Long Story that ends with a question for WISs

[rpryan55]

I have some really, really nice watches to the exclusion of less expensive timepieces, so when I go on vacation or out of town I am always terribly concerned about wearing one of my nice pieces. I know many of you would wear your watch anywhere, and I respect that, but I always feel funny about it. So I was looking to get a beater watch, preferably a GMT, when I visited the Bailey, Banks and Biddle bankruptcy close-out and spied a Hamilton Riva (you guessed it) GMT.

No exchanges, no returns, and only a cardboard box and a generic instruction booklet and warranty book that I took from a pile of generic Hamilton instruction booklets and warranty books while they were ring me up.

Now the fun part - the GMT function didn't work. So, I find a Hamilton dealer (who was great) and he contacts Hamilton and they want to see a copy of my receipt - once I fax it to the dealer, Hamilton agrees to fix it. Weeks go by. Then a call from the dealer. Here's what he says: "This watch was never offered for sale in the U.S. (I bought it in Skokie, Illinois, US of A), only in Europe. The liquidator must have brought it over. The repair will take a bit longer because Hamilton has to get the parts from Europe, they say.

Here's my question - I thought a watch was a watch. What parts of my watch would be unique to Europe and would not be available in the U.S.?

Anybody got a clue?