Without a doubt, London is one of the watch shopping capitals of the world. Our watch shopping journey started right next door to our hotel at the Andaz on Liverpool street. Carr Watches is located next to the exclusive boutique hotel Andaz on 53 Liverpool Street and is open from Monday thru Friday from 9am to 6pm. Carr Watches carries a nice assortment of new and pre-owned timepieces ranging from Audemars Piguet to Rolex, Panerai and everything in between. Interestingly enough, as we walked in, we ran into one of our Instagram followers and someone you probably follow on Instagram under the username Lucky Luciano. At Carr, we were welcomed by several interesting timepieces including a full set Audemars Piguet Royal Oak End of Days in mint condition, a Rolex GMT Master 16750 No Date Spider Dial with purple fading Pepsi bezel and a Panerai Radiomir 1936 California Dial PAM 249 amongst other fascinating watches.
After our brief stop by Carr, we took the tube towards Piccadilly Circus in order to check all the amazing boutiques and authorized dealers located on Old Bond Street and New Bond Street. Getting off the tube on Piccadilly Circus is the easiest way to make it to Old and New Bond Street where the real watch shopping experience takes place. Just a few blocks west of Piccadilly Circus, you'll stumble upon your first stop at the Burlington Arcade where Mappin & Webb and the Jaeger-LeCoultre boutique are located, right on the corner of Old Bond Street and Piccadilly. Mappin & Webb carries a nice selection of brands including Bell & Ross, Breitling, Omega, Rolex and even Patek Philippe amongst others.
As you start heading north on Old Bond Street towards New Bond Street, you will run into an wide array of watch boutiques including two Cartier boutiques, Vacheron Constantin, Omega and Rolex. Not far from the Rolex boutique and the second Cartier boutique, right on the opposite side of the street, located at 170 New Bond Street you will find MARCUS, perhaps the the most exclusive watch store in London and what we like to describe as a sanctuary for Audemars Piguet and haute horlogerie lovers as featured here last month. Next door to MARCUS, you will find the Piaget boutique.
Across the street from MARCUS, you will find the Breguet boutique that is currently being remodeled and temporarily located inside the exclusive Asprey store at the iconic corner of Grafton and New Bond Street. Right around that same block, you will stumble upon Chopard, De Grisogono, Georg Jensen and the Patek Philippe boutique. You can't miss the Patek Philippe boutique because it is flanked by the most beautiful brass sculpture of what we like to think as two watchlifestylers having a good watch talk right outside the boutique sitting on a park bench. The Patek Philippe boutique in London, is one of the only three exclusive boutiques —the other two salons are in Geneva and Paris— operated by Patek and is located right in between Georg Jensen and the prestigious Watches of Switzerland store. Watches of Switzerland is a very large authorized dealer that carries Baume & Mercier, Blancpain, Glycine, Jaeger-LeCoultre, NOMOS Glashütte, Omega, Rolex, SLYDE, Zenith, Rado, Oris, Panerai and Patek Philippe amongst other brands.
Still walking northbound on New Bond Street and not far from Watches of Switzerland, you will find the Hublot and Breitling boutiques, as well as two of our favorite authorized dealers in the world, Wempe and Kronometry 1999. At Kronometry 1999 —located on New Bond Street between Brook and Oxford— you will find a very large selection of haute horlogerie brands including Audemars Piguet, Hautlence, Richard Mille, Romain Jerome, Bovet, Ulysse Nardin, De Bethune, Vacheron Constantin, HYT and Zenith amongst others. Right next door to Kronometry 1999 you will come across Frost of London, the authorized dealer for Franc Vila, Arnold & Son, Maîtres du Temps, Giuliano Mazzuoli, SLYDE, Badollet, Devon, Cvstos and Corum amongst others.
Your last stop on New Bond Street and a must see, should be at the Watch Centre —located at 74 New Bond Street next to Leonidas chocolates. This fascinating store is a pre-owned and vintage watch paradise for those seeking Double Red Sea-Dwellers, Red Submariners, Steve McQueen Explorers, Paul Newman Daytonas, rare dial GMT Masters and even discontinued Audemars Piguet or Panerai watches. During our visit at their small but intimate store, we saw one of the most beautiful Red Subs we have seen in a very long time —complete with box and papers and with the thickest case one can find— along with a gorgeous 1655 Albino and even a rare GMT Master 1675 with United Arab Emirates royal crest insignia dial.
Lastly, if you still have time and energy for more watch shopping —which you probably will— head over to the south Kensington/Knightsbridge area to check the amazing watch department at Harrods of London. At Harrods of London you will not only have one of the best shopping experiences of your life, but you will also be amazed by the inventory and number of watch brands they carry. Some of the brands in their watch department include A. Lange & Söhne, Audemars Piguet, IWC, Panerai, De Witt, Frederique Constant, Richard Mille, Romain Jerome, MB&F, Breitling, Vacheron Constantin, Rolex and Girard-Perregaux just to name a few. While you are at Harrods, make sure you stop by the art gallery inside the store and get a mandatory wrist shot —like the ones at the bottom of this post— next to one of Salvador Dali's sculptures, especially next to the ones of melting pocket watches like those in his famous painting 'The Persistence of Memory'.
