye

- A small shop in the 1st floor of the Nakano Broadway building where both Jackroad and Kame Kichi located. They had a mint 116710LN with warranty card date Oct 2016 for 720,000 yen. It's just like new and I was very insterested in. However, I asked them to hold it for me in an hour since I wanted to see what I could find in Jackroad and Kame Kichi.

- Jackroad: They are located in 3rd floor of Nakano Broadway Building. The price was good. There were 3 GMTs (2 used and 1 BNIB). The price for the BNIB is 76x,000 yen. Also, there was many people at that time so no sale person came to help me. But it's ok since I just wanted to take a look first. Then, I walked away and heading to Kame-Kichi where sth happened...

- Kame Kichi: I was surprised that there were even more customers in Kame Kichi than in Jackroad. But a salesperson asked for my name and put on awaiting list to be served. It took about 10 mins before my turn. During that time my wife and me walked around the small shop and saw 1 GMT priced at 750,000 yen. Since we don't know Japanese and there is no sign of English so we was really confused if the watch is used or new. On one hand, if it is used, the price is not competitive. On the other hand, if this is BNIB, the price is more than 10,000 yen (about $100) less than in Jackroad and 250,000 yen ($2,200) less than retail price at ADs in my country!!!
And when it came to my turn, I talked with salesperson and he confirmed that the watch is BNIB, dated this month by an AD from Hongkong!!! He brought the watch and all the box, warranty card, bezel protection...everything for me to check. He also explained that if I pay by cash, the price is what I saw (750,000 yen). But if I pay by credit card, the price should be added 3%. I knew it already since every shop I came told me the same thing. As you can guess, we immediately handed him our wallet and took the watch
Of course, here are a couple of pictures


Rolex, Japanese Beef and Sake

Rolex and draft beer


So, it's pretty quick for me to finish the hunt (as expected) and therefore I decided that it's unnecessary to visit HouseKihiroba in Shibuya even though Tom highly recommended me to give them a chance.
Also, I want to give feedback on some other stores as well:

- Bic Camera: you can see a lot of them all over Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka. Tom bought his OP there and following him, I did come to see their Rolex when we shopped there. However, IMO, the price is on the higher side.

- ADs: I visited 2 ADs in Tokyo (1 in Ginza and 1 in Takashimaya) but there is no ss Rolex sport model. The same thing happened with AD in Daimaru, Osaka. In an AD in Daimaru, Kyoto, there is only 1 114060 Sub no date with the price is 710,000 yen (tax excluded) for tourist. However, which surprised me the most was the AD in the Haneda airport. We came to the airport pretty early so having lots of time to take a look around. When I found the Rolex AD there, I came to take a look and there was all 114060,116610 and 116710ln in stock (but no Hulk, Batman and of course Daytona in ss). The price is already tax excluded (8% VAT in Japan) and they do offer 2 more per cent discount that brings the price for 116710LN is only 784,000 yen (or $6,835) and the benefit is that you have your name on the warranty card

In conclusion, I've had great time in Japan with my wife. Specifically, IMO, Japan is still great place for you to buy a Rolex given the weak yen and tax-refund for temporary visitors. I got my BNIB 116710LN here for 750,000 yen which is equal to around $6,500 . And finally, given the sentimental value of the watch to mark an important event in my life, I am sure that it's gonna be a keeper!
Thank you guys for taking your time reading! And again, thanks Tom-san for your help. I truly appreciate your support!

[1William]

Congratulations

[Psmith]

Welcome and congrats

[stone_gossard]

congrats

[brandrea]

Welcome to TRF and CONGRATULATIONS! Thanks you for sharing you journey and enjoy!

[Ian Macdermott]

Congratulations
Nice write up explaining how you got it.

[Alex6340]

Congrats and great storu


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[droptopman]

Welcome to the forum. Great story. Congrats on your wedding and of course your new GMT

[unclesallie]

Welcome to TRF! My first post in a long while......just interested...from your experience, are rolex sport models in short supply in Japan, and how do the prices compare to the US prices?

[Gaijin]

Wow! That is an absolute beauty! Great wrist presence. You definitely made the right choice. The SS GMT II C is the best modern day Rolex in my opinion. Huge congratulations.


My pleasure to help you and welcome to TRF. Great first thread.

[DramaTurtle]

Great choice and great story.

[tle156]

Originally Posted by 1William

Congratulations

Originally Posted by Psmith

Welcome and congrats

Originally Posted by stone_gossard

congrats

Originally Posted by brandrea

Welcome to TRF and CONGRATULATIONS! Thanks you for sharing you journey and enjoy!

Originally Posted by Ian Macdermott

Congratulations
Nice write up explaining how you got it.

Originally Posted by Alex6340

Congrats and great storu


Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk

Originally Posted by droptopman

Welcome to the forum. Great story. Congrats on your wedding and of course your new GMT

Originally Posted by DramaTurtle

Great choice and great story.

Thank you all for your nice words

Originally Posted by unclesallie

Welcome to TRF! My first post in a long while......just interested...from your experience, are rolex sport models in short supply in Japan, and how do the prices compare to the US prices?

Ok. I will make it easier by convert all the prices that I mentioned to US dollar.
1. Local ADs in my country: retail price for 116710LN is $8,700. However, if I bought from them, I would get 5-10% discount which bring the price to $7,830.
2. In Japan, I got my watch for $6,500 from Kame-Kichi - a grey dealer that like DavidSW. I got that price because I paid cash and also got the tax-exemption (8%) as I'm a tourist here. The grey dealer here sources their watches from various ADs in Hongkong, Singapore... The fact is my watch comes with warranty card stamped by an AD in Hongkong.
3. In Japan, if I went with the AD in Haneda Airport, I would have to pay $6,800 and got my name on the warranty card. However, if you want to go this way, you have to bet on your luck because in my experience with other ADs in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, the availability of ss sport model is very limited. I only saw one 114060 in AD in Kyoto and absolutely none at other ADs.
4. In the US, I believe that the MSRP is $8,450 if you buy directly from an AD. When you choose to go grey dealer (Jomashop or other reputable sellers in our forum), I think for a BNIB GMTc, you still have to pay $7,400.

So, I just gave you all the numbers, now it's your turn to make the comparison
IMO, the price in Japan is much cheaper to compare with the US because of the weak yen and the tax exemption you get (8%) as a temporary visitor. Given the weaker currency and higher VAT in UK and EU, I do believe that you may find better deal in Euro than in Japan, but not too much... However, just my opinion

Originally Posted by Gaijin

Wow! That is an absolute beauty! Great wrist presence. You definitely made the right choice. The SS GMT II C is the best modern day Rolex in my opinion. Huge congratulations.


My pleasure to help you and welcome to TRF. Great first thread.

Hey Tom, I am glad that you come to see my thread. I think I've talked too much already but again...Thank you

[Muzz]

Beautiful pick up and story!! Well done!

[AdaWit711]

Congrats on the GMT!


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[spencerhintzman]

Awesome story. Really glad you got to pick out an awesome piece.


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[Xerxes77]

Welcomme to Rolex

[rmlovett1]

Great memory, great watch! Congratulations!

[SemperFi]

Welcome to TRF and congratulations on a great watch.

[yannis]

Welcome to TRF and congrats on the future classic!

[cburgs56]

Congrats

[MrGMT]

Congrats on the new GMT best watch Rolex do IMO

[AK797]

Congrats, food is great in Japan!

[amh]

Looks great on you!

[Nycturbovr6]

Looks good

[kitsgq]

Great writeup. Thanks for sharing. Hope to be in Tokyo this summer.

[watchwatcher]

Congrats...and a great watch!

[tle156]

Thanks guys for your kind comments.
Actually, when I did my research of buying Rolex in Japan. I have come across many threads from forum members. Some of the threads were 4-5 years old but the information is still very helpful.
That's why I want my 1st post here not only tells a story but also provides detailed and useful information for others who are looking for it. I learnt a lot from here and I want to share and help all I can

[TheRolexKingofLV]

Welcome to TRF, and congrats

[sensui]

My favorite place to visit. Sounds like fun times wear in good health.

[Old Geezer]

First, Congratulations on your marriage. Glad you were able to sell your watch and buy what you wanted in Japan. I was there recently and visited many of the same shops. Unfortunately I didn't pull the trigger on anything.