Anybody have experience purchasing from the grey market venders? Specifically, authenticwatches.com

I understand you are giving up the manufacturer's warranty, but at very significant savings. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

I buy Seiko's from them like Jomashop.com - but it's irrelevant to me because Seiko's are cheap watches and I mod them so the warranty is moot

DavidSW. Always a great experience.

I've spent a lot with jomashop.com over the past couple of years ($10's of thousands) buying watches from Rolex, Ulysse Nardin, Zenith, Breitling and others in the $5-$10k range.
Just know exactly what you're getting into with gray market and make sure the discount is worth the potential problems.
Customer service will suck.
The return process is very strict and detailed.
Read all the fine print before removing any tags or protective plastics from your watch.
Test you watch as much as possible before removing tags/plastic (a timegrapher report is best, but a 24 hour wind and accuracy check is a good start).
You won't have a manufacturers warranty and the "in house" warranty will be very hit or miss as to the quality of work you'll get. Instead of using the in house if a problem arises, just suck it up and pay out of pocket for a factory authorized repair.
In order to cover any potential issues, I only buy gray if the discount is at least the cost of a standard factory service (for Rolex/Omega that's around $800 on non-complication watches). If retail is $8000 and I pay $7000 on the gray market I'm covered if the watch needs a service for some reason and still paid less than retail in the end.

Thank you!

The biggest complaints about gray market sellers on various forums almost always boil down to the buyer expecting knowledgeable, courteous, informed customer service and/or the buyer removing all the tags and plastic before finding an issue with the watch and then reading the return policy which usually states that once the tags/plastic are off you own it or you get hit with a steep restock fee. There are also complaints about crap warranty work.
You're buying from a discount warehouse middle-man, they hire semi-illiterate phone drones as customer service reps. I've found that using email is better (but usually slower) because there's proof of exactly what was said by both parties.
Check your watch over with a loupe and with a timegrapher if possible before peeling the plastic or cutting the tamper proof cords on the bracelet.
If there's a problem follow the return policy exactly to the letter and you'll have no problems, start veering off the path and thinking you're special is a recipe for frustration.
Don't even bother with their in-house warranty, the work is farmed out to the lowest bidder. Just suck it up and pay out of pocket for factory authorized service if required.

Jomashop and Authentic Watches are 100% legit companies selling 100% authentic watches, no worries on that front.

Great info - what I was looking for. Thanks again!