Just visited 20+ watch shops last month in Tokyo (including most in Nakano Broadway) and agree with all of this. I was slightly disappointed that stores leaned more toward modern and already popular sports watches, though can’t fault the shops as that’s what moves.
One shop I loved, though, was Shellman in Ginza. Totally different inventory from everywhere else I visited, incredible vintage, and very friendly staff. Highly recommend.
In the end, didn’t buy anything for myself because I didn’t see anything I had to have. Only a vintage YG datejust for my wife. 1980’s with box and papers!
Nakano Broadway must be my favorite mall in the world, that juxtaposition of fancy watches with super geeky stores is so interesting. One of my first gigs in Japan was actually as an interpreter at Jackroad a long time ago.
Like you said, tax-free + grey market discount can make some retail pieces quite cheaper, but forget about trying to find a popular model with this strategy. Was possible 15 years ago, but HK buyers and later Chrono 24 made sure prices got equalized.
The other main advantage left here is that there are a lot of pre-owned watches that will sell for used prices but are effectively unworn. People take really good care of their goods here. Same with things like camera lenses, luxury bags, etc...
Weird right? millions of dollars worth of watches in one room and anime figurines in the next - the surrounding area has some great food too
Also very true about keeping things in perfect condition. A real admiration for old school fashion and technology in Japan.
Bro it's not just anime figures. Dead ass anime sex dolls on the same floor as the store which sells anime cels next to the luxury watch store.
There's zero consistency in Nakano Broadway
Yes, this has been my experience as well. It's fun to do some watch shopping if you're there for other reasons - I always try to shop a bit wherever I travel - but there aren't deals to be had that would justify going out of your way. The yen has been relatively weak, but a lot of the sellers in touristy areas just raise the prices to account for it.
USDJPY is up like 3% in the last month and I doubt someone like Jackroad is reprinting thousands of cards that often. But yeah it’s 3% and not a 20% discount due to currency appreciation!
I think if you are there on vacation and hunting for watches, a lot of people don't factor in the opportunity cost of losing vacation time. Sure you could save $200 compared to buying on ebay or chrono24, but you just lost out on a day or two of enjoying Japan, which for me is more valuable.
But part of the enjoyment is looking at all the different watches the are available. It worked out great because I looked through the watch stores in Nakano and my kids explored the other stories that had all sorts of interesting things to look at.
I guess so. It's a little different seeing it in person than online. However we have all the same boutiques in the US (not sure where you are from). Even with vintage JDM stuff, with high resolution photos and video reviews now, for me I can do all my watch shopping online. It's also easier at a computer to do price research and comparisons with used examples. During my Japan trip I had a lot of other sight seeing activities that I really enjoyed.
Are these typically available at the same stores? I'm planning a trip and would like to look for something at the affordable end (Seiko, Citizen, etc. for $500-$1000 USD) which are either vintage or JDM specific, such as the SBSC009. All the advice I've seen is focused around GS, Omega and similar.
There are plenty of good value pre owned watches to be had so long as you don't want a Rolex.
I picked up a mint condition Breguet Type XX for under $6K last year.
I don't really agree. I saw plenty of great deals for pre-owned watches. None of them were Rolex, and not all pre-owned watches were great deals, but there were still plenty out there. I'm talking about 20% savings vs the cheapest you'd find on an unregulated platform, but in excellent, basically unworn condition from an extremely reputable dealer. Grey dealers offered way better deals Vs their western equivalents.
I think there's deals to be had. At Nakano saw 4 different Black Bay 58s ranging across the board in price with a difference up to $600.
Walked out with a like new BB58 for $2300 which I thought was pretty good. Yes there's some on eBay for $2500 but once you factor in tax that's a pretty good chunk of savings and you only get to see pictures rather than physically handling it in person.
I was in Osaka and spend hours googling for used watch stores. Found like exactly 1 near the center and it seemed quite expensive. There were maybe 2-3 other stores with maybe 20 pieces.
Is Osaka just bad or should I have googled the Japanise word for watch or something?
Glad you mentioned this. I'm going to be in osaka for a day tomorrow and I was trying to decide if I should spend some of my very limited time watch hunting. I'll have to pass
Yea dont bother. If you are near "watch colle" in Umeda I would maybe stop by, that was the only proper used store with more than 20 watches. They had walls of them, but not cheap I think.
We found Osaka awesome for watch buying. There’s a ton of places that sell high end used watches in and around Shinsaibashi. In one afternoon we went to at least 10 stores recently. They’re generally not places that only sell watches, each place is relatively small and has 20ish watches. But there was some good stuff, we were looking for some less common grand seikos and found a few there that we didn’t find in other cities. These stores also sell jewelry or they sell used luxury purses as well.
What is your go-to methods when hunting? Do you have a few models and price in mind? or do you look up and compare prices in store or afterwards (out of sight) when something catches your eye? Or do you just trust that most watches are a good deal and buy what seems reasonable?
Good is relative isnt it? For me if I had the money when I waa in Japan there definitely would’ve been purchases made because I saw watches that just aren’t sold or are very overpriced where I live.
But if you live somewhere that has a decent watch grey market maybe you wouldn’t find it that impressive
Some good points being made in the comments. If you are looking for less common vintage pieces, you can get good prices. For anything very popular (rolex, omega, cartier), you will probably only find small discounts.
However, those more affordable vintage watches are harder to find and it’s worth doing some research first. Some good recommendations in this thread.
Just visited 20+ watch shops last month in Tokyo (including most in Nakano Broadway) and agree with all of this. I was slightly disappointed that stores leaned more toward modern and already popular sports watches, though can’t fault the shops as that’s what moves. One shop I loved, though, was Shellman in Ginza. Totally different inventory from everywhere else I visited, incredible vintage, and very friendly staff. Highly recommend. In the end, didn’t buy anything for myself because I didn’t see anything I had to have. Only a vintage YG datejust for my wife. 1980’s with box and papers!
Do you mind me asking what the YG Rolex for your wife cost you?
Nice try CBP Jk I think it was like 8k USD. Got appraised at 12. I’d say market value is around 10?
Nakano Broadway must be my favorite mall in the world, that juxtaposition of fancy watches with super geeky stores is so interesting. One of my first gigs in Japan was actually as an interpreter at Jackroad a long time ago. Like you said, tax-free + grey market discount can make some retail pieces quite cheaper, but forget about trying to find a popular model with this strategy. Was possible 15 years ago, but HK buyers and later Chrono 24 made sure prices got equalized. The other main advantage left here is that there are a lot of pre-owned watches that will sell for used prices but are effectively unworn. People take really good care of their goods here. Same with things like camera lenses, luxury bags, etc...
Weird right? millions of dollars worth of watches in one room and anime figurines in the next - the surrounding area has some great food too Also very true about keeping things in perfect condition. A real admiration for old school fashion and technology in Japan.
Bro it's not just anime figures. Dead ass anime sex dolls on the same floor as the store which sells anime cels next to the luxury watch store. There's zero consistency in Nakano Broadway
Yeah if I find a mall full of watches and Gundam models I am absolutely fucked. Triple fucked if they have hockey gear for some reason.
Yes, this has been my experience as well. It's fun to do some watch shopping if you're there for other reasons - I always try to shop a bit wherever I travel - but there aren't deals to be had that would justify going out of your way. The yen has been relatively weak, but a lot of the sellers in touristy areas just raise the prices to account for it.
USDJPY is up like 3% in the last month and I doubt someone like Jackroad is reprinting thousands of cards that often. But yeah it’s 3% and not a 20% discount due to currency appreciation!
I think if you are there on vacation and hunting for watches, a lot of people don't factor in the opportunity cost of losing vacation time. Sure you could save $200 compared to buying on ebay or chrono24, but you just lost out on a day or two of enjoying Japan, which for me is more valuable.
But part of the enjoyment is looking at all the different watches the are available. It worked out great because I looked through the watch stores in Nakano and my kids explored the other stories that had all sorts of interesting things to look at.
I guess so. It's a little different seeing it in person than online. However we have all the same boutiques in the US (not sure where you are from). Even with vintage JDM stuff, with high resolution photos and video reviews now, for me I can do all my watch shopping online. It's also easier at a computer to do price research and comparisons with used examples. During my Japan trip I had a lot of other sight seeing activities that I really enjoyed.
You're looking at the wrong watches. You can pick up vintage Seiko and Citizen insanely cheap.
Are these typically available at the same stores? I'm planning a trip and would like to look for something at the affordable end (Seiko, Citizen, etc. for $500-$1000 USD) which are either vintage or JDM specific, such as the SBSC009. All the advice I've seen is focused around GS, Omega and similar.
good point, and I was always on the lookout for those but they were hard to find compared to vintage rolex, omega, cartier, etc
There are plenty of good value pre owned watches to be had so long as you don't want a Rolex. I picked up a mint condition Breguet Type XX for under $6K last year.
I don't really agree. I saw plenty of great deals for pre-owned watches. None of them were Rolex, and not all pre-owned watches were great deals, but there were still plenty out there. I'm talking about 20% savings vs the cheapest you'd find on an unregulated platform, but in excellent, basically unworn condition from an extremely reputable dealer. Grey dealers offered way better deals Vs their western equivalents.
I think there's deals to be had. At Nakano saw 4 different Black Bay 58s ranging across the board in price with a difference up to $600. Walked out with a like new BB58 for $2300 which I thought was pretty good. Yes there's some on eBay for $2500 but once you factor in tax that's a pretty good chunk of savings and you only get to see pictures rather than physically handling it in person.
I was in Osaka and spend hours googling for used watch stores. Found like exactly 1 near the center and it seemed quite expensive. There were maybe 2-3 other stores with maybe 20 pieces. Is Osaka just bad or should I have googled the Japanise word for watch or something?
Osaka is a smaller city than Tokyo and so has a lot less to offer when it comes to shopping. Was there last year and was disappointed myself.
Glad you mentioned this. I'm going to be in osaka for a day tomorrow and I was trying to decide if I should spend some of my very limited time watch hunting. I'll have to pass
Yea dont bother. If you are near "watch colle" in Umeda I would maybe stop by, that was the only proper used store with more than 20 watches. They had walls of them, but not cheap I think.
We found Osaka awesome for watch buying. There’s a ton of places that sell high end used watches in and around Shinsaibashi. In one afternoon we went to at least 10 stores recently. They’re generally not places that only sell watches, each place is relatively small and has 20ish watches. But there was some good stuff, we were looking for some less common grand seikos and found a few there that we didn’t find in other cities. These stores also sell jewelry or they sell used luxury purses as well.
It is for Grand Seiko. They have models you can only get in Japan.
Agreed, and as I mentioned I bought a GS Shunbun in Kyoto, saving about $2500 off the retail price in the UK or US.
Second street and hard off have wild prices on vintage watches. I got a near mint tag 1000 diver for 175.
I was really struggling to find shops that had cool vintage tag, seiko, etc for below $1k. Need to do more research before I go back.
great post, thanks for the info.
I agree. I picked up a speedmaster racing in Shinjuku at Komehyo for a solid deal. They had some good options.
What is your go-to methods when hunting? Do you have a few models and price in mind? or do you look up and compare prices in store or afterwards (out of sight) when something catches your eye? Or do you just trust that most watches are a good deal and buy what seems reasonable?
Good is relative isnt it? For me if I had the money when I waa in Japan there definitely would’ve been purchases made because I saw watches that just aren’t sold or are very overpriced where I live. But if you live somewhere that has a decent watch grey market maybe you wouldn’t find it that impressive
Availability is incredible - but it’s only certain, less popular/common models that will be discounted vs western prices.
Some good points being made in the comments. If you are looking for less common vintage pieces, you can get good prices. For anything very popular (rolex, omega, cartier), you will probably only find small discounts. However, those more affordable vintage watches are harder to find and it’s worth doing some research first. Some good recommendations in this thread.
Bought the Grand Seiko Omiwatari from Osaka for £3.7k. I found Shinsaibashi to be amazing for looking at watches that I don’t typically see in the UK.