Best Airports for Watch Shopping

cazalea · 2017-08-20T17:34:58Z

Frequent flyers share their top airports for watch shopping. Discover where collectors browse and buy, from Hong Kong to Heathrow, and discuss travel strategies.

cazalea

WPS member · Horological Meandering forum

18 replies3611 views3 photos

Cazalea initiates a lively discussion asking PuristS to share their favorite airports for watch shopping, whether for window browsing or actual purchases. He prompts contributors to include airport codes, frequency of travel, and even lifetime flying mileage. This thread taps into the unique experiences of watch enthusiasts who combine their passion for horology with their global travels.

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I have reached over into Wikipedia, and retrieved a small slice of their airports page. Here are the busiest airports in 2016, with location, code and passenger count.

I know there are many airports with great watch shopping options - in fact many have authorized boutiques in them (like Swatch) and not only cheap brands either. For example, Omega Boutique in SFO.

Please share with us your

1.favorite airport shopping location - being sure to give us the code while you are at it.

2. How many times you've passed through in the last year

3. If you are willing, your lifetime flying mileage if you know it - not "bonus" points, but approximate real seat miles.

For myself,

1. NRT is favorite though I cannot name a specific boutique

2. Last year didn't go to Norita, but MEX 4 times, SAN twice, IAH once, ORD once, and a few others not on this list

3. ~ 2.8 million miles (I'm old)

Cheers to all frequent fliers, I feel your (buttocks) pain.

Cazalea

Rank	Airport	Location	Country	Code (IATA/ICAO)	Total passengers	Rank change	% change
1.	Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport	Atlanta, Georgia	United States	ATL/KATL	104,171,935		2.6%
2.	Beijing Capital International Airport	Chaoyang-Shunyi, Beijing	China	PEK/ZBAA	94,393,454		5.0%
3.	Dubai International Airport	Garhoud, Dubai	United Arab Emirates	DXB/OMDB	83,654,250		7.2%
4.	Los Angeles International Airport	Los Angeles, California	United States	LAX/KLAX	80,921,527	3	8.0%
5.	Tokyo International Airport	Ōta, Tokyo	Japan	HND/RJTT	79,699,762		5.8%
6.	O'Hare International Airport	Chicago, Illinois	United States	ORD/KORD	78,327,479	2	1.8%
7.	Heathrow Airport	Hillingdon, London	United Kingdom	LHR/EGLL	75,715,474	1	1.0%
8.	Hong Kong International Airport	Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong	Hong Kong	HKG/VHHH	70,314,462		3.0%
9.	Shanghai Pudong International Airport	Pudong, Shanghai	China	PVG/ZSPD	66,002,414	4	9.9%
10.	Charles de Gaulle Airport	Paris (Roissy-en-France), Île-de-France	France	CDG/LFPG	65,933,145	1	0.3%
11.	Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport	Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas	United States	DFW/KDFW	65,670,697	1	0.2%
12.	Amsterdam Airport Schiphol	Haarlemmermeer, North Holland	The Netherlands	AMS/EHAM	63,625,534	2	9.2%
13.	Frankfurt Airport	Frankfurt, Hesse	Germany	FRA/EDDF	60,786,937	1	0.4%
14.	Istanbul Atatürk Airport	Yeşilköy, Istanbul	Turkey	IST/LTBA	60,248,741	3	1.7%
15.	Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport	Baiyun-Huadu, Guangzhou, Guangdong	China	CAN/ZGGG	59,732,147	2	8.2%
16.	John F. Kennedy International Airport	Queens, New York City, New York	United States	JFK/KJFK	58,813,103	1	3.4%
17.	Singapore Changi Airport	Changi, Singapore	Singapore	SIN/WSSS	58,698,000	1	5.9%
18.	Denver International Airport	Denver, Colorado	United States	DEN/KDEN	58,266,515	1	7.9%
19.	Seoul Incheon International Airport	Incheon	Republic of Korea	ICN/RKSI	57,849,814	3	17.1%
20.	Suvarnabhumi Airport	Bang Phli, Samut Prakan	Thailand	BKK/VTBS	55,892,428		5.7%
21.	Indira Gandhi International Airport	Delhi	India	DEL/VIDP	55,631,385	4	21.0%
22.	Soekarno–Hatta International Airport	Benda, Tangerang, Banten	Indonesia	CGK/WIII	54,969,536	4	1.7%
23.	San Francisco International Airport	San Mateo County, California	United States	SFO/KSFO	53,099,282	2	6.1%
24.	Kuala Lumpur International Airport	Sepang, Selangor	Malaysia	KUL/WMKK	52,640,043	1	7.6%
25.	Madrid Barajas Airport	Barajas, Madrid	Spain	MAD/LEMD	50,397,928	1	7.7%
26.	McCarran International Airport	Las Vegas, Nevada	United States	LAS/KLAS	47,496,614		4.5%
27.	Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport	Shuangliu-Wuhou, Chengdu, Sichuan	China	CTU/ZUUU	46,039,137	5	9.0%
28.	Seattle-Tacoma International Airport	SeaTac, Washington	United States	SEA/KSEA	45,736,700	3	8.0%
29.	Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport	Mumbai, Maharashtra	India	BOM/VABB	44,680,555	6	10.0%
30.	Miami International Airport	Miami-Dade County, Florida	United States	MIA/KMIA	44,584,603	2	0.5%
31.	Charlotte Douglas International Airport	Charlotte, North Carolina	United States	CLT/KCLT	44,422,022	4	1.0%
32.	Toronto Pearson International Airport	Mississauga, Ontario	Canada	YYZ/CYYZ	44,335,198	1	8.0%
33.	Barcelona–El Prat Airport	El Prat, Catalonia	Spain	BCN/LEBL	44,131,031	7	11.2%
34.	Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport	Phoenix, Arizona	United States	PHX/KPHX	43,302,381	5	1.7%
35.	Gatwick Airport	Crawley, West Sussex	United Kingdom	LGW/EGKK	43,136,795	2	7.1%
36.	Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport	Dayuan, Taoyuan	Taiwan	TPE/RCTP	42,296,322	8	9.9%
37.	Munich Airport	Freising, Bavaria	Germany	MUC/EDDM	42,261,309	3	3.1%
38.	Sydney Kingsford-Smith Airport	Mascot, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	SYD/YSSY	41,985,810		5.2%
39.	Kunming Changshui International Airport	Guandu, Kunming, Yunnan	China	KMG/ZPPP	41,980,515	7	11.9%
40.	Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport	Bao'an, Shenzhen, Guangdong	China	SZX/ZGSZ	41,975,090	1	5.7%
41.	Orlando International Airport	Orlando, Florida	United States	MCO/KMCO	41,923,399	2	8.0%
42.	Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport	Fiumicino, Lazio	Italy	FCO/LIRF	41,738,662	6	3.3%
43.	George Bush Intercontinental Airport	Houston, Texas	United States	IAH/KIAH	41,622,594	13	3.3%
44.	Benito Juárez International Airport	Venustiano Carranza, Mexico City	Mexico	MEX/MMMX	41,410,254	1	7.8%
45.	Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport	Changning-Minhang, Shanghai	China	SHA/ZSSS	40,460,135	3	3.5%
46.	Newark Liberty International Airport	Newark, New Jersey	United States	EWR/KEWR	40,289,969	1	7.4%
47.	Ninoy Aquino International Airport	Pasay/Parañaque, Metro Manila	Philippines	MNL/RPLL	39,534,991	2	8.1%
48.	Narita International Airport	Narita, Chiba	Japan	NRT/RJAA	39,000,563		4.7%
49.	Minneapolis/St Paul International Airport	St. Paul, Minnesota	United States	MSP/KMSP	37,413,728	1	2.3%
50.	Hamad International Airport	Doha	Qatar	DOH/OTHH	37,283,987	?	20.2%

Narita Grand Seiko display

Mexico City boutique

Cazalea

Key Points from the Discussion

Many contributors, including 'AuHavrePro' and 'brandon1', admit they rarely consider watch purchases in airports, preferring to window browse or focus on getting to their flight or exit. They find the airport environment not conducive to serious watch shopping.
The original poster, 'cazalea', elaborates on his own airport shopping habits, noting that he's usually too rushed during outbound or inbound travel. He finds connecting flights offer the most opportunity for browsing but questions the logistics of bringing a new watch home, including duty allowances.
Hong Kong (HKG) is frequently mentioned for its excellent selection of boutiques, including a large dedicated Rolex shop, as well as Jaeger-LeCoultre and Blancpain.
Heathrow Terminal 5 (LHR) is noted for its Watches of Switzerland store, which often has a good selection of Jaeger-LeCoultre.
One user, 'Bounce781', highlights a 'tiny airport' (unspecified) with only two watch shops but exceptionally good prices, recalling a Zenith Striking 10th purchase there.
Conversely, Chinese airports like Beijing and Shanghai are noted for high passenger volume but poor boutique availability.

The Discussion

patrickmaniac

Aug 20, 2017

Hong Kong has a good selection of boutiques esp Rolex. A dedicated huge shop for it. While china airports like Beijing and shanghai had high volume of passengers throughout, the boutique available are poor. Cheers PAt

Bounce781

Aug 20, 2017

Tiny airport. Only 2 watch shops (from memory) but exceptionally good prices. I think I bought a zenith striking 10th from there

nomadgiles

Aug 20, 2017

mainly Paris and Amsterdam - lots of watch shops in both but I'm a browser not a buyer. My favourite types of airport are small where you can wander outside and have few if any shops ;-)

piccolochimico (aka dsgalaxy1)

Aug 20, 2017

Although i'm not really interested when flying abroad.

AuHavrePro

Aug 21, 2017

I've 'only' been through 10 airports but have to say it was never a thing of mine to actually consider watch purchases in those situations, I simply window browse most of the time. I've been flying regularly since my parents took me to the US from Europe at 6 months of 'age', however, I never thought of attempting to round-up my air mileage and admittedly, I haven't traveled in the past two and a half years since my last living grandparent passed away in Europe. Funnily enough, I thought of you

chippyfly

Aug 21, 2017

I agree with you about Heathrow and Gatwick. Always disappointed. Best Clive

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