Watches - another OCD problem
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I’ve only once found a Rolex AD to be vaguely welcoming. They seem to have a business model of being rude to customers, work in a very similar way to Ferrari. If you want anything vaguely desirable they treat you like crap.
In the last few years I moved close to Cambridge and the Mappin and Webb have been exceptional. Maybe because I turned up with a beaten up but desirable watch, but I’ve never bought anything but in demand from them and they’ve never made me play any games.
Counter that with Lange, I was just excited to see a Zeitwerk and they invited me in, made me coffee and talked about the watches with me for about 45 minutes. Similar experience with Porsche, they welcome you in and chuck test drives at you just to share the excitement.
I’ve never had the mindset nor the cash to play “you have to buy this first games”. Rolex’s aren’t wildly exciting or interesting they’re just very good everyday watches to me.
When I first got into watches Rolex drew me in, then I felt it was too mainstream and boring and it was too obvious. Then I moved back to liking them for what they are.
Broken old houses, boring Scottish whisky, weird Japanese denim, all French wine, sad American music, wool socks in summer.
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@Daysleepers I've never been in the market for a Ferrari, but I have noticed a few watch dealers with the attitude that, "You can't have that."
I've always found it a bit of a strange approach when the customer is looking at spending a large sum on a discretionary purchase, but I don't have a background in luxury goods, so what do I know.
Rolex produces about a million watches per year. I suspect that the shortage is played up to make them appear less attainable.
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@Graeme I haven’t been in the market for a Ferrari, but my step dad was and it was astonishing how rude they were when someone was trying to spend £200k+.
He bought second hand for a discount in the end.
Rolex could both make more of the watches people want and more watches in general. I’m sure they sell everything they make, but it’s clear they’re upsetting potential customers and fairly universally too.
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@Daysleepers Rolex probably can't scale production that quickly. They're building a new factory in Bulle that will increase output by 20% when it opens in 2029.
I wonder how much of the Rolex shortage is theatrics. I've seen a fair number of posts by people on watch forums in the past where they were told it would take several years to get a Submariner, and then one arrived a few weeks or months later.
Part of the attraction of Rolex (and Patek) is that their watches tend to hold their value, if not appreciate, and making it difficult to get one probably supports the aftermarket. I know a few people who won't buy other brands because they suffer from significant depreciation.
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Added another want to the collection today. I’ve been going back and forth pretty hard on a white dial, was between explorer 2 and omega smp. Explorer 2 won out in the end…. Early birthday present, fit the bill for a white dial hole in the collection. I totally love it, comes across very tool watch less Rolex flashy!
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Congrats she’s a beauty! the one I would get if I went with the 2.
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@Graeme you're right, they can't and won't scale production quickly. They aren't a listed company trying to make money quickly for shareholders, they are a private company (a charity IIRC) in it to make money over the long term, and meeting short term demand doesn't really help that.
I don't really see the scarcity point as any different from small but successful brands in other areas not being able to meet every customer demand because they aren't big enough to make everything all the time and not willing to leverage to meet demand. Lets be honest, selling everything you make without the need to reduce prices is the ideal for a brand.
The designs are great. they're boring and obvious in the way a pair of 501s, or Converse are, the design is good enough that it becomes the basis of other people's designs. There are plenty of great watches, but if you want a once and done "luxury" watch rather than a collection a Rolex is likely to meet that.
The problem is the ADs IMO. The ADs sell to the grey market (for backhanders I assume) and although they've tried a few times, Rolex can't stop it. That said I bought my Explorer from an AD with no spend history. I went in, said I'd like one when they had spare stock, 18 months later I got a call and bought it.
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@NickD said in Watches - another OCD problem:
The ADs wives/husbands/partner sell to the grey market (for backhanders I assume)
Corrected
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That really is a friend, @truby!
Agree that it is too busy. Reminds me of a IWC Portuguese (which I am lusting after) with more drink holders.
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Not to beat a dead horse here regarding Rolex and ADs blah blah blah.
I got my E2 for my 50th and love it!! My daily wear. My local AD has always treated us incredibly well. We had to wait about 5 months but not a big deal with a bit of planning. We’ve gone there for years now for wedding rings, other watches etc. But I sort of chalk that up to having a great local shop we love.
In the easy chair with my boots on, melted whiskey in my hand. Could'na been asleep for more than three hours...time to go to work again...
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@moskiitto apparently a craftsman heat blues each hand by sight alone. Kinda cool.
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She’s a beauty.
I’m a Rolex guy, so the whole AD thing is annoying, but it is what it is. I passed on two watches last year: a 126334 Datejust 41 (fluted bezel, blue dial) and a Submariner (green bezel) 126610LV. I’ve only been in that particular AD once since then, and the GM my main contact for watches tried to sell me a bunch of jewelry. She didn’t even ask if I was looking for a watch, even though she has my list. It kind of felt like one of those “buy a bunch of this stuff, then we’ll talk about your watches” situations.
It turned me off a bit, but honestly, I think if I reached out again via text I could probably get something fairly quickly aside from the obvious high-demand pieces like Daytonas, etc. You just have to stay on top of them. Right now, though, I’m in a phase where I don’t really want anything and don’t feel like spending the energy chasing watches.
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@northsouthdenimguy I know the BS is real. I’ve been to other ADs in other cites, states, and counties and have felt the same as many here have described.
Never felt that at our local spot. Though I’m sure there are some true big spenders that get superior, preferential treatment…for regular ol common folk, we always feel like they are treating us right. -
Yeah, it was kind of unusual with her, since I’d already bought a few watches from her at that location, and I’ve been buying from that store, at different locations for over 20 years. Definitely not a big fish but a decent purchase history over two decades.
All that being said, I’d hate to be a first-time Rolex buyer these days. A buddy of mine just got started and he’s already several watches in, buying everything gray instead of waiting, just tossing money away
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Honestly the behavior of an AD on this is indicative of whether you should partner with them on other matters. If they are super mercenary about that they will be about everything else. If you find a nice AD stick with em I say. Beautiful EXP2s guys!
