Generally Speaking, the site is horrible.
I‘m always telling people – my readers, my friend – “You live, and you learn.” I mean, we`re all human and we all make mistakes. But, the important thing is that you learn from those mistakes and become a stronger, better person because of them. But, the part I always leave out from the old adage is that some people are just too stupid and stubborn to learn from their mistakes. Take Cool-Watches.com for example. Now, I first stumbled upon this site ages ago and, upon initial inspection, I deemed it too awful to be reviewed. Months and months have gone by, and I figured they must have made some improvements by now. Unfortunately, these people simply do not learn. This site is the pits; read on if you`d like to find out why.
Are These Watches Any Good?
I was going to use this review as a chance to finally get a Harry Winston watch. Unfortunately, despite the fact that these guys claim to carry Harry Winston, there isn`t a single watch in their collection. So, I moved on to another coveted watch brand that people have been talking to me about – Roger Dubuis. Here`s an image of the Excalibur I ordered from Cool-Watches.com:
It looks ok, right? Well, at a first glance it looks ok. The watch I received was of a dubious quality. But, the problem I`d like to focus on is not how cheap the watch is (and it is really, really cheap) but, rather, how this watch doesn`t match the product their trying to replicate. Here`s an image of the Excalibur they were going for:
In particular, look at the details on the main dial and on the secondary dial – they`re simply wrong. Also, the text and fonts don`t match. Hey guys, when you`re replicating a watch, you should make it actually look like the original, ok? That`s sort of the point of this whole replica thing.
Can I Use This Site?
Yes. Even though this site is annoying to look at (see below), it`s organized such that a makes for easy navigation. The categories are clearly laid out and easy to find. This is a well designed site and that`s pretty much the only good thing I can say about it.
How Does This Site Look?
Pretty bad. It`s more cluttered than a teenage girls` bedroom and “My Shopping Cart” keeps following me around the site (in the top right corner) like my personal demons that just won`t disappear. On the other hand, their watch images are actually pretty good. Too bad they don`t correspond to the ACTUAL WATCH you`ll receive.
Is Their Service Staff Any Good?
Hey guys – your whole 9am-8pm phone contact availability thing can be easily checked. All I have to do is call the line to find out that there`s no one on the other end to answer. WTF? Any company can answer and email within 24 hours. Not every company will tell you to call them and then NOT answer the phone.
Do They Have Quality Shipping and Returns Policies?
There`s a $10 restocking fee which always gets my goat. But, whatever, it`s a small price to pay for getting rid of a bad replica. In terms of shipping, in the USA it`s free and takes 5-7 business days; a standard issue shipping policy.
The Bottom Line
If you`re going to deal in replicas, you`ve got to make them right. People should never settle for a Roger Dubuis-esque watch that looks sort of like an Excalibur but not any Excalibur in particular. Until these guys learn to make watches that are the exact likeness of an original, this site just isn`t worthwhile.
