I get that you’re mad at Jomashop, and maybe someone’s tone on the phone wasn’t the best, but this sounds like inexperience with banking and wire transfers more than anything else.

You got KYC’d. If you’re not familiar with the process, google KYC and read about it. A computer at your bank or Jomashop’s bank flagged your transfer as potentially fraudulent, and when that happens, they have to get information from you to submit it to their bank so that the bank can file it away somewhere in order to comply with their regulations. Once the bank is happy, the funds can be released.

They don’t need these docs for 95-99% of transactions–that’s why they don’t ask in advance. They don’t actually want your docs, their bank is requiring it to release the funds, and most likely the bank is indicating which docs they need on a per transaction basis, so they may not even knjow what to ask for in advance. It happens rarely enough that your sales contact may not be that familiar with the overall “whys” behind the process, and really, it’s not exactly their job to educate you about how banking works, so I can understand why the conversation might have gone badly, especially if this exchange was already making you tense.

If you had submitted the KYC docs like they asked, this would probably be over by now and you’d have the watch. This can happen with any wire transfer and is not specific to Jomashop (although some banks are worse than others). I’ve had it happen with and AD–one time it took 10 days of excruciating limbo to resolve (fucking TD bank), but you should be mad at the bank, not at Jomashop. I also had something like this happen once when wiring funds to buy a car.

However since you decided to take your toys and go home, now you get to sit through the fun wait of reversing/aborting a wire transfer which, yes, takes several days because wires are very much one-way fire+forget instruments and they need to be extra special sure that the money ends up in only one place.

What do you have already?

Not always. I bought an ALS gray and got a valid international warranty and full set of papers. The gray dealer acted as a middleman and had a German AD drop ship to me through a freight forwarder. The deal was really good compared to what I could get locally, in part due to the exchange rate at the time and in part because the gray dealer and AD were no doubt exchanging the piece at close to dealer cost. The warranty was activated at the AD right before they shipped it.

That looks like a cartoon drawing of a rich guys watch.

Many JLC Duometre models have a split second register that rotates once per second.

Sounds like your watch needs service.

What JLC?

Wrong sub

People are silly. Wear your watch. If it has problems, send it in for service. It’s not going to make a big difference.

Having done this for a while and having made my fair share of mistakes, my advice is to not buy a substitute for the thing you want. Every time I’ve done that, I’ve ended up paying more in the end when I sold the substitute to buy the original.

Starting with a strict price range is the wrong way to approach a luxury purchase. You’re already coveting particular items, don’t confuse them with the generic idea of “buying a watch”. Figure out which one of those two that you like the most and then figure out how (and when) to make it happen in a responsible way.

I bought a nomos under similar circumstances. Definitely one of my more regretted purchases. They look so cool in the store but once I lived with it for a while…meh.

They are both great but very different. The Polaris line is somewhat new, and it’s hard to say how it will age or if it will be unceremoniously cut from the product line like their previous sports watch offerings. They are very sharp and modern, and have the fit+finish to prove that. The case shape is angular and masculine. The subtly textured rubber strap is pure class, and JLC’s bracelets are excellent too. I’m a big JLC fan and while I haven’t acquired a Polaris, I have a couple of their other pieces.

The AT is later in its product cycle, and while the overall design is relatively timeless, the details on this watch are starting to look ever so slightly dated, specifically the “teak” dial, the faux braided strap, and the somewhat chunky deployant hardware. I own this watch in a different colorway and I wear it all the time, but looking at it fresh today, it definitely feels like a snapshot of where things were 5 years ago. I do love the slightly vintage-ish case shape.

Try them both in person. I found that the Polaris really out-performed my expectations once it was on my wrist, but it’s also a lot in some ways that make it less suitable for formal occasions.

If this was an annual calendar, I would have bought it by now. Enjoy.

Have you touched it? It’s on my list too but I need to try it on first and there aren’t so many kicking around.