# Anyone done business with Interwatches.com?



## graphite

Hey all, just a quick question of the reputability of a particular online retailer (gray market) -- interwatches.com

Anyone done business with them?

I'm just trying to gather some info on the company... they currently have a 99.7% reliability on ebay, so it's not a bad feedback rate...










they currently have about fifteen panerais listed on ebay.

However this website/review has caused me some concern. There are comments left from other viewers which also has me wondering.

http://www.billread.com/2007/11/interwatches-on-ebay.html

Now I'm wondering, how many people purchase a watch from them, leave good feedback (green) for the company, only to find down the road they've been scammed, or the watch is refurbed with unoriginal parts, or not brand new, etc. etc.?

They apparently have a brick and mortar store in the "jewelry district" of Miami, Florida. Does anyone have any knowledge of this area? High class? Reknowned for counterfeits? Google maps streetview shows this as their address:










they are internet savvy, at least, with a blog:
http://interwatchescom.blogspot.com/
as well as a twitter:
http://twitter.com/interwatches

and (suspect) active on these forums... i did a quick search online about their site and pulled threads from other people asking about interwatches reputation. in two situations we get responses from brand-new forum members (<2 posts, join date the same day as the responses) saying they are reputable... this looks fishy to me.










"frede"

and then again here:










the message history of "seropa"

i'm just trying to do a little homework from this seller, and seeing if you've got anything to add. in addition, maybe it'll help someone else in the future who has the same question and uses the search function.

any input is welcome!


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## link2derek

I have never heard of them. And I don't think I would trust "frede's" comment as it was his first (and only?) post -- strange. It doesn't look like anyone here (as of yet) has experience with them.

_*D*_


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## marcadrian

I bought a rare constellation from them on ebay, no problems.


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## Syms

when in doubt...move on...simple as that...

the peace of mind is worth the extra couple hundred bucks...

I'll only buy from someone that I am 100% confident in AFTER i've done major due diligence and research...If after doing all my research and i'm not 100% confident...pass....


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## ds514

I generally trust Ebay feedback. If you can determine that the feedback presented refers to sale of comparable items, it provides a reasonable estimate of the likelihood that you will get what you pay for.

There are a few difficulties I have experienced with gray market dealers, which caused me to go the route of my AD on a recent purchase:

1. It was apparent that they did not typically stock all the watches they claimed. The ones I communicated were all very clear that they would go out and seek the watch if I was interested in it. In the end none could come up with that specific one (in fact neither could my AD); had I gone the route of ordering first and asking questions after, it would have been a very frustrating experience in which they would have been holding a significant sum of my money. Because of my research (including ebay feedback, bbb ratings, phone calls, etc.), I believe I would have either got what I had asked for or my money back, but possibly with a fair amount of aggravation.

2. In the end, I was able to get my watch from the AD at the same price as was being quoted by the gray market dealers, except that it was in Canadian funds (i.e., I got it at par). I paid sales taxes on top of this, which I would not have, but frankly I was thrilled to pay that and have the security of dealing with the AD, not to mention a valid international warranty.

In this specific case, can you really trust any company that resorts to such blatant shilling fro fictitious customers? As has become public in recent months, this company and its ilk are not the only ones doing this of course (the pathetic quality of their shilling leaves something to be desired however).


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## TimeTripp

I bought my wife a midsize Tudor Hydronaut Prince from them with no problems. Good looking watch...


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## graphite

i have a followup on this.

i ordered a panerai 287 from them like on the 18-19FEB 2010. that was a week ago. they claim overnight shipping, although a day later, i didn't have a 287 in hand. so i started wondering, and i did some research, and while i was at it i inquired/posted here. i wanted to share my research and see what you all had thought. i was getting kind of nervous.

anyhow. days past, i didn't have a watch in hand. immediately after i had made the online purchase, my credit card was charged -- i monitored this on my credit card online account. but no watch. finally, about 5 days later, i got an email saying my payment has "cleared" and a fedex tracking number. i don't know what this means, and had never had an issue with my credit card payments being "cleared" before-- usually with all my other payments the charges are immediate, and i've never seen a "pending" charge for more than a day. i even called my credit card company to confirm the payment was legitimate. maybe someone who has experience with credit card payments can fill me in? anyhow, then the next day, i get an email from interwatches saying there was a "problem" with their shipment provider, and the shipment would be delayed for another day. all of this kind of defeats the advertisement of _overnight shipment_ doesn't it?

anyhow, two days after that, it arrived.

as described, K-series, 287, box, papers, all that. as far as i can tell it was brand new, as described. so, despite the wait, all's well that ends well, i guess.

it keeps great time-- i've been tracking it initially on time.gov. and unless i'm missing something, it's genuine (i don't have 100% the trained eye to differentiate fake pams from real pam's yet. some replicas are really, really good, aren't they?).

so all in all, the price was right with interwatches, and except for the long shipping delay, i'm content.

just wanted to follow up my experiences.


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## graphite

ps, *SYMS*, your avatar is the heat!


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## kiwidj

graphite said:


>


Congratulations mate! Looks great. So glad it worked out in the end. Wear it in good health. :-!


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## ds514

graphite said:


> ... i don't know what this means, and had never had an issue with my credit card payments being "cleared" before-- usually with all my other payments the charges are immediate, and i've never seen a "pending" charge for more than a day. i even called my credit card company to confirm the payment was legitimate. maybe someone who has experience with credit card payments can fill me in? anyhow, then the next day, i get an email from interwatches saying there was a "problem" with their shipment provider, and the shipment would be delayed for another day. all of this kind of defeats the advertisement of _overnight shipment_ doesn't it?


A merchant is not allowed to complete the credit card transaction until the order ships. They may get it authorized upon order processing, but complete the transaction only when the item has shipped. I think a few things happened here:

1. They processed the authorization of your card as soon as the order was placed, which is to be expected.

2. There may have been some lag while the dealer obtained the watch. As mentioned above, I have not found that they tend to have actual stock.

3. During this lag, they pursued every angle to make sure that the transaction was authentic, i.e., that they were not being defrauded. As much as we may feel worried about getting taken advantage of, I am certain they experience more actual attempts at fraud by several orders of magnitude.

4. The card checked out, the item was received from their supplier, and they confirmed that it was a go, and they completed the transaction.

5. Heavens knows what the last shipping delay was, but with all the snow issues in the US lately, maybe it was that. Also, it is easy to get a tracking number online, but not actually ship; they may have done so and gotten lazy/slow about getting it to the courier.

Watch looks great. The writing on your hand gives you that ammo strap look, which complements the watch well.


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## underpar

I'm the one that actually started that thread about them back in October of 2009. I bought a Breitling from them. It came the next day, as advertised, brand new with all factory seals and bezel protector. 

Also, I was shocked to find a stamped and dated warranty book from an AD giving me the full 2 year breitling warranty. I was impressed by this transaction.


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## graphite

that's good news! congrats!


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## nelsondevicenci

They are not grey market as my knowledge, i bought many watches and pens they have also a website www.interwatches.com you can ask for Andres is the manager store.

They have New, Pre-owned and also many vintage watches and fine pens like chopard and cartier.

About the area, is the most important building located in Downtown Miami for Jewerly and Watches Distributors for many well known brands.

I saw many Panerais always in the store.

Is a plus if you say to Andres that i do a reference because he knows that always i try to get the best price and IS THE ONLY STORE WHERE YOU CAN PLACE AN OFFER FOR WHAT YOU WANT.

They also has many items in http://www.chrono24.com/es/search/i...ARCH_COUNTRY_ID=US&SORTORDER=1&numresults=135

***My words are only from a very satisfied customer***

Good Luck!!!


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## ds514

Definitely gray market. Most common give away is that they offer their "own warranty" in lieu of the manufacturer's. This is usually where complaints about gray market dealers arise. Those with any credibility will deliver a genuine "never worn" watch (note that interwatch cannot even call them new); when problems arise, they have a significant financial interest in disclaiming warranty work.


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## underpar

They are gray market simply because they are not an authorized dealer of any of the brands they sell. 

Some of their watches apparently come from AD's and if it is a brand with transferable warranties (like Breitling) then you have an OEM warranty as well.


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## nelsondevicenci

Well Grey market are for watches has been returned, repaired watches and they look like new almost like refurbrished on electronics.

Distributors needs to get some quantities monthly from the Manufacturers, and in many cases this Distributors sell watches out of his limits, thats why in stores like Interwatches you can find Brand New Watches with huge price reductions.


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## handwound

nelsondevicenci said:


> Well Grey market are for watches has been returned, repaired watches and they look like new almost like refurbrished on electronics.
> 
> Distributors needs to get some quantities monthly from the Manufacturers, and in many cases this Distributors sell watches out of his limits, thats why in stores like Interwatches you can find Brand New Watches with huge price reductions.


I'm sorry, but that's incorrect. Grey market describes *any* watch purchased outside of the Authorized Dealer system. They may, indeed, be returned watches or something similar, but don't necessarily have to be so.

If you buy a brand new watch from Interwatches, you are indeed buying grey market and *may not* have any factory warranty associated with it. However if they come with warranty paperwork stamped/dated by an AD, you should be good to go - just like underpar got with his Breitling. In that situation, though, these watches are not brand new - they were sold by the AD to someone and then resold through Interwatches.


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## nelsondevicenci

ds514 said:


> Definitely gray market. Most common give away is that they offer their "own warranty" in lieu of the manufacturer's. This is usually where complaints about gray market dealers arise. Those with any credibility will deliver a genuine "never worn" watch (note that interwatch cannot even call them new); when problems arise, they have a significant financial interest in disclaiming warranty work.


Well sir you can go the his website and see New, Used and Vintage.


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## nelsondevicenci

Well the point is that Interwatches in my experience is a good source to get watches new, pre- owned or vintage at reduced prices and do business with they and im very satisfied with the quality, service and repairs.

Thanks


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## ds514

nelsondevicenci said:


> Well sir you can go the his website and see New, Used and Vintage.


Nelson, could you point me to somewhere that they refer to their watches as "New"? In fact, they seem to refer only to "Never Worn" watches, an apparently carefully worded term that likely has very significant implications.


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## nelsondevicenci

ds514 said:


> Nelson, could you point me to somewhere that they refer to their watches as "New"? In fact, they seem to refer only to "Never Worn" watches, an apparently carefully worded term that likely has very significant implications.


Here:

http://www.interwatches.com/eberhard-31121-cpd-p27600

http://www.interwatches.com/cartier-chronoscaph-w10184u2-p7978

http://www.interwatches.com/breitling-aeromarine-collection-a3732016-c735-or-p23581

http://www.interwatches.com/graham-chronofighter-2crbs-b03a-k25b-p25658

http://www.interwatches.com/glashutte-61-01-02-02-04-p27605

http://www.interwatches.com/hublot-big-bang-341-pc-1007-rx-174-p25356

As you understand the warranty is thru interwatches.


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## link2derek

nelsondevicenci said:


> Well sir you can go the his website and see New, Used and Vintage.


handwound has it correct, sir. Grey = Not an AD + No OEM warranty.

"New" or "Never worn" aside, if it's not from an Authorized Dealer with the OEM warranty, I'll pass.


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## underpar

handwound said:


> just like underpar got with his Breitling. In that situation, though, these watches are not brand new - they were sold by the AD to someone and then resold through Interwatches.


I will disagree a bit here Trent. The Breitling I bought through them had all factory seals in place which is more than I can say for every Breitling in my AD's case.

Your local AD sells you watches that may have been handled and tried on by hundreds of people and possibly left the store and returned. The Breitling I bought from interwatches had never had metal on skin.


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## underpar

link2derek said:


> handwound has it correct, sir. Grey = Not an AD + No OEM warranty.
> 
> "New" or "Never worn" aside, if it's not from an Authorized Dealer with the OEM warranty, I'll pass.


I got an OEM warranty form them. That being said, OEM warranties are, for the most part, worthless.


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## ds514

You are correct. They do refer to these as new. Throughout the policy sections of their site, however, they do seem to avoid that word.


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## ds514

underpar said:


> ... OEM warranties are, for the most part, worthless.


Could you elaborate? This seems contradictory to the typical belief that the OEM warranty is of grater value that dealer-specific warranties.


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## handwound

underpar said:


> I will disagree a bit here Trent. The Breitling I bought through them had all factory seals in place which is more than I can say for every Breitling in my AD's case.
> 
> Your local AD sells you watches that may have been handled and tried on by hundreds of people and possibly left the store and returned. The Breitling I bought from interwatches had never had metal on skin.


Agreed, Matt, but the watch you bought had papers stamped by a different watch seller than the one you purchased from, correct? And marked with a date that was prior to your date of purchase?

If you buy from an AD, the papers are stamped/signed by them and dated with YOUR date of purchase and the warranty period begins then.

I'm not saying never buy grey market, I don't have a problem with it, myself.

I'm just trying to illustrate the situation you are putting yourself into. If people go into the transaction with their eyes open, like you did, and still decide that is the route to take, more power to 'em! :-!


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## nelsondevicenci

As a reference about Grey Market :

http://chronocentric.com/watches/graymarket.shtml


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## pharmafrog

Stay, stay, stay away from Interwatches.
Ok, here is my story.
I decided after exhausting research to purchase a watch (Omega Planet Ocean 42mm) from Interwatches. I had seen this blog and maybe one other negative one, so I decided to roll the dice. 
I offered (which you can do on their website) 2600.00 and they accepted the bid. That is a great price by the way. After paying and reading their shipping blurb, it stated that the item if purchased would be overnighted by FEDEX for free if purchased before 3:30. Great, it will make it here by my birthday. I was very happy at this point. All good things must come to an end.
I did not get a shipping notice later that day and began to wonder about it. I called Interwatches and asked why my watch hadn't shipped. They told me that it was due to ship out on Wednesday (I ordered it on Monday). I told them that this was unacceptable as their website clearly states that it will go out that day and that it is guaranteed overnight. The customer service (or lack thereof) guy then changed the story and said that the watch had been sent up to NYC for a watch show. Ok fine, then send me another one from the store in Miami. Then he said that all of their Planet Oceans (POs) had been sent to NYC for the show. I asked what happens if they sell my watch. Oh that won't happen we made sure that they held your watch when your order came in.
At this point I just wanted the damn watch, so I said fine send it to me from NYC. They agreed but said that it would just be the watch as they left all the boxes and papers in Miami for the show (FISHY.) I was getting pissed now.
I had my wife call and pretend to order a PO from the store while I was talking to the guy on the phone and until the two guys figured it out they said they had one in stock. Once they figured out what was going on the original guy hung up on me.
So I tear into the second guy, I said look give me another 500.00 off the watch (a long shot, but hey) or get me the watch by tomorrow. He stated again that the watch and the papers and box were in different places. I said ok do this, FEDEX the watch and the Box and papers to me today and they will arrive on the same truck to me tomorrow. I then stated that if there was any disparity between the serial number or anything funny there was going to be hell to pay.
At this point the sales guys had the nerve to say that he did not feel comfortable selling to me and said he cancelled my order and then hung up on me.
I have not seen the refund, but it has not been 24hrs yet. I will repost when I see it.
Please do not do business with this company. They may have good prices, but they are shady and have no problem lying straight to you, how can you trust that??????????


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## graphite

that sucks dude, i'm sorry to hear about your misfortune.


i verify it, too. your story sounds very familiar.

not specifically with interwatches, but i have dealt with another company that had that EXACT story. i.e. "the watch is in NYC for a watch show," "we'll ship it to you, then the box/papers later." i don't get it what their motivation to do this for... i don't entirely understand the aftermarket biz, but yea, it's happened to me too.

interwatches ran me around for a while on the shipping thing too-- they stated overnight shipping but 5 days later and no watch, their best excuse was "shipping carrier error" or something.


i hope things work out for you in the end, pharmafrog. it looks like you've been charged but no product, and if that's the case, i recommend you contact your credit card company citing fraud, and write your experiences on the better business bureau (bbb.org). best luck, friend!


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## DIGGS

Don't do it. I had similar issues with them as well.

<|


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## warhead98

I have dealt w/Inter-watches. Went on ebay- read the past reviews, tried to be knowledgeable about what I was buying. Did not want to get a fake for her for Christmas. Got the watch when promised. It was a Vintage 1967 Rolex. Christmas morning my wife was thrilled. Not knowing how to set the watch she took it to a local, long standing jeweler in the area. The box the watch came in was NOT a Rolex box and NO papers came with it. The watch was a fake. The face was not right, the weight of the watch was not right, the band it was on was not a Rolex band. As my wife stood there hearing all this, she sent me a text. I immediately filed a complaint with ebay/paypal. The jeweler said for an appraisal they could do a report- list why it was not real etc but it would take about 1-2 weeks. We sent back the watch the next day -registered mail, USPS, insurance on it and all.. No idea if they ever picked it up or not. But I got my money back and will never deal with them again.


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