# 1952 - A Very Good Year For An Elgin Lord Elgin "clubman"



## Will Fly (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm very fond of American pre-quartz watches, when they were still all-American made. This is a nice Lord Elgin "Clubman" with a waffle dial and a sweet Grade 680 movement in it. Lovely jubbly and just in this morning.


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## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

Nice one Will Fly and that is a very appropriate name for the dial decoration you have chosen. You certainly have a facility for choosing and buying some very interesting watches that I have never seen before and I wonder how many you purchase from the States, perhaps on e-bay. Is buying watches on American sites easy or can one run into problems of tax and confiscation, even if the watch is a pre-owned piece?


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## Will Fly (Apr 10, 2012)

If you buy from the US, then you can be liable to duty payable to, and estimated by, the UK Border Agency. It's not always clear what they might impose the duty on, and the rules appear to be bendable at their bidding. I've bought watches from private individuals on US eBay and never been charged duty. I've bought watches from Us eBay stores and been charged duty. I've bought goods other than watches, such as mainsprings, from US eBay stores - and not been charged duty. And I was once charged Â£50 duty on one of my own watches that I'd sent out to be serviced in the US! I wrote a long letter to the UK Border Agency, with documents proving I'd bought the watch at auction over here, and with copies of correspondence describing the repairs to be carried. Three months later I got a letter back dismissing my complaint.

The short answer is: if you buy a second-hand watch from the US eBay, prepare to pay the duty and just accept it. I have bought from private individuals who've marked their watches as "gifts" and then paid no duty - but we knew each other as friends. Having said that, there are many, many watches - particularly my favourite US Railroad watches - to be bought on eBay USA. At the moment, for example, there's not a single Hamilton 992B on eBay UK - and there are lots of them in the US. Looking for a Waltham Vanguard with a wind indicator? None to be found here - quite a few in the US. Prices are generally lower than over here, but then you have to add on duty and postage.

The Elgin I've talked about in this post - just bought - attracted me straight away because it's an Elgin, a make I've known for years. Elgin, Waltham and Hamilton were all good American brands before they sold out or amalgamated, mainly to and with the Swiss, in the late '50s and afterwards. Their movements were, on the whole, beautifully made and incredibly reliable - quite an achievement for factories that turned them out in their millions over a period of around 70 years or so. I would assert - rightly or wrongly, depending on your viewpoint, that American Railroad pocket watches in the first 30-50 years of the 20th century were some of the most accurate and beautiful movements in the world. But that's just my bias!

Should have mentioned earlier - this Elgin was on eBay UK - from one of my trusted sellers who specialises in Elgin, Waltham, Bulova, Gruen and Wittnauer. The latter two were American firms who imported movements from their factories in Switzerland and timed and cased them in the US.


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## BeechCustom (Dec 31, 2013)

'Always Watching', anything that comes into the UK from non-EU countries is subject to 20% VAT, regardless of whether it is new or pre-owned. If you buy a watch from the States via eBay or whatever you run the risk of it being intercepted by UK Customs who will hold it until you pay the 20% VAT charge. You also likely to incur a 'handling fee' from whoever is handling the postage. My last non-UK import (from Japan as it happens) cost my 13GBP handling charge if I recall correctly.


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## Will Fly (Apr 10, 2012)

BeechCustom said:


> 'Always Watching', anything that comes into the UK from non-EU countries is subject to 20% VAT, regardless of whether it is new or pre-owned. If you buy a watch from the States via eBay or whatever you run the risk of it being intercepted by UK Customs who will hold it until you pay the 20% VAT charge. You also likely to incur a 'handling fee' from whoever is handling the postage. My last non-UK import (from Japan as it happens) cost my 13GBP handling charge if I recall correctly.


Exactly. When I've had a watch from the US, the postman delivers a note through the door saying that the parcel cannot be delivered as there is duty to be paid, and it can be collected from my local Royal Mail sorting office on payment of fee. So I've gone there - luckily it's just a few minutes away by car - paid the duty, and taken the watch home. The Royal Mail staff have no say in the matter - they just act as handlers for the Customs cash.

As far as "non-EU" is concerned, I've bought stuff from Hong Kong and Bulgaria - and paid no duty whatsoever. Don't ask me why...


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