Favourite ADs?

[Victoria]

Several members have posted how the Tourneau in Las Vegas is not as good as they expected, certainly for Panerai watches.

What are some of the good or recommended Authorised Dealers out there? Any ones we should avoid?

(That's The Hour Glass, in Bangkok, Thailand -- a Glassh

[Dani]

Best AD is my local one here in Norway actualy.

Its called Bjerke the personel is very kind and helpful even to a youngster like myself.

Cheers

[FasTTaP]

Wempe, rue Royale in Paris, stunning selection, nice people, and my favorite, near the river Seine on the boulevard Saint Germain, hold by an old watchsmith and collector, really in love with his babies :

[HauteHippie]

Yea, Wempe is obviously going to be tip top. Any Tourneau is worth visiting IMO too. They're hard to beat. Although, a serious Panerai shopper has no reason not to head straight to a boutique.

[Victoria]

Wempe, rue Royale in Paris, stunning selection, nice people, and my favorite, near the river Seine on the boulevard Saint Germain, hold by an old watchsmith and collector, really in love with his babies :

I remember your thread on it, FasTTaP!

http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=362267

Really great photos, even with the camphone. I even liked the woman with the leopard scarf.

Has anyone been to Wempe in NYC?

[FasTTaP]

Thanks Victoria

[gioarmani]

Tourneau's always been full of USDA Grade-A assholes; wannabe snobs working in a mall for a living with the worst fitting suits you've ever seen. And Avant-Gold's the only AD in Tampa that deals with Panerai. But my fav's definitely Mayors--always polite, always knowledgeable and willing to help with anything. Don't think you can afford another gen with all the Xmas shopping you've already done? How about a 48 month card with the first 40 months, interest free! And they even polished my 16610 rep for free without asking when I bought my SMP chrono. Now that's service.

Edited February 1, 2008 by gioarmani

[Corgi]

Here in Ottawa there are so few ADs that I can give you a run down of all them pretty quick;

Howard's on Sparks Street: Only sells Rolex, Tudor, and their own custom brand of ridiculously overpriced quartz watches "Da Vinci". They have a huge selection of Rolex and definitely the friendliest staff. But going inside feels like you're entering a giant bank vault given the hugely exaggerated security features... I guess they have to protect themselves from the local hillbilly population.

Jubilee on Rideau: They sell Rolex, Omega, Tag, Jaeger, Baume, Bvlgari, Mont Blanc, and a few lesser known brands. The salespeople are clueless. And one older lady seems to have a stick perpetually shoved up her asset... probably like the Tourneau people I've been hearing about. It took her a while to find a "submariner" because she had to read the faces on each Rolex to figure out which one it was.

Jubilee on Bayshore: Very small selection of Rolex, Omega, Tag, and Longines. However, there are a few salespeople here who are really into watches and they are tremendously nice and polite. I have had the most pleasant experience at this store.

Jubilee on St. Laurent: Don't waste your time folks.

Henry Birks & Sons on Rideau: Only Omega and Tag, though they used to sell Breitling. One day they dropped the Breitling brand and sold every last model at 60% off retail... I heard one local buyer came in and bought almost all of it at once.

The best AD I have ever visited was in Montreal called "Kaufmann de Suisse" And here's a question for you Victoria - have you ever been in this store? Apparently they have a branch at 210 Worth Ave, Palm Beach, Florida. They sell Patek Philippe exclusively and officially, but also carry some extremely rare models from Carl F. Bucherer and Blancpain. They can get almost anything for the local elite; when I was there, I tried on a rare $300,000 Blancpain LeBrassus tourby with full diamond bezel, only one of five in existence. The salesperson, Mr. Eli P. Kaufmann himself, told me it was sold before he even put it out on the shelf. Talk about people with "too much money" huh! Here photo:

[TWP]

Victoria

There are a couple of AD's here in my home town. Over the past several years as the demand for panerai has increased their stocks are not at all

impressive. I have been to Vegas three times in the past 18 months and the Torneau in Caesars has seen a decrease in the panerai offerings.

[rek001]

I'll tell you who has gone down in Chicago- Smart Jewellers in Lincolnwood.

They had an overnight heist a few years ago and now they have a lot more under $500 watches than they used to.

There's this one younger salesman, owner's son I think, who doesn't like me, goes out of his way to ignore me when I walk in, I guess he's shown me watches one to many times without me buying anything, but so what.

I don't go there anymore, not worth it.