Market
Cpt Scarlet's original post highlights a pivotal moment in the luxury watch market: Rolex's official statement addressing the scarcity of its products. This communication from Rolex, asserting that scarcity is not a strategy but a consequence of uncompromising quality and production capacity, sparked extensive debate among collectors. The ensuing discussion delves into the implications of this statement for the brand's image, its relationship with Authorized Dealers (ADs), and the broader market dynamics for highly sought-after references.
"The scarcity of our products is not a strategy on our part. Our current production cannot meet the existing demand in an exhaustive way, at least not without reducing the quality of our watches – something we refuse to do as the quality of our products must never be compromised. This level of excellence requires time, and as we have always done, we will continue to take the necessary time to ensure that all our watches not only comply with our standards of excellence, but also meet the expectations of our customers in terms of quality, reliability and robustness. Rolex does not compromise on what it takes to produce exceptional watches.
All Rolex watches are developed and produced in-house at our four sites in Switzerland. They are assembled by hand, with extreme care, to meet the brand's unique and high-quality standards of quality, performance and aesthetics. Understandably, this naturally restricts our production capacities – which we continue to increase as much as possible and always according to our quality criteria.
Finally, it should be noted that Rolex watches are available exclusively from official retailers, who independently manage the allocation of watches to customers."
a statement, not watches )
I’ve been told by many in the watch industry that Rolex watches lack the human touch. Some will tell you that the movement is still regulated by hand and that everything else is done by machine. Others say the entire production process is automated and nothing is done by hand despite what the brand says. Can anyone weigh in on this??
Obviously there isn't much skilled/human involvement lol
It was certainly an interesting decision to release a statement at this point in the Rolex saga. I was particularly interested in the last paragraph of the statement “ Finally, it should be noted that Rolex watches are available exclusively from official retailers, who independently manage the allocation of watches to customers.”. Interesting that Rolex thought that they needed to mention the retailer.
Was actually 810,000 in 2020.
Production was paused. Afaik normal years are into the 7 figure mark.
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