Swindon?
I spent a month there one night.
It was necessary for me to go to Swindon today (the horror...the horror). Noticed a lot of unusually high-end stuff in the window of Ernest Jones in the outlet centre (Breitling, TAG Heuer, Omega, Longines, Hamilton etc). More inside and they were all very, very discounted. Woman told me they were all pre-owned, but not by the public. They’re all watches that have been on the EJ staff scheme - bit like having a company car, they get them at cost for a year then they get sold on in their store. But lots of Ej stores have closed she said so all those come to the Swindon outlet shop.
Some have boxes, some papers. Some both and some neither. They all come with a 2 year guarantee. Just thought I’d pass on in case useful to anyone.
I recognise this means going to Swindon and thus even a 100% discount may not be enough.
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Swindon?
I spent a month there one night.
Any decent Tudors or Omegas?
Thanks for sharing. There are some nice pieces in there for sure. I passed a few weekends ago and some nice IWC Porsche Design watches caught my eye.
You are not wrong about the horror of Swindon though - try venturing into the Town centre.....Arghhh.
We use to live in one of the surrounding villages of Swindon which are now slowly being swallowed up by the monster that is Swindon. This is because Swindon is the only part of Wiltshire that isn’t protected as an area of outstanding beauty. So whilst Swindon is a horror the surrounding areas are wonderful. Also to be fair Swindon Old town is quite nice but the horror of the ‘main’ town centre is an example of all that is wrong with modern town planning.
With Cirencester just 10 miles North and Marlborough about the same South why anyone would voluntarily go into Swindon town centre is beyond me!
Last edited by paw3001; 4th August 2021 at 21:41.
Maybe to watch the mighty robins?
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Head to old town, you have a great family run watch AD in Deacons. Plus great coffee a few decent bars and good scoff, particularly Los Gatos.
Last edited by Middo; 8th August 2021 at 19:04.
What sort of discounts are they doing for a second hand watch that was sold at cost a year ago?
Thanks for the heads up. See you in Campbells opticians!
Well, the outlet village isnt in Swindon central (if we’re talking about the same place), so no jeopardy there. I would make a special trip to Old Town for either Deacons or the excellent running shop (although finding space in that tiny car park can be stressful).
Other than that, I don’t remember Swindon town centre being any worse than any others in England. They’re all pretty grim.
Almost tempted to take a drive over there...almost
Since I own a business in Swindon town centre I ought to talk it up a bit.
It's not that bad and has most of the major high st stuff. Yes it's been hit hard by the last couple of years but show me a provincial centre that hasn't. It suffers by having the outlet close by yet not quite close enough and being close to two major tourist centres of Bath and Oxford. Having Honda close hasn't helped either. It's got it's nice bits and not so nice bits but again not unique in that.
I wouldn't discount it completely and it does have an excellent opticians (or so I'm told occasionally).
+1 for the superb opticians @DavidL.
I ventured to the Outlet Village today to look at the Ernest Jones shop.
A fair selection of: Omega, (No speedys), Rado, Longines and a few Breitlings.
Prices were well out of my league and I whilst I am no expert, they seemed on the high side for used and some without papers or boxes.
Ernest Jones staff scheme is 40% off one transaction per year if you have worked there for a year.
40% off once per year when they're regularly giving 20-30% off in store to close deals on the spot isn't much of a staff discount.
Works out quite nicely If the watch was already discounted by 20-30% in the sale though…. eg - the Omega FOIS that was 3k at Christmas reduced from 4K. Quite a nice profit to be be made simply by flipping it. Nice little Christmas bonus. I suspect TZ has a few staff members on here.
Not on SC of course as all the greedy, crybaby keyboard warriors would come out of the woodwork and demand that they should get the discount passed onto them as well.
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A long time ago I used to date a girl that worked for Beaverbrooks. If I remember correctly she was allowed a watch at cost every 1 or 2 years with the amount taken out her salary monthly interest free, I guess there was also the option to pay it out right should you wish.
I imagine all the big chains do something similar.
I'm sure there's also an Ernest Jones at Gunwharf Quays not far from me, I may pop in next week and report back.
Ernest John discount scheme is 30% up to £9000 a year for the employee and friends and family then 40% once a year.
Just got a lovely Tudor BB blue 40%
That's pretty much free money on a BB, nice one.
I tried on a BB58 for the first time in ages today at CH in Kingston. It really is a perfect 'every day' watch. Really like the blue one, but left me in a conundrum as I would struggle to justify having both the 58 and the regular BB... Wish they'd just make a GMT version, I could justify that!
Am only commenting as the members of staff has how left the company.