New to NYC retailer- Watches of Switzerland

darkoverlord

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*i DIDN'T KNOW WHETHER TO PUT THIS IN THE WGT FORUM SINCE TIMECAT AND I GOT TOGETHER OR IN THE GENERAL SECTION TO GIVE THE WITS INFO ON A NEW RETAILER IN NYC- MODS DO WITH THIS THREAD AS YOU WILL*

About a month ago I got a notification (I believe it was from Hodinkee) that there would be a special Grand Seiko pop-up shop and exhibit in NYC running at a place called Watches of Switzerland, in the SOHO (South of Houston for you none New Yorkers) section of town. For the most part if your from city or the surrounding areas you associated Madison Ave around mid-town with high end horology as most brands have their own boutique somewhere between 50th-60th St and Park to 5th Ave along with many multi-brand and high-end jewelry stores. Sure there are certainly other shops scattered around Manhattan but Madison Ave is the nucleus and I've certainly never been to a shop in SOHO before. Certainly the excitement of a new store (only been there 6 weeks now) and a Grand Seiko exhibit was enough to get the boys together and brave the 8 degree, 20 below windchill MLK day right?

So Watches of Switzerland claim heritage all the way back to 1924 on their website. I'm sure this is true on some level but again as far as NYC goes, this is their 6th week of existence. The area of town has grown into a semi-chic area for clothing boutiques and odds and end shops so why not watches right? The building is located on a relatively charming cobblestone street with a few other shops. The entrance is non-descript enough but the shop is quite nice. Two floors. The first hosting watches from Breitling, Omega, Tudor, Tag, Rolex, Cartier, Patek, Ulysse Nardin, IWC, Hublot, JLC and Bremont. There are a few brands on their website that I don't think I saw in the store but they do have multiple locations. The downstairs had a swank coffee bar (apparently they have some harder stuff too) more Tudor, more Tag, a very nice selection of Hirsch straps and the Seiko pop-up. Overall the building was great. For a multi-brand I found it a slight more sophisticated than say a Tourneau but not quite as hoity-toity as a madision ave boutique. Bottom-line, if I were in the area or in the market for something they had I would 100% go back.

https://www.watchesofswitzerland.com/

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enjoy some pics

First Floor

Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr

Second Floor
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Coffee anyone?

Seiko Pop-up
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr

They had 84 unique Grand Seiko timepieces. According to the Seiko expert there that's 30 more than have even been ear-marked for sale in the US.... and they have the Credor Fugaku Tourbillion. one of 8 that will every be made and (according to the expert) they haven't even made all 8 yet. As I said to him, it's like seeing the Mona Lisa. $500k if anyone is in the market.
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr

They also have the Credor Cherry Blossom, almost as intricate and amazing.... but at only $40k why bother?
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr

Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr

as for the rest of the day... Robert and I decided to hit the Occulus Mall located under the World Trade Center. Neither of us had ever been there before. One brief pic but the mall does hold a Montblanc, a Breitling, a Longines and Invicta store along with a Jewelers of London. So certainly there is reason to go if you're in the area and into watches.
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr

now one more thing... the day started with the most important part of the day.. for me, lunch at my favoritre NYC restuarant. Pomme Frittes. All they do is make the world's best french fries. That's it.....

My poutine with Robert's Helberg
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr

Robert cone of goodness with my H2O chrono
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr

Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr

That's it guys... have a good one
 
Gavin, I didn't see you taking all those pics....Dam! You have a much better phone camera than I do....that said, I'll tag along with a few pics, with your permission:

Me starting to plan my next big purchase LOL--trying on Gavin's new H2O Chronograph:
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Ground level at the Oculus--you can see most of the watch stores right next to each other:
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Towering side windows of the Oculus:
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Ceiling:
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Trying on the 48mm bronze Combat Sub at the Invicta Watch Store:
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Invicta Store Display Case:
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Gavin was kind enough to distract me with the watch shopping trip after the atrocious officiating yesterday prevented My Saints from making it to the Super Bowl this year. No words.....


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Thanks Gavin!
 
I always love a bunch of watch guys (and gals) getting together for a meet up. (even if its only two guys) Looks like you both had a good time. Thanks for sharing...
 
Thanks for the tour guys ! I had to google what poutine was, sounds very good, I will have to try the kids kind of freak out when I dip my fries in mutton stew so brown gravy don't look to be bad.
 
Thanks for the tour guys ! I had to google what poutine was, sounds very good, I will have to try the kids kind of freak out when I dip my fries in mutton stew so brown gravy don't look to be bad.


i had read about poutine...working folk comfort food from MONTREAL...appreciate the tour...
 
That looked like an amazing time!!! The spirit of Bill (aka timetraveler) was surely smiling down. He would have LOVED to have been there. That SoHo store looked like a cool store even without the watches. I'd love to hear the history of the edifice itself
 
You have a much better phone camera than I do

Both sets of photos are really good TC. It really is a testament to how far phone cameras have come in recent years. It's impressive the details some can capture on the fly. The first tray of Hirsch straps caught my eye. The details were very familiar of a few favorites of mine from the Arne to the Robby.
 
Thanks for the report. :outstand:

You saw in person the one watch that is my ultimate grail, the Credor Fugaku. I would absolutely love to have that watch over anything else but guys that do what I do for a living just don't wear that kind of cash on their wrists. :cry:

I have never even seen one in person and it's my grail watch. Thank you for posting the price though. Now I know exactly how far away it is from my land of Invictas and Aragons!

For those that don't know about the Credor Fugaku, here's a video about it:

 
Gavin, I didn't see you taking all those pics....Dam! You have a much better phone camera than I do....that said, I'll tag along with a few pics, with your permission:

Hey you don't need my permission brother! And there's nothing wrong with your pics. You pics of the Occulus look great as does the pic of my watch on your wrist (particularly difficult lighting in Pomme Frittes).

Its just flat out hard to get good pics of watches in cases through glass with that lighting. At least I've always thought so, as the video above makes very clear... that Credor looks damn spectacular in person compared to my blurry pics.
 
Frittes and watches what a combo! Gavin, tanks for da tour.
 
:outstand::good::cool: Looks like you gentlemen had a marvelous day indeed. Thanks for sharing!:cheers:
 
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