I have been searching for a couple of Zenith watches over the last month or so, and this company appears on Chrono 24 with a good wide range. All the images are stock photos (it would seem), I realise that is not necessarily something to be concerned about. If I can deal with a UK based company things should be straightforward, no tax issues/customs problems etc. But the company address on Chrono 24 is given as;
Tourbillon
55 Church Road
London SW19 5DQ
United Kingdom and a mobile: [+44] 7919 556964
A quick google doesn't show up a registered company by that name, but it does seem to have been an address for quite a few in the past.....and my spidey senses started whirring when there was a phrase 'WE CAN ARRANGE A SELF-PICKUP IN HONG KONG'.
Has anyone had a positive purchasing experience from this place? Am I being too careful?
Thanks in advance.
https://www.chrono24.com/en/dealer/toutbillon/index.htm
Also says they can do pick-up in certain European locations – why not send them an email or phone the mobile number, and ask directly?
Chances are they source from all over the place, and the point you're raising as a concern is probably more for their Asian buyers convenience.
Only way to know for sure is to make use of the contact details and ask them yourself.
Just wondered if you found out anything interesting, or did your deal with them, as they are selling a watch I might be interested in. As you say buying from the UK seems safer but you never know.
Neil
Maybe I was being too cautious, but I failed to get that warm and fuzzy feeling so I went elsewhere.
To be fair the only contact I made with them was to ask if they were interested in part-exchange (they weren't). I now notice that they show off virtually the whole Zenith range of watches, all with stock photos.
Bought the watch I wanted off Chrono24 from an AD in Spain, 48 hours delivery, arrived yesterday, warranty signed and a beautiful Zenith stand included.
One very happy punter. Pics and story to follow. :)
Thanks for the update. I think I will shop around before I commit.
Neil.
Coincidentally, i made an enquiry to them today after which i did a Google search and this very thread came up..
Got a quick response from them, but not from someone who you would have thought English to be their first language and a bit vague an answer - something about the watch maker `is changing prices still`(is the advertised price just a guide then!)...
On the email footer was a link - admittedly `under construction` but that looks like a Russian host?;
http://www.tourbilloncompany.com/
I would never have forwarded any money until i`d inspected the goods at the above London address, but the whole thing didn`t inspire confidence at this point.
On that basis, i`m out.
I have a had a look at this company too as they seem to be the cheapest on Chrono24 for a number of brands. I would normally be quite sceptical, but they offer their watches via the "Trusted checkout" facility on Chrono24 albeit for an additional 2% fee. Using this service must surely negate all risk as Chrono24 act as a broker?
Last edited by rmclachlan; 8th February 2015 at 20:12.
...now this is strange, and will no doubt push the company off the radar of many on the forum! All the watches now have a disclaimer about the displayed prices being for Non-EU residents, in other words you will now have to add 20% VAT!!!!
Cute move.
FOR NON-EU CUSTOMERS: PRICES THAT YOU SEE ARE FINAL AND ARE AFTER ALL TAXES FOR OUR NON-EU CUSTOMERS (Export prices).
FOR EU CUSTOMERS: EU CUSTOMERS MUST ADD 20% VAT TO OUR PRICES. Price that you see must be multiplied by 1.2. For example, if the price that you see is 8000 Euros then the final price for EU customers will be: 8000 * 1.2 (20% VAT) = 9600 Euros final price)
Interesting. Up until recently the prices listed were including tax. If you had the watch shipped to a non-EU country you could deduct a further 20% from the advertised price. I know because recently i enquired about sending a watch to switzerland.
Funnily enough I've just been looking at them also and noticed the following in this particular advert :
So looks like the price is the European price so no extra tax to pay and item can be picked up from the London office. Something definitely doesn't feel right but still interested in if any others pursued a purchase from them.4. We offer additional discounts if the buyer is outside the EU.
5. If the buyer is outside the EU, he or she can buy without the VAT (-20% in addition to the shown price)
6. Self-pickup is available at our London office.
They seem to have a massive amount of watches advertised for sale. All stock photo's and at prices which are far cheaper then everyone else. After researching quite a bit there doesn't seem to be any feedback from previous buyers online so i'd be very cautious personally.
i have purchased from then before....no issues would recommend
Tell us more, did you pick up from London?Originally Posted by 3zero7
can you share more details please? what did you buy and where?
company is based close to the place i live. I would be tempted to check them out due to my curiosity as they have very good prices, the best on chrono.
First post in the forum on this thread.
Am I only one who is a bit suspicious?
No you're not.
My understanding is that this company doesn't hold any stock and will order the watch for you from abroad.
From a search I found one of the 25 companies registered at that address had vaguely watch related name and stated
"There are multiple companies registered at this address, the registered address may be the accountant's offices for TEMPUS GLOBAL LIMITED "
Doesn't sound too good really imho
That means nothing. Plenty of companies use their accountant as their registered address, it's just a matter of convenience.
came across this thread frm google before i pulled the trigger on buying frm them...have received my watch safely...so decided to register and post my feedback
Last edited by 3zero7; 9th April 2015 at 15:07.
What did you purchase?
Was it received fully boxed and papers stamped from an AD?
What were the communications like through the transaction?
How did you pay - bank transfer or do they take cards / PayPal?
From ordering how long to it take for the watch to arrive - was that in line with their initial delivery estimate?
bought a hublot...i had it delivered...took sometime for them to ship it...as when u pay then they only order it for you...they seem to only have limited stock....they ship their watch from Austria from an authorised dealer as i checked from the hublot web...
i bought it directly from them but found their contact from chrono24...
yes complete box papers etc
communication was fine for me. it was via bank transfer...i was confident as i knew they are an authorised dealer listed in hublot web.
delivery estimate was inline with what they told me
Useful additional info, and hopefully it'll help others in the future.
Edit:
Thought the username looked familiar – saw it earlier on PH, which I linked this thread from.
So we can expect photos of it in tomorrow's "It's Friday thread" here, that someone will start just after midnight, and the Wristcheck one on PH?
Last edited by PJ S; 9th April 2015 at 15:26.
So who did you pay, Tourbillon Watches or the AD they sourced the watch from?
How did you find out which AD they were sourcing the watch from in Austria?
paid the AD...in the bank details stated the AD name and address...so i crossed checked the AD its listed in hublot web with the correct name and address...
So how do Tourbillon Watches make any money if they've effectively introduced you to an AD and you've paid the AD direct?
I too would be very cautious. I have tried to enquire about 3 different watches on 3 occasions with no response whatsoever.
They are based a few miles from me and I mentioned I would be interested in collecting from their offices but never heard anything from them whatsoever. 1 occasion I could overlook but thrice, no thank you.
3zero7 - thanks for the feedback, the more details you can give the better.
that im not sure...from my perspective as a buyer the moment i got to know i was to pay to an AD boosted my confidence...and the AD email was always CCed in all the communications and responded too...unless they are actually the same company but registered in the uk as Tourbillion...just my guess
something doesn't sound right here. you paid to AD not that company? is it some kind of nigerian scam ? cant say it is buying a watch from a company.
Photo of box and receipt from tourbillon watches would do the trick for everyone i suppose. Who did you deal with from that company on the phone? Steve or Helen?
I contacted them to buy a Zenith El primero original 1969 in early March, and have had a bit of too-ing and fro-ing by email since. They advertised 6-10 days, but now it's been 37 days I'm a bit skeptical as to whether they will actually come up with the goods. On the plus side they said they didn't need any deposit so I've paid nothing.
I do know that they have (or planned) to move offices to Mayfair, which they advised when I asked if I could come in and see them.
I don't mind waiting for a watch to arrive, but I would appreciate being advised of delays, or at least a reason why nothing's turned up. The only hint of an explanation or an apology was that people were busy with baselworld. I have no reason to believe that they aren't legit, but their customer service and communication is non existent.
Unless I hear from them by the end of the week I'm going to look elsewhere.
anyways im just trying to share my experience...i was also cautious before i pulled the trigger and was also googling for buyers feedback which i found none...so i thought my feedback would help sone of u guys
the price of their watches are cheap due to -20% vat ...benefited me as im outside the eu...else it would would be much the same price as buying from other sellers from the US
From what I can see online, there is a guy called Boris who
1. Owns an AD in Austria (for Hublot amongst others)
2. Has a business called Tempus registered in same address in Wimbledon as Tourbillion
so guessing that's the link
please let us know who you were dealing with. Steve or Helen? as when i tried contacting them no one else apart from them worked there in their office to handle customers.
the guy i dealt with was Anton...but while i was waiting and asking for updates another person responded named Kathrina.
i also could see the name Boris in one of the CC email
That's beginning to make more sense now and hence why the AD was paid direct.
Comes across maybe as an AD that users a "grey dealer" frontage to generate international internet sales at discount prices without being too blatant about it.
yeah - I think you're right - seems to be selling in Vancouver too via another registered company
Very interesting technique this, and one you'd expect the watch co/s to be interested in hearing about... I.e. we all know that ADs have ways of dumping stock via greys in order to meet their targets, but an AD establishing a covert grey dealership in another country (*if*, of course, that's what's actually happening), wow.
Good for the customer.
Hi guys, I've been thinking of ordering from here. It's been on my mind for like a month now, but still could not decide because they have such a shady profile, their reply speed is slow, their tone seems to be people not really interested in selling, etc.
Anyone else other than the guy above dealt with Tourbillon yet? I searched with all my might but because of their name, all that come up in my search is just bunch of expensive tourbillon watches.... Maybe their strategy to avoid customer reviews? Clever if it is.
I live very near there and actually walked down Church Road on Sunday... I noted the building next door at the time as it has 'Ski Club' written on it (just verified on google streetview)... I'd guess simply a registered address, e.g. accountants as others have said.
Funny thing is, on their emails, they have a different address noted. This is the address:
Tourbillon Company
www.tourbilloncompany.com (under construction)
info@tourbilloncompany.com
Our address (by appointment)
Brook St. 52, Mayfair, London
+44 7881 846974
It seemed very weird. Maybe they are just private group of business without an actual workplace? Maybe I should just give up and steer away...
Given the lack of assurances and others to have completed successful deals with them, they might be best avoided for the meantime – until more information is gleaned and forthcoming about who they are and how they operate.
The last thing you need, is to become embroiled in any problems which your remoteness makes difficult to rectify.
At least here, a buyer can visit wherever they are located, by appointment, and see the item, etc.
Welcome to the forum, btw – hope you're sticking around to partake in, regularly.
Last edited by PJ S; 21st April 2015 at 19:42.
I wish someone could find some good info because there prices are well good
thanks for the welcome. I hope so too, and am planning to do so as long as I'm still into watches. I try everyday to convince myself to get away from this expensive madness though. :)
Well they finally came though, and now i am a very happy owner of a shiny new (and discounted) Zenith. The service was very slow and the lack of communication was annoying, but if you are not in a hurry and are less manic than me, they are worth a go.
Good to hear it went ok,there's been plenty of people asking questions about them ,it's good to know they came up with the goods and you probably saved a few quid
I'm glad that it went okay too! Yes I noticed their rudeness and slowness during our communication.. Maybe I should buy from them in the future.
Thanks for sharing!
Just to reignite this thread, I saw something I liked on chrono24 yesterday being offered by a company called globaltempus.com. I sent through a query to receive an email in return from Toubillon Company (Anton) but signed off from Global Tempus (address Brook Street, Mayfair). So looks like they are operating under multiple guises. They responded pretty quickly although the watch was sold out. Incidentally I noticed at the foot of the email it had the notification they received from chrono24 of my question, this was in German so maybe some credence to the Austria grey dealer angle discussed earlier in this thread.
Hey forum,
just wanted to leave my experience with Global Tempus which is unfortunately no good one.
Contacted them some weeks ago for buying a Hublot watch that has been introduced on Baselworld earlier this year. Contact was with "Trusted Checkout"-form at chrono24.com. I received a short answer by Anton, a sales representative at Global Tempus, that the watch is still not out yet which is a correct information.
Because I had planned a trip to London for the next weekend anyway (and my Hotel was almost around the corner from their office at Mayfair), I kindly asked for an appointment. Just wanted to see if they are trustworthy after I read this thread here.
Instead of getting a confirmation or at least a friendly cancellation I received nothing. And the day after my buying request at chrono24.com has been cancelled by Global Tempus without further notice.
Do they have anything to hide? I don't know!
I think it's not an appropriate behavior by Global Tempus to someone who wants to transfer 15.000€. I decided to wait until a local jewelry here in Cologne can show me the watch, even at higher costs.
My recommendation: don't buy at Global Tempus.
Best regards,
_a
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