Airport Rolex stores hunting - Nice find at Amsterdam Schiphol

[seccone]

I have been flying through Schiphol periodically for years and when I have some time to kill make it a point to browse the Rolex store in the main shopping hub, which is run by local Rolex AD Gassan. While any watches on display are the less-demanded ref. and even then always behind For Exhibition Only signs, they have been telling me they do receive a small number of watches for sale every month, including some professional models. Yesterday I was browsing and the staff (very welcoming and professional) asked me if there was something in particular I was looking for. I explained I have been thinking for some time about a No date Sub, and discussed briefly why I liked that particular model (the descendant of the original Submariner, seeing it on James Bond's wrist when I was a kid, etc.) They asked what time was my flight, and if I could wait 10 minutes because they might have a watch for me. I left the store for a few minutes and when I came back a No date Sub had magically appeared from out of a safe in the back. They asked whether I wanted to buy it and I did, paying a duty-free price of approx. EUR 7,700. The Netherlands retail price is EUR 9,100. In USD terms I saved $1,000+ over U.S. list price, and of that's assuming you can walk into a U.S. AD and walk out 15 minutes later with a Rolex professional reference on your wrist easy as I did. Needless to say, I was over the moon! I think being specific and informed about what I was looking for helped. I see many travellers walking into airport Rolex stores, and when they are asked about what they are looking for, they respond generically like: Any SS professional model you’ve got. Or, whatever Daytona you can give me. I don't think those sorts of answer get you far with the AD staff.
I guess the moral of the story is: sometimes you can be at the right place at the right time. It’s worth checking out airport Rolex stores, even if most of the time it looks like they exist only for brand promotion rather than to function as a place that actually sells watches . You may get lucky!