International warranty yes but you'll have to cough up the money to send your 'in warranty' watch to a service centre and worry about the loss while it is in transit. Although it is a minor component of the overall service you'll get from a brick and mortar some people like building relationships with local businesses.
In instances of nominal savings, I think the side benefits outweigh the cash you'll save up front - especially when you know who you are buying from - but to each their own.
A side benefit that I received was getting access to a hard to find piece like this before the March 1 increase:
Wouldn't have saved a cent if I bought it through other means.