A and E watches in San Francisco??

[lightingball2]

Have a question......I got told about a place in SF called Gift Center & Jewelry Mart. Apparently it is a place to purchase whole sale jewelry and watches.....anyone had any experience with this? I got told of a place called a and e watches. They have "preowned" rolex's in there. I went to go check them out and I am no means a watch expert but.....I think he is selling fake watches. I would feel bad for anyone to go in there an purchase a rolex for $4-5K and its fake. What caught my attention is his submariners. The dot on the 12 o'clock marker of the bezel, did not seem properly centered in the triangle. When I asked the sales guy where he gets his watches from, he snatched the watch out of my hand real fast and put it back in the case.....that seemed odd to me. Check out their website aadnewatches.com There is a rolex submariner PVD on the cover page. I saw that one in the store and i even questioned it. Give me your input. I hate seeing this if they are fakes......

[drsven]

I've never visited this shop, but it did make the local news "7 On Your Side" approved list. On the other hand, Yelp feedback has mixed reviews with one person stating they were sold a fake Cartier watch.

For vintage pieces, the RSC in San Francisco referred me to Jacek at HQ Milton - he also lists watches for sale on this board. I would contact him first.

[OysterDavid]

A&E does not sell fakes, but they do take a lot of liberty with 'customization' of the Rolex line, and although they profess to be one of the country's largest pre-owed Rolex dealers, they are far from it.

The do a lot of diamond dials and bezels on the Datejust line. Their prices are really nothing to write home about and they can be high pressure at times.

They are located in a building that is home to lots of 'wholesale' type diamond and jewelry shops and during the week, you really do need an 'invite' from one of the shop vendors to get into the place, but that's easily done. On weekends, everybody can get in, but some of the shops are closed.

If pre owned is something you want to look at, as mentioned above, HQ Milton is great as is Seregin's on Mason Street downtown. It's easy to do better than A&E.

[zhleez]

I was browsing its site and came across this 'strange-looking' sub.... @_@

http://www.aandewatches.com/mens-use...r-rmsub01.html

[drsven]

Here's my question, in the eyes of Rolex isn't A&E doing the exact same thing as Melrose Watches?

From what I've seen on their website A&E is selling Rolex watches decorated with aftermarket and custom parts as genuine.

[OysterDavid]

Originally Posted by drsven

Here's my question, in the eyes of Rolex isn't A&E doing the exact same thing as Melrose Watches?

From what I've seen on their website A&E is selling Rolex watches decorated with aftermarket and custom parts as genuine.

Just a quick glance at their descriptions to me indicates they're pretty clear about using 'custom' when they describe the addition of diamonds. The only transgression insofar as the trademark is concerned would be if they were offering this type of modification as 'factory' or 'genuine'.

These types of sellers, and there are a lot of them, usually know what language can pass the sniff test of legality.

A&E has been doing this and has been in business for a very long time and clearly they satisfy a certain segment of the marketplace. It may not be what people who congregate here are looking for, but in the broad world of Rolex owners, this forum is barely a drop in the bucket.