Downtown Chicago Watch Store Rec?

[bcdunham]

Headed to Chicago this weekend. Are there any great watch stores that I just can't miss? Preference of course is an unpretentious store with a nice mix of some pre-owned watches and knowledgeable salesmen. Thanks.

[rpryan55]

Swiss Fine Timing, 645 Michigan Avenue. No used watches, but some great, great watches and really knowledgeable guys. Geneva Seal, 1003 North Rush Street - again, great watches (Urwerk, for example) and knowledgeable guys.

The Rolex Dealer downtown, C.D. Peacock, is a rather untrustworthy and shady place. I'd avoid it. They have no used watches in any event, and I have never known any of their salespeople to know what they are talking about. Sorry if that's a rant, but I've been a victim there.

[bcdunham]

Awesome. Thanks for the insight. Duly noted on the RX Dlr.

[Zirotti]

Just don't go to Tourneau or Peacock. Last time I was in Tourneau, the manager was explaining to a new salesperson how a quartz watch is different from an automatic.

[tkc324]

Originally Posted by Zirotti

Just don't go to Tourneau or Peacock. Last time I was in Tourneau, the manager was explaining to a new salesperson how a quartz watch is different from an automatic.

Yeah... Tourneau will always be a crappy place to buy watches.

[bcdunham]

Originally Posted by rpryan55

Swiss Fine Timing, 645 Michigan Avenue. No used watches, but some great, great watches and really knowledgeable guys.

Thanks for the rec. Made it to Swiss Fine Timing. Had some cool music playing and knowledgable but younger sales guys. Made for a fun shopping experience. Left really wanting the Panerai 233 and IWC Portuguese Chrono in Stainless.

[rpryan55]

Originally Posted by bcdunham

Thanks for the rec. Made it to Swiss Fine Timing. Had some cool music playing and knowledgable but younger sales guys. Made for a fun shopping experience. Left really wanting the Panerai 233 and IWC Portuguese Chrono in Stainless.

Not a problem, and happy to help. Any details? Good deals, etc? Pictures?

[bcdunham]

Originally Posted by rpryan55

Not a problem, and happy to help. Any details? Good deals, etc? Pictures?

Nada. All were priced at MSRP and didn't have enough time to see how far I could talk them down. No pics either. I was there with my wife and spent most of the time explaining to her the differences in the various brands and why some watches were $87,000 and others were $8,700. She was all about the Chopard Happy Diamonds watches. :) I tried to get back down there to spend some more time looking and see how close to $5k I could get them on the IWC Portuguese. Instead, I spent most of the time following my wife around all the womens' shoe stores. They did have several "limited edition" Panerai that had a metal cover over the case with the etching of big game (lions, etc.) on it. Must have been pretty pricey b/c when I asked about them, he didn't seem inclined to want to pull them out of the case.

[submariner16610]

go to howard frum jewelers. 8th flor. 5 south wabash. new and pre owned