Anyone ever buy from shops in Burlington Arcade London?

[Swi]

Anyone out there ever buy preowned from any of the shops in Burlington Arcade London?

I haven't as of yet but I was looking if anyone has any recomendations?

[PeterT]

I was there a few months ago and I wanted to see a Deep Sea. There was one in the window of a smallish dealer away from the David Duggan section. My son and I went in to wait in order to have a look. While we were waiting it was very easy to hear the conversation between the salesman and customer regarding a couple of GMT 11 classics. The salesman told the customer things that were not accurate, he knew the "approximate" date of manufacture etc etc. The customer knew very little about the GMT. I kept wanting to say "Go to Watches of ***********" as we had just seen a better watch at a cheaper price just 100 metres away. He bought the watch.
I suppose the old recommendation holds out, do your research about what you want to buy and do not believe all that the sales person tells you. You will pay premium prices in the Burlington Arcade.
At the end of the day it is the place to buy a rare model but do not get carried away. Last year I saw one dealer trying to sell an LV at nearly £600 above list price. I actually found the Rolex lady sales person in Harrods one of the most knowledgeable people in our watch hunting trips.
Just take care and be ruled by your head and not your heart!!

PeterT

[Woody]

I think PeterT has given you some excellent advice - Burlington is a great place to go if you are after a rare watch or just want to do some research/window shopping but for run of the mill stuff it can be very expensive. Of all the dealers there and in the vicinity I would recommend David Duggan but don't also forget Watches of Switzerland - they often have some great deals on pre-owned Rolex (as an AD they always have pre-owned Rolex watches serviced by RSC before they put them on sale).

[082013]

David Duggans, Bulrington Arcade, all those places are great, if you got money to burn and want to pay top dollar...

[Dan Pierce]

Agreed with all the comments above. Great selection but the prices are out of this world. Example: the vintage Daytona [center] w/ box and papers was selling for 150,000 British pounds last fall.
dP

[marke]

in my opininion for what its worth, i have had dealings with david duggan and armour winston, and have spent time speaking to both, david himself is very customer focused and his prices are middle of the road, james at armour winston again, is a great guy, vry knowledgeable and helpful.

The only one i would not purchase one from is London watch company, when we had a gtg a few months ago the staff had bad attitudes and all the watches were not on original straps or braclets.

let me know if i can hep anymore

[Lamone]

I've tried New Bond street but never been to the Arcade.

[082013]

Originally Posted by marke

, david himself is very customer focused and his prices are middle of the road

I have never heard David Duggans prices described as middle of the road

[xbox]

I've got nothing against these guys trading used and vintage models, but driving up the prices, particularly in Central London, for new watches, p888es me off.

Many of these chaps are now stocked with watches they paid big overs for - £5-6k GV's for example, too good for them IMO!