Travelling with Rolex

[Divingdeep87]

Been all over the world and nobody cares about your watch. True story. Put it on and go!

[Meyrin]

I´ve worn my 1996 14060 all over the world, mostly flying. Never gave it a thought, and nobody at the airports/border crossings has ever asked about my watch...maybe I've just been lucky, or the Sub really is an "under the radar watch" as many say!?

[adawil2002]

Originally Posted by Divingdeep87

Been all over the world and nobody cares about your watch. True story. Put it on and go!

Absolutely this!

[Mis3]

I asked this question because all know that Rolex watches are cheaper in some parts of the world. Sure we can buy there and upon return, we have declare it and pay the possibly duty charge.

What if we don’t declare? Maybe there is a way for the government to make sure we declare the new purchase.

[Fredrik]

The only way to do it correctly is to do a temporary export when you leave your home country. Then you have proof that you owned it when you left when returning. You might also want to do a temporary import into the country you are visiting, it depends. In some countries this is as simple as filling out a form and having it stamped at the customs office at the airport, it is also usually free. If you are traveling within the EU nothing is needed.

Temporary exports and imports are standard and very common if you travel a lot with expensive stuff that is highly liquid. Receipts etc are of no use if the customs officer thinks you are importing something into his country to sell without paying customs and/or VAT.

[LA_LEC]

Never declare anything - the less government involvement the better.

[eugenetsang]

Originally Posted by Carondelet

I may be very mistaken in my understanding, so I want to pose this as a question instead of a statement.

Are you required to declare anything that you already own and are just bringing with you?

I think not, if you owned it before leaving the country you don't need to declare it, but I could be very wrong.

You're correct. if BUY high priced items, you're SUPPOSED to declare it BEFORE you leave the country. As you know, local government wants you to pay for the taxes for the purchase.

But there are ways around declaring high end purchases... You just need to be quick on your feet when being interrogated. For example, when I was going to Hong Kong, I brought my sub to Classic Watch Repair for some laser welding. I had the watch in my watch roll inside my carry on and I had my BB Chrono on my wrist. Upon inspection of my bag, Customs would have easily thought I had purchased the watch while I was in HK. But they didn't bother... If they did, I didn't have any paper work that said I owned it.. Just 2 watches that I had in my possession... But I guess what i could have said was... I brought the watch from US and was having it serviced at a local shop... what more can they say? Don't believe me?

[eugenetsang]

Originally Posted by Mis3

I asked this question because all know that Rolex watches are cheaper in some parts of the world. Sure we can buy there and upon return, we have declare it and pay the possibly duty charge.

What if we don’t declare? Maybe there is a way for the government to make sure we declare the new purchase.

The only way that I can think of is... If let's say you were to purchase a Rolex overseas and you DO NOT declare it... and customs finds a brand new empty green box in your possession... That could definitely raise red flags.

But if you were to buy a new Rolex and you "discard" the box/papers accordingly and you wear the watch on your wrist... You will be able to get away with it. But of course, that'll be foolish to get rid of all those important items...

[joli160]

I envy the US members with the very low tax rates and relaxed custom officers

[Andad]

Originally Posted by Carondelet

I may be very mistaken in my understanding, so I want to pose this as a question instead of a statement.

Are you required to declare anything that you already own and are just bringing with you?

I think not, if you owned it before leaving the country you don't need to declare it, but I could be very wrong.

Depends on the item.

[Carondelet]

Originally Posted by Andad

Depends on the item.

Would you be able to elaborate? I'm interested in learning more about this.

[Dougiebaby]

I’ve traveled throughout US and Spain , Italy , Monaco , France , Gibraltar , Malta , and Greece with my ND Sub. Never had to declare anything.

Having gelato in Florence with my SubND





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[BroncoOne]

Always.
Never.

I’m wearing a personal item on my body, why would they ask about that and not my expensive suit or shoes?

[rolexjackson]

Originally Posted by Dougiebaby

I’ve traveled throughout US and Spain , Italy , Monaco , France , Gibraltar , Malta , and Greece with my ND Sub. Never had to declare anything.

Having gelato in Florence with my SubND





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Nice purse


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[Dougiebaby]

Originally Posted by jdg443

Nice purse


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Thanks, I love it and use it every time I travel to Europe.


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[Ravager135]

Originally Posted by brandrea

I’ve been traveling internationally for 30+ years. I only ever travel with one Rolex … the one on my wrist.

I carry a digital copy of the sales receipt, warranty card and date stamped pictures.

Never had an issue, but better to be prepared if you do get asked

I do the same. I only ever travel with one watch and it stays on the entire time. I keep digital copies of my personal articles insurance for the same reason. I never kept a copy of the card, but that doesn't sound like a bad idea.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Ravager135

I do the same. I only ever travel with one watch and it stays on the entire time. I keep digital copies of my personal articles insurance for the same reason. I never kept a copy of the card, but that doesn't sound like a bad idea.

I guess I just try to have the complete kit, so that if I'm questioned I can show customs officials that its my watch and the more information I can provide, the better. I always date stamp the photos too



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[Mendota]

Originally Posted by Dougiebaby

I’ve traveled throughout US and Spain , Italy , Monaco , France , Gibraltar , Malta , and Greece with my ND Sub. Never had to declare anything.

Having gelato in Florence with my SubND





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Malta! Awesome. My wife and I got married in Malta back in '05. Loved it there. We got married in a palace still owned by the descendants of the original Marquis, and signed our papers on the same table that Napoleon used when signing his treaty after invading Malta. Pretty cool experience. The "Lady" of the house stood out on her balcony and watched the ceremony.

Steven Spielberg was also filming Munich on location there during our stay and a lot of the crew was staying at the Westin with us. I didn't see this but some in our small party got to go onto one of the film sets and watch some of the shooting one day. On our last night we had dinner at the Barracuda, which is the restaurant where all of the Hollywood stars go to celebrate their last night when filming is done. The food was fantastic.

I would go back in a heartbeat. The people were so kind and welcoming. I've lived in Europe and traveled all over and I would put Malta right up there with Italy and Sicily among my favorite places.

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[supernova]

If your a true WIS, your phone should have loads of older pics of said watch so that should suffice at customs!


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[VonSomething]

To prevent money-laundering, illegal financing etc. you're usually not allowed to cross EU borders with more than €10,000 with you in cash, without declaring it. Watches will count towards that amount. So would bearer bonds, cheques, precious metals (silver,gold,plat), precious stones and more.

It's not up for opinion or discussion, that is the law and should be followed.

It doesn't matter if you didn't know or if you never declared it in your past travels and never had any issues.

If your total cash amount exceeds €10,000 you always have to declare it. Period.

[Ravager135]

Originally Posted by brandrea

I guess I just try to have the complete kit, so that if I'm questioned I can show customs officials that its my watch and the more information I can provide, the better. I always date stamp the photos too



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Smart.

Since I only ever travel with one watch (own a lot more), I always struggle with which watch to bring. Depends on location, activities, etc. I am going to Barbados in a few months. This is an easy one for me; Submariner no date. I don't wanna know much else.

[Dougiebaby]

Originally Posted by Mendota

Malta! Awesome. My wife and I got married in Malta back in '05. Loved it there. We got married in a palace still owned by the descendants of the original Marquis, and signed our papers on the same table that Napoleon used when signing his treaty after invading Malta. Pretty cool experience. The "Lady" of the house stood out on her balcony and watched the ceremony.

Steven Spielberg was also filming Munich on location there during our stay and a lot of the crew was staying at the Westin with us. I didn't see this but some in our small party got to go onto one of the film sets and watch some of the shooting one day. On our last night we had dinner at the Barracuda, which is the restaurant where all of the Hollywood stars go to celebrate their last night when filming is done. The food was fantastic.

I would go back in a heartbeat. The people were so kind and welcoming. I've lived in Europe and traveled all over and I would put Malta right up there with Italy and Sicily among my favorite places.

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Malta!

Yes, a beautiful place. And my goodness, your experiences there are incredible! What memories you have of that wonderful country!





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[Mendota]

Originally Posted by Dougiebaby

Malta!

Yes, a beautiful place. And my goodness, your experiences there are incredible! What memories you have of that wonderful country!





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What a great pic! I remember that spot well, in fact my wife and I did a photo of us right outside that same cathedral and probably right where you are standing! It's fun to meet other people that have had wonderful experiences there and I am glad you loved it, too. Did you go down beneath the cathedral and see the cave where St. Paul stayed after he was shipwrecked on the island on his way back to Rome for his execution?
If I remember, the Pope had visited and blessed the site in 2001, before we visited, and the tour guide there was still beaming because she got to see him when they brought him down there. There are so many incredible historical sites there. I honestly had no idea about any of it until we planned our trip and then actually got there. Between all of the medieval and WW2 stuff, it's a history buff extravaganza! Valetta, with all of the bastions and ramparts, the armory and all of the Knights Templar history, the Knights Hospitaller, the oldest free standing structures in the world, Mdina, the Caravaggio paintings in the St. John's Cathedral, the Bibliotheca/National Library... it just goes on and on.

I really want to go back and we've talked about going back for our 20th after this Covid disruption hopefully subsides.

We used a wedding planner that my cousin and his wife had used for their Florence wedding. She's US based and recommended we look at Malta instead of Florence because the experience there is so much more personal and less touristy, but you still get the Old World Mediterranean experience. She said Florence had turned their weddings into a "line 'em up and churn 'em out" very impersonal experience, plus Florence was more expensive to boot. She was totally right about that and unknown to us at the time, she was planning Rachel Ray's wedding at the same time as ours. Once we got back she emailed us and told us to look at the news to see the other wedding that was pulling her away from us so much! LOL

Anyway, it was great because we had such a personalized, once in a lifetime experience that literally cost what people spend on professional wedding photos here, plus we got professional wedding photos! Nobody can believe it when I share what we paid and what it was like. Our planner has a local partner in Malta and that gal was like a concierge for us. She joined with us almost every day either at breakfast or for cocktails at the Westin happy hour in the afternoons and she gave us great recommendations for sites to see and excursions. She got us in at some really cool places. We got a personal tour of a local glass factory just outside of Mdina, where we got to blow some glass with the owner and then we purchased glass pieces at their shop before spending the rest of the day walking through Mdina.

The morning we left the USA to fly into London to connect to Malta, the London Underground terrorist bombings took place. We lucked out because we were all connecting through Heathrow and it was primarily Gatwick that was having issues with flight delays and things like that. We went from Malta back to London for our last 4 days and the people in London really rallied around the event. Things were functioning and flowing pretty normally and spirits were really high, considering what had just happened. Ironically, on the morning we flew out of London there were more bombings!

So sorry to go down the rabbit hole! I could go on and on. We should have a thread about fun travel destinations and sites to see! You've been to some pretty spectacular places, too, and many of those are on my favorites, as well. I've never been to Gibraltar or Greece though. The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco was incredible and that was one of my favorite things when I spent the day there years ago.

[SS Oyster]

I keep a picture of each warranty card with the serial number on my iPhone, so that would solve that.


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[Mr. Drunmond]

I just yell “you aren’t the boss of me !!!” And run. Never had an issue.