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!