Most of the worry about buying a watch you have not held is not really about the watch. It is about what happens if it turns out to be wrong. So here is the whole of it, written out, with nothing kept for the small print.
In short: refuse it at the door and pay nothing. Keep it and you have 30 days to bring it back to Durrës, unworn and boxed, for an exchange or a refund. Every watch is brand new and carries our own 1-year guarantee on top of any manufacturer warranty. This page expands what is on our delivery, payment and returns page and does not contradict it.
Three Different Promises, Not One
People run these together and then get surprised, so it is worth separating them. Refusing a delivery, returning a purchase and claiming on a guarantee are three different things with three different windows and three different reasons for existing.
- At the door. You have not paid yet. Nothing is owed and nothing has to be justified.
- Within 30 days. You paid, you changed your mind, and the watch is unworn and in its box.
- Within 12 months. You wore it, you liked it, and something inside it failed on its own.
At the Door: Refusing Costs Nothing
Because we sell cash on delivery, the easiest return is the one that happens before any money changes hands. Open the box in front of the courier. If it is not what you ordered or not what you expected, hand it back and do not pay. There is no fee, no restocking charge and no obligation of any kind, and the delivery was free in the first place.
One thing to check before you refuse it. A bracelet that sits loose out of the box is not a fault and not a reason to send a watch back. Bracelets are adjustable and we take links out free at the counter, in a few minutes, whether you bought the watch today or last year.
Thirty Days to Change Your Mind
If you accepted the watch and paid for it, you have 30 days from the date of purchase to bring it back to the shop in Durrës. It needs to be unworn and in its box. You do not have to give a reason and there is no form.
This applies to a watch delivered by courier exactly as it does to one bought over the counter. Somebody in Sarandë gets the same thirty days as somebody who walked in from the next street. The one practical difference is that a return is completed at the shop rather than at a door.
Exchange or Refund, Your Choice
Within those 30 days you can take the money back or swap the watch for a different one. Most people swap. If the new watch costs more you pay the difference, if it costs less we refund it, and if you want to spend twenty minutes at the counter with three of them in front of you, that is the best use of the shop there is.
The exchange is why the 30 days matters most for gifts. A watch chosen for somebody else is a guess about taste, and a guess that can be corrected without an argument is a much easier gift to give.
The 1-Year Guarantee
Every watch we sell is brand new and carries our own 1-year guarantee from the date of purchase, in addition to any manufacturer warranty that came with it. If the watch stops working under normal use within twelve months because of a manufacturing fault, we repair it or we replace it.
That guarantee is ours, not a form we pass on to somebody abroad. The workshop that would carry out the repair is the workshop that sold you the watch, on Rruga Aleksander Goga, and the person who opens the case is the person who inspected it before it went on the shelf. There is more on how manufacturer warranties work alongside this in our guide to what warranty new watches come with.
What the Guarantee Does Not Cover
Accidental damage. Water damage beyond the rating printed on the dial. Battery replacement. Strap wear. And any fault caused by somebody else opening the case. None of those are manufacturing faults, and a guarantee that claimed to cover them would be a guarantee nobody could honour.
Two of those are worth a sentence. A battery is a consumable, like a tyre: a quartz watch needs one every couple of years and we change it while you wait, which is the subject of our battery replacement guide. And a case opened with the wrong tool comes back with a scratched gasket seat and a bent caseback, at which point the fault is the opening rather than the watch.
After Thirty Days
Past the thirty days, a change of mind is at our discretion, and in practice that means talk to us. What is not discretionary, and never will be, is a watch proven counterfeit or materially misdescribed, and anything Albanian consumer protection law requires of any seller. Those stand whatever the date is. The formal wording lives in our terms and conditions.
How to Start a Return or a Claim
Message +355 67 571 6090 on WhatsApp, or walk in. The shop is open Monday to Saturday from 8:30 to 20:30 and no appointment is needed. Tell us what the watch is doing, or not doing, and bring the box if you have it. A guarantee claim usually begins with us looking at the movement for two minutes, and a fair number of them end there as well.
The Watch This Page Was Written For
The Philippe Lauren Gold Classic at 59 euro (5,700 L) is the watch most often bought for somebody else: gold-tone stainless steel, small round case, silver sunburst dial with slim baton indices, on a matching five-link bracelet. It is quiet enough to be worn every day rather than twice a year, which is what you want from a gift.
And it is the case the thirty days exists for. Buy it, give it, and if the answer is a polite face rather than a delighted one, bring it back unworn and swap it for something else on the counter. Nobody has to pretend.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to return a watch?
Thirty days from the date of purchase. Bring it back to the shop on Rruga Aleksander Goga in Durrës, unworn and in its box, and you can have an exchange or a refund. There is no form to fill in and no reason you have to give. The clock runs from the day you bought it, not from the day you decided.
Can I exchange it for a different watch instead of taking a refund?
Yes, and most people do. Within the 30 days you can swap an unworn watch for anything else on the counter. If the new one costs more you pay the difference, and if it costs less we refund it. This is the usual ending to a gift that was the right thought and the wrong model.
Does the 30 days apply to a watch delivered by courier?
It applies to a courier delivery exactly as it does to a counter sale. Buying from Tirana or Vlorë gives you the same 30 days as buying in Durrës, and the same right to an exchange or a refund. The one difference is that a return is made at the shop, so a courier order that comes back is brought or sent in rather than handed over at a door.
What does the 1-year guarantee cover?
Every watch we sell is brand new and carries our own 1-year guarantee from the date of purchase, on top of any manufacturer warranty. If it stops working under normal use within twelve months because of a manufacturing fault, we repair it or replace it. The work is done in our own workshop by the watchmaker who sold you the watch, so a claim is a conversation rather than a shipping exercise.
What is not covered by the guarantee?
Accidental damage, water damage beyond the rating printed on the dial, battery replacement, strap wear, and any fault caused by somebody else opening the case. None of those are manufacturing faults. A battery is a consumable and we change one while you wait, and a strap is a wearing part like a shoe sole. Opening a case without the right tools is the one that most often turns a small job into a large one.
A Gift You Can Put Right
The Philippe Lauren Gold Classic is 59 euro (5,700 L), brand new with a 1-year guarantee. Free delivery anywhere in Albania, cash to the courier, and thirty days to exchange it if it was not the one.
Rruga Aleksander Goga · Durrës 2001 · Albania · +355 67 571 6090