Precisely what I did when I bought my ‘71 red submariner 
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The calculator says there’s no duty when importing a watch from Switzerland and a few other google searches seem to confirm this is correct. So it’s just the 800 squids for VAT then. 
Or about £100 return on easyJet…
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Ask him to bring it to Munich in May.
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Yep, a weekend in Basel would deffo earn some brownie points with the missus 
I wonder if he’s into hi fi…
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If he thinks you are into hi-end hifi he will put at least another £1K on the price!
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Maybe Zenith do a contra-rotating version…
time goes backwards shocker…
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That would make Mike’s day.
I’ve spoken with the dealer in Switzerland this morning. If I fly out to pick it up in person, he would still need to add 8% local VAT. That plus the cost of the flights, transfers, airport parking or cabs…wouldn’t be a lot less than paying VAT over here…hmmmmmmm
be aware they do catch people in Switzerland - I had a rather unfortunate experience being caught with £2k of brand new camera lens many years ago.
But surely if I’d already paid the 8% Swiss VAT, the risk would be at the airport when entering the UK?
I you would be ok, I was travelling through Swiss from Japan.
Is that Swiss or Japanese 
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the truly professional tax dodger would fed-ex the boxes and receipts to themself rather than carry them through customs., or so I’ve heard
Or might have his wife carry them through customs while he had a slash and followed moments later. Allegedly
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Or just brazenly (ok, ok, drunkenly) walk straight through customs with a watch on each wrist, and only realize as he was later getting a connecting flight in Manchester.
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Disgraceful. Good job this is all hypothetical. 
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Rather than get the Mrs or myself arrested, I’ve asked the vendor in Basel (which is only a few kilometres from the border) to dispatch it from France or Germany. He hasn’t responded yet, so is presumably thinking about it.
You would hope a Swiss traveler (maybe in a Swiss car) would attract far less attention than a Brit crossing over.
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Most of my business travel is from the uk to Annecy in France on the Swiss border near Geneva, so I fly into Geneva and taxi it to Annecy.
Usually I’m travelling with a load of prototype electronics and other stuff which I would have thought would get a customs mans sphincter a-twitchin’, never had an issue.
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After me suggesting he post my watch from France or Germany, the vendor canceled my order saying that would be highly illegal (in upper case with two exclamation marks)…
…which is a bit fucking rich considering he suggested I fly out and pick it up from him!
Tosser 
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