Shopping for watches while on shore in Bahamas

[Eternal Menace]

Does anyone know the limit of time pieces a passenger can bring back. TIA.

[1025cruise]

It will be a monetary value. I think its $1000.

[not-enough-cruising]

The Bahamas is not a great place to shop for watches

 

[crewsweeper]

Personal exemption is $800 any additional amount up to $1000 has a duty rate of 3%.

 

But If more than a couple of watches, they'll ask what the purpose.  Hard to prove they are gifts.  Assumption would be for re-sale--which includes picking up a watch for a friend who will pay you for it.

You may be able to skirt some duty if you buy in US Virgin Islands or San Juan.  But unless you know watches, many for sale in Caribbean ore knowoffs and quality really only saves you sales tax in home state.

[deliver42]

The Bahamas isn't the place I'd shop for anything other than trinkets.

[Charles4515]

30 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

The Bahamas isn't the place I'd shop for anything other than trinkets.

John Bull in Nassau is a pretty good store to shop at for high end watches. They are authorized dealers for many brands including Rolex.

[VernRDH]

Agree Nassau is not the best place to shop for watches. DH is a collector, he has only ever bought 1 in Nassau, even though we are there 3-4 times a year. 

St. Thomas and St. Maarten are better places to shop.

He has a watch roll that accommodates 4 watches, always leaves a slot open for a new purchase.

[RockHoundTX]

The main reason to buy is if you find something that you cannot find locally in the US. For "generic" mid/high-end watches (Tag Heuer, etc.) you can find them new in the US for cheaper (just have to look around and wait for deals/sales to pop up). As an example, my local Sam's Club was selling the standard Tag black-face diver's watch for about 20%-30% less than the best negotiated price we could find on any of the islands for the exact same watch.

 

Now if you are looking for a rare Rolex, definitely want to go with an official Rolex store. Fakes have become so good that even experts have a problem identifying them. At some of the random stores in Cozumel, I saw some comically bad fakes in some stores (but most of these were priced as fakes) plus a few really good fakes in some of the "higher-end" stores that were being passed off as real (there are some great Youtube videos on how to spot some of the most common fakes). That being said, there are some fakes that are so good that unluss you have a real version to compare to (and a 10x loupe), you likely would not know until it was too late. The other issue is "frankenstein" pieces where an actual Rolex (or what-ever else high-end brand) is sacraficed to make a more desirable/trendy watch (i.e., changing out a watch-face, etc.).

[Seville2Cabo]

1 hour ago, VernRDH said:

Agree Nassau is not the best place to shop for watches. DH is a collector, he has only ever bought 1 in Nassau, even though we are there 3-4 times a year. 

St. Thomas and St. Maarten are better places to shop.

He has a watch roll that accommodates 4 watches, always leaves a slot open for a new purchase.

IMO, the best place to shop for watches is Vegas.  They have about every brand store and a great selection.  If you know what you want and are looking for a specific watch, Nassau is as good a place as any as long as you are buying from an AD.  Depending on brand, 10 to 20% is about as good as you will get.  

[Seville2Cabo]

18 minutes ago, RockHoundTX said:

The main reason to buy is if you find something that you cannot find locally in the US. For "generic" mid/high-end watches (Tag Heuer, etc.) you can find them new in the US for cheaper (just have to look around and wait for deals/sales to pop up). As an example, my local Sam's Club was selling the standard Tag black-face diver's watch for about 20%-30% less than the best negotiated price we could find on any of the islands for the exact same watch.

 

Now if you are looking for a rare Rolex, definitely want to go with an official Rolex store. Fakes have become so good that even experts have a problem identifying them. At some of the random stores in Cozumel, I saw some comically bad fakes in some stores (but most of these were priced as fakes) plus a few really good fakes in some of the "higher-end" stores that were being passed off as real (there are some great Youtube videos on how to spot some of the most common fakes). That being said, there are some fakes that are so good that unluss you have a real version to compare to (and a 10x loupe), you likely would not know until it was too late. The other issue is "frankenstein" pieces where an actual Rolex (or what-ever else high-end brand) is sacraficed to make a more desirable/trendy watch (i.e., changing out a watch-face, etc.).

I don’t think anyone puts Tag in the high end watch category. I think they are in the affordable market

[not-enough-cruising]

9 minutes ago, Seville2Cabo said:

I don’t think anyone puts Tag in the high end watch category. I think they are in the affordable market

$3K-$5K for common models is “affordable market”

[Seville2Cabo]

2 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

$3K-$5K for common models is “affordable market”

Yes. $5k is the high end. Tags can be had for $1k. High side $4k. That is not luxury. It’s in affordable category. 

[not-enough-cruising]

13 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

Yes. $5k is the high end. Tags can be had for $1k. High side $4k. That is not luxury. It’s in affordable category. 

$5k is FAR from the high end for a Tag

[crewsweeper]

15 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

Yes. $5k is the high end. Tags can be had for $1k. High side $4k. That is not luxury. It’s in affordable category. 

way above my "affordable" level.

[bouhunter]

On 7/13/2023 at 12:53 PM, crewsweeper said:

Personal exemption is $800 any additional amount up to $1000 has a duty rate of 3%.

 

But If more than a couple of watches, they'll ask what the purpose.  Hard to prove they are gifts.  Assumption would be for re-sale--which includes picking up a watch for a friend who will pay you for it.

You may be able to skirt some duty if you buy in US Virgin Islands or San Juan.  But unless you know watches, many for sale in Caribbean ore knowoffs and quality really only saves you sales tax in home state.

 I don't know where to start.

 

1,  Do you seriously think US customs is concerned about someone buying a watch for a friend and calling it "re-sale"?  Thanks for the laugh.  We've been on 40+ Caribbean cruises, taking multiple swiss watches along (Omega, Breitling, etc) each trip and buying new ones also,  NOT ONCE has customs ever looked at a single watch.  

 

2.  "Many" watches in the Caribbean being knock offs:  Maybe in straw markets or whatever, not in reputable jewelry stores.  Most stores are authorized dealers for what they sell.

 

OP - do some research on jewelry stores where you're going in the Bahama's.  But generally speaking St. Thomas, St. Martin and others are the best for both selection and price.

 

 

 

 

[monorail81]

2 hours ago, bouhunter said:

 

1,  Do you seriously think US customs is concerned about someone buying a watch for a friend and calling it "re-sale"?  Thanks for the laugh.  We've been on 40+ Caribbean cruises, taking multiple swiss watches along (Omega, Breitling, etc) each trip and buying new ones also,  NOT ONCE has customs ever looked at a single watch.  

Which is funny to me because they gave me such a hassle on a Fossil watch I bought at an outlet mall in Orlando for $35 back in the day. 😂

[jamestown478]

20 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

Yes. $5k is the high end. Tags can be had for $1k. High side $4k. That is not luxury. It’s in affordable category. 

Tag goes a lot higher than $5K

[Seville2Cabo]

3 hours ago, jamestown478 said:

Tag goes a lot higher than $5K

 

10 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

$5k is FAR from the high end for a Tag

Sorry. did not mean to offend Tag owners.  Yes they do have watches over $5K, but don't really sell many.  Most medium watch companies make expensive watches for their spokespersons and reps.  But as you can see, they don't sell many.

This is sales by largest model last year and sales by collection last year.  Not many over $5K

 

 

 

 

[jamestown478]

36 minutes ago, Seville2Cabo said:

 

Sorry. did not mean to offend Tag owners.  Yes they do have watches over $5K, but don't really sell many.  Most medium watch companies make expensive watches for their spokespersons and reps.  But as you can see, they don't sell many.

This is sales by largest model last year and sales by collection last year.  Not many over $5K

 

 

 

 

 

where are you finding a new Carrera for 1500$? The cheapest one I've found is 3200. Either way Tag is a higher end watch company, Its no patek philippe but it still not citizen or seiko.

[Charles4515]

24 minutes ago, jamestown478 said:

where are you finding a new Carrera for 1500$? The cheapest one I've found is 3200. Either way Tag is a higher end watch company, Its no patek philippe but it still not citizen or seiko.

Somewhat higher than Seiko but a lot lower than Patek. If you like TAG certainly you should buy, they are a popular brand but it does not an upper level luxury brand. As soon as you put it on your wrist it will lose value. 

[Merion_Mom]

A new category:

 

Watch Snobs.

 

I'm dying. 🤣🤣🤣

[Charles4515]

6 hours ago, jamestown478 said:

where are you finding a new Carrera for 1500$? The cheapest one I've found is 3200. Either way Tag is a higher end watch company, Its no patek philippe but it still not citizen or seiko.

They sell Carrera’s for $1849 at Walmart. 

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, Merion_Mom said:

A new category:

 

Watch Snobs.

 

I'm dying. 🤣🤣🤣

You can buy TAG watches at Walmart. No reason to buy them in the Caribbean or on a cruise ship and worry about customs. 
 

Watch snobs are not a new category. They are an old category. A TAG will lose value as soon as it is sold. A Rolex will increase in value over time even if the TAG keeps better time. 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Charles4515

[BND]

5 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

A new category:

 

Watch Snobs.

 

I'm dying. 🤣🤣🤣

There is a jewelry board called Price Scope.  I no longer go on it as it's full of all kinds of snobs, including watch ones.  There are threads with people who not only own lots of expensive jewelry, but also watches.  They treat their high end watches like expensive jewelry and believe me, they are very snobby about them.    I have some very nice jewelry, but when it comes to watches, I don't even wear my regular old Citizen Eco-Drives anymore (I have a couple of very nice ones) because I wear my fitbit everyday which is far from pretty lol.

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by BND

[jamestown478]

5 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

They sell Carrera’s for $1849 at Walmart. 

Now that you mention it I remember them selling them on the website from third party sellers. I also see Rolex on it as well. Cheapest carrera I found on the site was 2200. Might snag that as a cheaper work watch. 

Edited July 16, 2023 by jamestown478