Moving Coast to Coast. How to Transfer Entire Watch Collection?

[B.F. Pigeon]

Originally Posted by justin81

Good luck

Good one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fskywalker]

Originally Posted by Dav1dB

Sell them. Problem solved.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

Take them in Pelican case, make a day of it. Something to tell the grandkids.

Have to agree anyone would think they were transporting the UK crown jewels I wonder how the millions of Rolex watches and other high brands get shipped around the world each week, month or year.

[4rnold]

How long does it takes to get from coast to coast in a car?

[brandrea]

To me it depends on the value of the collection. 8 watches and relative means they must be valuable enough to to you otherwise you wouldn’t have asked the question.

I’d check out someone like Ferrari Group. They specialize in worldwide shipments as you describe.

Good luck with the move.

[Ferdelious]

Originally Posted by justin81

Good luck

Ha! Brilliant!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zengineer]

Take them with you on the plane in a carry on. It's free and secure. Every other option adds risk, cost or both.

Sent from my SM-T830 using Tapatalk

[Kinnakeet]

We have made moves several times between countries. Each time we packed the box’s to go with the movers and took the watches and papers with us. Had customs forms filled out to not pay taxes on the watches. Never had a problem. Only once all of our belongings were stuck in Montreal for a month. But all arrived safely.

[cascavel]

Take your two best watches with you on the trip. Most hotels have safes in the room. keep one there and wear one. Pack the rest in a Fedex box and leave it with a friend. When you get to your new home, have him/her ship them to you.
Alternatively, before you take your road trip, fly to your new home town with all your watches, get a safe deposit box in your bank in your new home town and leave them there.

[Oystersteel92]

Originally Posted by dannyp

Registered mail is how Rolex insists all watches are sent in for service. It's very secure and my understanding is that packages shipped this was do NOT get misplaced/stolen.

However, I'm not sure why you don't fly out to the new city with them on your person, get a safe deposit box (which presumably you'll need anyways) and then fly back for the road trip?

I suppose, if they're all Rolexes, you could have them all serviced at the same time and then have RUSA return to the new address .

I think you're on to something with Registered Mail. RM is very slow by nature because chain-of-custody is maintained and it's always under lock and key. OP could essentially send them to himself and have it held at the post office nearest his new residence and then simply go and pick it up when he gets home. As slow as RM is, the package may only beat him by a day or two.

[SLWoodster]

I think you had the best answers already:

1. Keep it somewhere safe and come back to grab them.

2. Fly with your watches to somewhere safe before the trip.

The flight cost from coast to coast is a few hundred bucks right now in winter time. Well worth your peace of mind on your extended road trip.

[superpop]

If you go back and forth regularly than the carry on option is the best, just pick them up from your safe deposit box on the next trip and wear your favorite on the road trip. No one is going to mess with you once you are past security and crime rates are pretty low at most major airports regardless. If not I would probably try to find a really good hiding spot in the car you are driving, depending on size there are all kinds of places you could hide them. I would not leave them along in a hotel room though. Boxes and papers are probably fine in a brown box for the movers. I can think of some pretty inconspicuous places in a car to hide something this small.

[cascavel]

Originally Posted by Oystersteel92

I think you're on to something with Registered Mail. RM is very slow by nature because chain-of-custody is maintained and it's always under lock and key. OP could essentially send them to himself and have it held at the post office nearest his new residence and then simply go and pick it up when he gets home. As slow as RM is, the package may only beat him by a day or two.

Excellent advice. Based on my own experience with Registered Mail, if you send a package from New York to San Francisco, in three weeks it will have just arrived in Miami.

[airchitect]

Large pelican case with the watches and locked to carry on the plane, ship boxes and papers. Done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[28mm]

Originally Posted by OrangeSport

Wait, what? Are you saying the rooms you stayed in were robbed more than once in one trip?

Yes, I was doing a road trip from Los Angeles cross country driving my GT-3 in 2008. Between the car and the watch and the girlfriend, I guess we were profiled.

First a a shirt I had just bought and was left drying in the bathroom was taken, then a pair of sunglasses, then some toys I had bought for a gift. It was ridiculous.

I've done a lot of traveling and interestingly, never had anything stolen when I am alone.. Come to think of it, maybe my girlfriend or ex- wife are kleptomaniacs as this happened with the ex too!

[Deep18]

Originally Posted by justin81

Good luck

Amazing.

[dnuggett]

Originally Posted by Deep18

Amazing.

Somebody fill me in here please. I need to go see whatever it is I’m missing. Or remember it, whichever the case may be.

[daveswordfish]

Originally Posted by airchitect

Large pelican case with the watches and locked to carry on the plane, ship boxes and papers. Done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This. Get handcuffs. Cuff it to your wrist wherever you go. At your seat, keep on floor under your feet, cuffed to ankle or the seat frame in front of you. Sounds silly, but no one walks around with a pelican style case unless there’s something valuable inside.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Beo3]

Originally Posted by dnuggett

Somebody fill me in here please. I need to go see whatever it is I’m missing. Or remember it, whichever the case may be.

Pulp Fiction.

Christopher Walken describes in detail to a young Bruce Willis where he kept the watch "hidden" on his person to avoid the guards from finding it.

Use your imagination....

[Beo3]

I say use the post office.

Remeber, Harry Winston also shipped the Hope Diamond USPS registered mail

[malba2366]

Flying back and taking them seems to be the best option considering your 3 week trip. Registered mail, insured is a safe way to mail them, but if you mail them before you leave they will arrive before you do.

[GradyPhilpott]

Don't spend the night in Albuquerque.

[fskywalker]

Originally Posted by Nicholas D.

I’ll soon be moving from the east coast to the west coast. Should I schedule for the collection to be shipped via mail, or should I have them on my person during the flight out? Neither option seems thrilling to me, but they have to get out there somehow.

Has anyone been in this scenario? Any advice?

Perhaps you can do a bank to bank safety deposit box transfer?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Wismo]

You all are WAYYY overthinking this. Just be incognito.

Put watches in watch roll(s). Put watch roll(s) into back pack. Carry back pack around.

[Littletommy]

The question is moot. Nobody moves to the west coast.

[Hpozzuoli]

I have a 8 watch and a 16 watch hard cases that I use frequently when flying. I have taken 14 with me before and it isnt a big deal. I don’t have pre check, but for me the box goes in a bin, then thru xray, then back in my hand. Never openned and nobody is the wiser as to what’s in them.

Unless you have a massive collection that can’t be moved in a handheld case you will have to look into secure transport. I know FedEx and DHL offer such services.

[bob sims]

Originally Posted by 996marty

I wouldn’t be letting them out of my sight no matter which way I was moving them

[Texex]

Use FexEx or DSL. The ship art all the time often valued a several hundred thousand dollars. Just have your own insurance.

[rallyx]

Send your watch cases under heavy guard in a Brinks truck. Carry your watches in your backpack and take across the country in an Amtrak.

Got the idea from Ocean's Twelve. Just make sure Linus is not seated behind you.

[Prophessor]

Originally Posted by padi56

Have to agree anyone would think they were transporting the UK crown jewels I wonder how the millions of Rolex watches and other high brands get shipped around the world each week, month or year.

So in the real world, how would you do it? When your job makes you move often, this is a real concern.

OP: ive moved a lot in my life. Like others have said, anything important to you keep on your person. Next would be send through registered/insured mail to someone you trust. Letting movers take it is not an option.