Vintage Rolex Shops in Switzerland

[descartes]

Can anyone recommend good vintage watch shops for Rolex (and Patek) in the cities of Geneva, Bern and Zurich?

I know prices are typically higher than in the U.S. but I'd love to pick something up while i am there on business and I could live with paying a premium for right piece as a Swiss souvenier (for e.g. Birth year 1803 or 5513 with Swiss papers).

[Jp28]

http://www.vintage-watches-international.com/en_GB

[Vincent65]

Originally Posted by Jp28

http://www.vintage-watches-international.com/en_GB

^^ he's usually in Berlin - based there

For Zurich, try the little vintage collection at Beyer, mostly PP, but sometimes one or two Rolex. Super-expensive though, so be prepared.

http://www.beyer-ch.com/en/


Also, this guy has some choice pieces (usually military Omega/IWC etc) including the occasional Rolex. Often have box/papers and/or other provenance from the watch house. Again, you can count on mega-high prices though… He considers himself an 'Über Watch-maker' - told me outright he's not your average sort of watch-maker, whatever that means. (bit of a 'tude)

Lienert Harald
In Gassen 6
8001 Zürich
Switzerland
Phone : +41 44 211 20 90

There's a shop at Bellevue called 'Greenwich MT' - worth a look, but, in my opinion, the guy doesn't have the best 'customer service' disposition, and rarely has any decent vintage Rolex, just mostly 80s/90s stuff, and tons of other brands/makers - quite the 'jumble sale,' but at the aforementioned 'Alpine' price-points…

Surprisingly not a whole lot in Geneva worth bothering about, IMHO.

If you go to Lugano, I saw one good place there:

http://www.watchcenter.ch


Although I know Bern very well, I have not been recently, and am not aware of any vintage Rolex places there. Beautiful city though. Nice hunting ground - there must be something there, I'd think.

Have fun.

[kevin-h]

The only shop worth mentioning in geneva is opposite the small old church in the city centre just down the road from Manor. Sorry I can't remember any names at all, I left Geneva a few years ago now.

[jedly1]

http://www.chronosuisse.ch

laurent ponti

[Vincent65]

Yep, aware of that one...

[Vincent65]

You're welcome.

[descartes]

Thanks all for your helpful recommendations. I have compiled a list based on the responses received here and several I received on "the other" site and I am good to go.

[dwheelie]

may be just for browsing..prices are literally 2x

[descartes]

Well, I'm just back from Zurich and I wanted to share my findings with the Board so that others can benefit from my experience.

Vincent's suggestion to check out Beyer was spot on. Thank you. It was my favorite shop on the trip. The museum is small, but interesting. I attach several photos below of the "modern vintage" watches they had on display… which included a PP 2499, Sir Edmund Hillary's Explorer, an enamel PP World Time and a 6263, for which I yearn even more now having seen it in this museum and regret passing on a really nice one last Fall.

The staff at Beyer in the retail section was incredibly gracious and brought sparkling water, chocolate and small patisseries to enjoy while I looked at various pieces including a Platinum Daytona and a PP 3448 (!!!). This would not happen in NYC without being a known customer or showing your bank book. A love of watches is all that seemed necessary.

Overall, Zurich, in addition to being a beautiful and interesting place, is certainly a watch lovers' paradise.

On the vintage side, I browsed Linert's shop, but the investory was a little "thin" other than an incredible vintage Speedmaster (cal. 321). I also window shopped at Greenwich MT and was quite interested in the vintage steel Memovox in the shop window, but alas the owner never showed up on time to open the store. (Vincent's warning about customer service at that shop proved correct). It is really too bad, because I almost certainly would have bought it because I badly wanted a keepsake from this trip and even with the "Zurich premium", the steel Memovox do not 'break the bank' price-wise.

The best vintage shop I saw-- which came as a complete surprise because no one mentioned it to me-- was called Swiss Time Arts (on Schifflande). His inventory was amazing.

To cap off the trip I stopped in at the Dolder Grande to have a sunday morning Bloody Mary, read the paper and enjoy the view before heading to the airport. Nice spot if anyone is ever in the area.

[pradeep]

Beautiful pictures!

[mluther]

Great City - Great Pics - thanks for sharing

[jamesbondOO7]

Ponti has a great choice www.ponti-collection.ch
I have bought 2 watches from him.

[descartes]

Thanks guys.

Correction: I checked my notes and the Patek Perpetual Calendar pictured above is Ref# 3450, not 3448.

[Vincent65]

Hi - thanks for the update, and glad you enjoyed the city and its vintage horological offerings!

Very nice photos, thanks for sharing.

PS - forgot to mention Swiss Time Arts, sorry! There are a few more, too, but I just mentioned the best ones that came to mind (for what I like).

Saw this today, in another place at Stauffacher: