# Tips/help on buying my first expensive watch? (Bell & Ross)



## charles.wilder (Jan 25, 2016)

Hello all,

I've spent the last few years searching for the "perfect" watch that fits my criteria, and I'd come up with nothing in my sub $500 budget. Everything that I've ever found was either awful in reliability, or too expensive, so I've increased the budget to around $2000 to buy my first 'real' watch before I go to college.

My criteria: 
no larger than 42mm (I have small wrists, 6.25", nothing larger is comfortable)
light (for every day use)
thin (preferably no thicker than 12/13mm)
reliable

I don't have a preference of quartz vs. automatic

The style I've fallen in love with, but never have been able to afford, is the Bell & Ross BR03. However, I recently discovered the BR-S at 39MM, and have fallen equally in love with that watch (MSRP at $2000).









My questions:
I've never bought an expensive watch before. Is Bell & Ross a reliable brand?

I've read that people often get 10-25% off MSRP on Bell & Ross watches...how?

The only store I've seen with Bell & Ross watches here in Atlanta, GA is Tourneau. Do they negotiate on prices?

I've seen websites online, such as AuthenticWatches. Is that a safe place to buy an expensive watch, or am I better off buying it at Tourneau?

Thanks for the help in advance, and any other insight anyone could provide would really help. (I'm very new to this)

-Charlie


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## sean.scott (Aug 18, 2011)

charles.wilder said:


> I've never bought an expensive watch before. Is Bell & Ross a reliable brand?


They're a very reliable brand. Their watch cases are well made and finished. The new black case ceramic modes are virtually unscratchable. They use high quality, swiss movements from brands like ETA and Selllita that are reliable and easy to service if you ever do have an issue.



charles.wilder said:


> I've read that people often get 10-25% off MSRP on Bell & Ross watches...how?


We generally don't discuss discounts on the forums, but most authorized dealers will negotiate a bit on prices for non-limited edition models. I'd look at AceJewelers.com. They're an authorized dealer and have excellent prices. That's where I bought my last new B&R. You can find brick and mortar authorized dealers at BellRoss.com



charles.wilder said:


> The only store I've seen with Bell & Ross watches here in Atlanta, GA is Tourneau. Do they negotiate on prices?


I've never been a fan or Tourneau, but they're an AD. At least in NYC they're not too friendly. There a large chain, so they might not negotiate as much as smaller dealer would.



charles.wilder said:


> I've seen websites online, such as AuthenticWatches. Is that a safe place to buy an expensive watch, or am I better off buying it at Tourneau?


AuthenticWatches is a grey market dealer. Their watches are genuine, the trade-off for the grey market price is the watch will not carry a manufacturer warranty. If you have any issue with the watch, you'll need to send it to AuthenticWatches for repair.

Hope that helps and hope you join the B&R watchfam!

Cheers,
Sean


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## magnetchief (Jun 17, 2013)

http://www.jomashop.com/bell-and-ross-watch-brs-blc-st.html

Many Grey Market sellers. 
These guys have one for $1600

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## charles.wilder (Jan 25, 2016)

sean.scott said:


> They're a very reliable brand. Their watch cases are well made and finished. The new black case ceramic modes are virtually unscratchable. They use high quality, swiss movements from brands like ETA and Selllita that are reliable and easy to service if you ever do have an issue.
> 
> We generally don't discuss discounts on the forums, but most authorized dealers will negotiate a bit on prices for non-limited edition models. I'd look at AceJewelers.com. They're an authorized dealer and have excellent prices. That's where I bought my last new B&R. You can find brick and mortar authorized dealers at BellRoss.com
> 
> ...


Sean,

Thank you for your reply!

I've leaning more and more towards pulling the trigger on a B&R each day. The two models I've been looking at are the BRS I posted above, and the same BRS except in the black ceramic you mentioned.

I've been doing more research on grey market dealers, and I'd have to say, I would probably feel more comfortable at an AD, but the savings online are so tempting. Everyone has suggested that when buying on a grey market site, that I ask the question "am I saving enough money up front to justify the cost in repair should there be any," or something along those lines. And that question is what I'm trying to figure out with these two B&R models.

The watches have a "Quartz Calibre BR-CAL.102. 10 jewels" movement. 
Is it safe to assume that any repairs on a quartz movement will generally be less expensive than that of the same watch in automatic, and would you happen to know whether or not the typical repairs for the B&R BR-S Quartz are that pricey? The temptation to save 500-700 dollars up front is huge, and would also probably influence my decision to pull the trigger sooner as well.

Thank you,

Charlie


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## sean.scott (Aug 18, 2011)

charles.wilder said:


> The watches have a "Quartz Calibre BR-CAL.102. 10 jewels" movement.
> Is it safe to assume that any repairs on a quartz movement will generally be less expensive than that of the same watch in automatic, and would you happen to know whether or not the typical repairs for the B&R BR-S Quartz are that pricey? The temptation to save 500-700 dollars up front is huge, and would also probably influence my decision to pull the trigger sooner as well.


It's likely an Swiss ETA or Ronda quartz movement, which are known to be reliable, so it's likely not expensive to repair. I don't think quartz watches generally need service like mechanical watches do, but I haven't owned a quartz watch in quite a long time. My guess would be that the first thing the watch will need would be a battery change (which likely aren't covered under warranty).

-Sean


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## Chaz Goldenrod (Apr 3, 2013)

charles.wilder said:


> Is it safe to assume that any repairs on a quartz movement will generally be less expensive than that of the same watch in automatic, and would you happen to know whether or not the typical repairs for the B&R BR-S Quartz are that pricey?


Any mechanical watch will eventually need service and you can expect to pay at least several hundred dollars for it when the time comes. Honestly it's a bit of a crap shoot when it comes to service interval on a mechanical watch. You could get 10+ years of good timekeeping or it could have some issue after 2 or 3 years. A Quartz watch will require little to no maintenance besides the occasional battery replacement which is dirt cheap compared to a full service on a mechanical.


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## almondramanrao (Sep 23, 2015)

Good choice and heavy and big watches arent as bad as you might think you will probably get the feel for them eventually but everyone is different i guess and yes you cant get a bell and ross for $500 so its good you increased your budget,good choice on the br-s 39mm looks stylish indeed!!!


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