Finding a reasonably priced Swiss watch in Geneva. Mission Impossible?
October 17, 2008 1:41 AM Subscribe
I'm going to be in Geneva, Switzerland on business in a couple of weeks, and am interested in picking up a watch there. Any recommendations of where to look for something not crazy expensive?
It's intended to be a birthday present for my father, who likes watches quite a bit. And on that note, is there anything distinctly Swiss that would make good souvenirs for my other friends and family?
It's intended to be a birthday present for my father, who likes watches quite a bit. And on that note, is there anything distinctly Swiss that would make good souvenirs for my other friends and family?
Can't help you on the watch thing, sorry. I was going to recommend Swatch as a snazzy but everyday kind of brand, but for your dad you'd probably want something a bit more upscale, and the I only know the crazy expensive stuff, sorry.
As for "typical Swiss" stuff that isn't, well, tacky...
Chocolate - if you have a reasonable amount of money to burn, find a chocolatier in town get small boxes of pralines .. 20-30 CHF each. If not, a department store and go with some boxes of dark chocolate slices or pralines, 75% cacao or higher. Lindt is my favorite brand; Frey and Cailler aren't bad either. Nestle is headquartered in Switzerland but it's kind of yucky, honestly.
(Be prepared for your baggage to be searched if you bring chocolate back over, because it apparently matches the densitiy of some kind of explosive, or something - so I've been told. Use one of those TSA locks if you don't already.)
Swiss army knives - Wenger or Victorinox. Your options are widespread; the smallest knives start at 16 CHF. As an amusing bit of trivia, each of the companies I've named is (or was, until Victorinox acquired Wenger) allowed to meet exactly 50% of the Swiss Army's knife demands. Wenger is the Genuine Swiss Army Knife and Victorinox is the Original Swiss Army Knife. I love how the Swiss resolve legal disputes.
If you have any friends who like art nouveau/deco, I've found some nice tourist postcards which reproduce vintage travel posters from that era - look around in newsstands if you're interested.
If you have any artist friends, Caran d'Ache is a VERY nice, Geneva-founded artists' supply company. Mind you, with the economy being what it is I'm not sure if it wouldn't be cheaper to just get something at the link I posted...
Also, it's not strictly Swiss, but Haribo candy makes the best gummy bears on the planet. I'm just saying.
posted by bettafish at 9:15 AM on October 17, 2008
As for "typical Swiss" stuff that isn't, well, tacky...
Chocolate - if you have a reasonable amount of money to burn, find a chocolatier in town get small boxes of pralines .. 20-30 CHF each. If not, a department store and go with some boxes of dark chocolate slices or pralines, 75% cacao or higher. Lindt is my favorite brand; Frey and Cailler aren't bad either. Nestle is headquartered in Switzerland but it's kind of yucky, honestly.
(Be prepared for your baggage to be searched if you bring chocolate back over, because it apparently matches the densitiy of some kind of explosive, or something - so I've been told. Use one of those TSA locks if you don't already.)
Swiss army knives - Wenger or Victorinox. Your options are widespread; the smallest knives start at 16 CHF. As an amusing bit of trivia, each of the companies I've named is (or was, until Victorinox acquired Wenger) allowed to meet exactly 50% of the Swiss Army's knife demands. Wenger is the Genuine Swiss Army Knife and Victorinox is the Original Swiss Army Knife. I love how the Swiss resolve legal disputes.
If you have any friends who like art nouveau/deco, I've found some nice tourist postcards which reproduce vintage travel posters from that era - look around in newsstands if you're interested.
If you have any artist friends, Caran d'Ache is a VERY nice, Geneva-founded artists' supply company. Mind you, with the economy being what it is I'm not sure if it wouldn't be cheaper to just get something at the link I posted...
Also, it's not strictly Swiss, but Haribo candy makes the best gummy bears on the planet. I'm just saying.
posted by bettafish at 9:15 AM on October 17, 2008
Best answer: If you're looking for a good price, Switzerland is the worst country to buy a watch in and Geneva is probably the worst city. Most world-wide watch shops are quite happy to dicker over price and you can expect to pay 30-40% off retail for a new fine ($1000+) watch. In Switzerland? Not so much.
That being said, I bought my first mechanical watch in Geneva, a simple Frederique Constant. Not a well known brand, and not a particularly fine watch, but it was about $500 and made me very happy for a long time. So certainly go shopping, and worse-comes-to-worse if you love something but the price is too high then you can probably buy it cheaper once you come back.
Your other option is to look for interesting used watches; Geneva is a uniquely good place for that. Check the Timezone forums for recommendations of where to shop.
posted by Nelson at 9:53 AM on October 17, 2008
That being said, I bought my first mechanical watch in Geneva, a simple Frederique Constant. Not a well known brand, and not a particularly fine watch, but it was about $500 and made me very happy for a long time. So certainly go shopping, and worse-comes-to-worse if you love something but the price is too high then you can probably buy it cheaper once you come back.
Your other option is to look for interesting used watches; Geneva is a uniquely good place for that. Check the Timezone forums for recommendations of where to shop.
posted by Nelson at 9:53 AM on October 17, 2008
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posted by michswiss at 3:36 AM on October 17, 2008