Where to find nice watches in Guangzhou?

[jerome123]

Hello,

Next week I'll go to Guangzhou in China for business... I'll have a few days of free time and I was wondering where to find the best quality watches there... Has anyone a contact or an adress, a quarter to advice me?

What do I risk with customs for bringing 1 or 2 watches?

Tell me more about your experiences...

Thanks ^^

[PeteM]

There was a post on RG, I just tried looking for it, but for the life of me I cant remember where. Try a search or post the question there.

But the post gave directions and public transport info to the best place also had everything written in chinese so you could show it a train station etc

Try on there mate

[offshore]

Jerome,

It may pay you to read these-

Having spent a few days there last year, I can tell you that you will be sorely disappointed if you don't contact one of the dealers before you travel.

Anything you may be able to find in the markets will be at best, middle of the road stuff, and any top end watches are viewed by appointment only. You probably won't find the better quality watches much cheaper than you can buy here, but being introduced by someone who knows the ropes, and the current "best buy" areas, will at least make your time there more enjoyable.

O/S

[jerome123]

Ok guys thanks for the info...

Can you give me more info about local dealers to contact?

thx

[offshore]

@Jerome,

There is a saying, "First choose your dealer, then choose your watch."

Most of the dealers here, are located in GZ. Reading through their reviews will confirm where they are located.

At the same time you will come to a better understanding of who you want to buy from in the future.

What better way to establish ties with your preferred dealer, than to meet them in the flesh?

And if they "aren't available" to meet and show you around, then maybe you haven't found the best situation for you!

We all have had to face up to this at some time, and its is the best way to come to grips with who you are dealing with.

We all have finally worked out what best suits us each personally, through trial and error, and I recommend this as the best way to become comfortable with your rep buying.

Offshore

[slay]

Don't go to GZ, the dealers there are greedy and all sell over the internet and are used to their ridiculous prices! NONE of the dealers there seems to have the urge to sell to you unless he gets his/her 100-200$ mark up over factory price! All of them act like they don't need your business, you will pretty much NOT see any reps on display and always have to ask etc. some will take you upstairs to their offices and show you the goodies, some will always make you wait and bring you the watch if u can show pictures.

Go to SZ instead, trust me, you can find pretty much any 300$ rep for 150 and less. HBB A7750 (Lite, good factory) for around 110US$, Daytona Sec @6 etc. They also have the ultra HQ reps, ROO Secs @12 and whatnot

I would post names&addresses of dealers there, but I don't think it would be wise given the negative track record of our cartel dealers Josh&Andrew about threatening Dealer's families because of their low prices! In case I have time, I will write a bigger thread about SZ&Watches, or Asia&watches in general!

[lhooq]

Listen to Offshore, and do read his epic missives from Guangzhou. Heck, read them even if you aren't planning a trip to China. They're very entertaining and provide you with a good taste of what to expect when you get there.

I made prior arrangements with one of the dealers here, but made the mistake of not pre-ordering any watches, thinking that I could just shop around once I got there. Mind you, I was only in Guangzhou for a day, but the selection available to me that afternoon consisted of mountains of assorted crap (lots of cheap Chanel J12s, incidentally). It didn't take long before someone offered to take me upstairs to view reps in some locked room upstairs, but it was hardly an Aladdin's Cave of replicas. Much better than the stuff downstairs, but not much in the way of quality pieces. Those that were available were usually outdated models, too i.e. a V1 SOH. Oddly, there were a lot of new Aquaracer reps (this was in January). Nice cases, but the weird-looking date fonts hinted at budget movements within.

Although I didn't buy a single watch in Guangzhou, it was a rewarding day trip to a not-particularly-attractive city. Great selection of tools and parts, and the roomful of fake watch boxes and manuals was impressive. (I think Offshore described it well in one of his posts.) The dealer I met with kept saying how much nicer Shenzhen is, so maybe that's a better bet for you. You'll definitely save yourself four hours spent on a train.

[Jkay]

As other people have been trying to explain, the watch shops and kiosks all keep the worst reps in their stalls. If the shops are raided, only the junk is confiscated. If you go to the GZ shops, all you will see is junk.

You have to begin bargaining with a shop keeper and explaining over and over that you want the "swiss machines" ... and then maybe they will send a runner to get a good watch from their locked rooms.

From the way people describe the experience, it's tedious and repetitive, and you have to have the balls to haggle in an extreme manner (get up and leave then come back etc) to get a fair price.