Rolex

We all know about the very limited supply of steel sport rolexes. I wanted to relay the following experience. I’ll be traveling from the US to Switzerland late next month. I’ve been interested in acquiring a black ceramic GMT (116710 LN). So I wrote to Be... 

If a brand doesn't want to sell me their product I spend my money somewhere else. It's their loss not mine. Just a couple of examples. A few years ago when the Panerai PAM 662 came out I refused to play the usual games of begging ADs or asking boutiques t... 

What do you think Rolex has to gain from this? Are people really buying Datejusts instead of steel sports? And is it enough to compensate for the other watches they could be selling? They spend a ton on marketing for watches you can even buy, which seems ... 

Does that help?

...having lived in Japan, I find customer service there to be the best I’ve ever experienced. Service in the US is abysmal. But as a rule I think Americans are more ‘forceful’ in trying to get what they want. Of course, that doesn’t matter if watches are ... 

...’poke this’ then why generalize about Asia when clearly Japan is ‘Asian.’? And while I have not lived in Singapore, I know people who have (and have lived in Tokyo as well) and they had nothing but good things to say about the experience. Is Singapore ... 

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...and ‘above my capacity’? Rather patronizing. And the point I made about not sending big $ to unknown people seems to be common sense. That point being I wouldn’t send my hard-earned dollars to anyone, even in Japan, without knowing who they are. Is tha... 

they have filled that Rolex gap while claiming to produce only 40k/pa yet you see one on every other pedestrian wrist

AP is ready to step in with a RO, howelse did they achieve 1BN in revenues?!

now go to any mall, restaurant, super market all you see in all segments genders, moms, dads, retirees wearing RO’s in one iteration or the other from the quartz diamonds to 15202’s and complications. I highly question AP’s production stats considering I ... 

....outstanding models and makes future price increases more assertive and more palatable to buyers. Sort of like equity buybacks. Make/Sell less units but keep up with the topline while inc bottomline. There are more than 2k ST daytonas listed at the tim... 

Rolex has raised retail prices on steel sport watches a little, but not significantly, and in amounts consistent with historical practice as far as I can tell.

...dealers who blow out that spread further to avg out themselves and make their coin. This way Rolex/AD relationship survives with ADs not sellin anything too much above/below MSRP. There is something else to think about is what determines price here?...... 

If you are saying this is a strategy to protect against weak demand at some unknown time in the future then I don’t understand it. There are many ways to adjust supply to meet demand without having to lose massive revenue while the market is strong. As so... 

My pt was to show how they can and have come out unscathed during downturns. How they maintain AD relationships, achieve retail price stability all while supporting the collectors community which in turn appreciates their brand value.

Pathetic situation if you are not a vip client. I guess Rolex or Patek does not want to overproduce to flood the market as these watches have a long lifetime. Do may diminish brand value after a while.

One came from an Italian dealer NIB and the other from a dealer in Portugal, also NIB. So there is inventory, but authorized dealers would rather sell to gray market dealer than direct to customer. Why?

To grey market dealers so that they can move their slow moving items as well. For example, I'll sell you 2 steel sports but you have to also buy a slow moving DJ. Dealers being dealers, they would probably not mind because they're getting the DJ at a bett...  

They are gifts for our daughters who are graduating from college/university in the Spring. The Datejust with pink dial in 31mm, and the OP with black dial is 34mm. They each selected something a little different which suits their personality, which is nic...  

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Very good value I think given the quality and that they will be used everyday for the foreseeable future.

I have the same viewpoint regarding how you get currently get treated when you inquire about stainless steel AP RO, stainless steel PP Nautilus or the FPJ chronometre bleu. From the looks of it, most members of this forum can probably afford to buy any of... 

Is this the commercial behavior they want from the potential customers? The fact that you can’t visit Rolex’s home country and buy a commercially made product in their catalogue from an authorized dealer is pretty insane to me. It’s almost like they are b... 

I remember very well the very first years of 2000... It was the same situation. Some four or five years after, you could get them everywhere at the exception of the Daytona...

The price expansion of sports model has reached at par with (surpassed at high end) their dressy siblings in precious metals. lets see how much further does this pendulum swing.

It's possible that consumers underestimate the time and the expense involved in boosting production (plus the quality control and back-end customer service and watch service). Just keeping production steady and upgrading the line to 32xx movements in a st... 

If anything, it would make sense to reposition to meet the demand for the more popular models steel sports models, but they are (purposefully) not doing that.

They won’t be sucking up the supply from AD. I believe there is enough supply. But the greys got them all in storage. Anyone has a strategy to discourage flipping? Maybe Rolex should revisit their guaranteed policy.

Let’s not forget it is not a lost game for them as they have already sold the watches that are on the grey market...

Perhaps as an exercise we should walk back 18 - 24 months to when the global economic outlook was beginning to darken and fear of uncertainty and unknowns became the prevalent theme. Brexit, Populism, Trump, Tariff wars, falling Chinese GDP estimates and ... 

Thanks.

My wife told me a couple of weeks ago she want to buy me a Rolex (of my choice) this year. Since i'm interested in a sports model SUB, Daytona, Pepsi .... i have a problem. I can get a free Rolex but i can't ...according to Rolex ... 8 year waiting list f... 

.. would be a possibility but i can be VERY VERY stubborn in some cases. Since i really really like the new steel Daytona, white or black dial it doesn't matter ... but a (imaginable) 5 year waiting list ? Nope ... probably no Rolex for me then ... alread... 

.. to go and F*** himself ;-) The bloody liar wanted to come and pick up some extra stuff without paying his overdue invoice ....