Is there a Rolex bubble?

Is there a Rolex bubble?

Author
Discussion

LaurasOtherHalf

21,429 posts

195 months

Thursday 15th June 2017
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PJ S said:
Likes Fast Cars said:
LaurasOtherHalf said:
One word, Quartz.
Wash your mouth out with soap! eek
Yes, but make sure you use either Grand Seiko or Girard Perregaux soap!
It's true though isn't it? When cheap and reliable quartz movements became available most people all but wrote off the swiss watch industry, the new digital "smart" watch is just the modern equivalent of that.

I employ mostly young people and a high number of them actually have Apple Watches. I think it's quite nice to see as it happens, these are people who would have traditionally seen a Micheal Korrs fake rose gold fashion item as an expensive timepiece and if nothing else, it's introducing them to the world of fine watches if only through a slightly unusual way.


AllyM

263 posts

175 months

Thursday 15th June 2017
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Master Bean said:
The Blnr is only difficult to get hold of in London. Everywhere else it is quite easy.
Not really true.

ou sont les biscuits

5,086 posts

194 months

Friday 16th June 2017
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AllyM said:
Master Bean said:
The Blnr is only difficult to get hold of in London. Everywhere else it is quite easy.
Not really true.
The vibe from other forums is that if you tell an AD you want one, you don't have to wait all that long for one to turn up.

aquarianone

498 posts

176 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
LaurasOtherHalf said:
It's true though isn't it? When cheap and reliable quartz movements became available most people all but wrote off the swiss watch industry, the new digital "smart" watch is just the modern equivalent of that.

I employ mostly young people and a high number of them actually have Apple Watches. I think it's quite nice to see as it happens, these are people who would have traditionally seen a Micheal Korrs fake rose gold fashion item as an expensive timepiece and if nothing else, it's introducing them to the world of fine watches if only through a slightly unusual way.


Expensive yes...
Fine..really don't think so.

funinhounslow

1,600 posts

141 months

Friday 16th June 2017
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Yipper said:
Rolex are like Apple and Porsche -- a complete mystery why they are so popular. Of course, they have crafted a very strong brand that many people love. But Rolex watches are bland and dull and few people bat an eyelid at them. A relative has one that he has worn every day for ~30 years, and only ~2 people have ever asked to see it closer in all that time.

Regarding future prices -- Rolex will stay strong for now. But everything is going digital for under-30s, and when they enter the Rolex segment in the next 10 to 20 years they will be looking for something less analog. Rolex will eventually become like 1920s Ford Model Ts -- something still desired, but catering to an ever smaller market.
I admit smart watches may be causing some watch manufacturers sleepless nights but I am not sure if Rolex are one of them.

I would say for many a Rolex is an aspirational item, a once in a lifetime purchase to mark a special occasion like a significant birthday, promotion or retirement.

Although expensive, what else can you buy that you can wear all day, every day for the rest of your life?

scherzkeks

4,460 posts

133 months

Monday 19th June 2017
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jshell said:
Yipper said:
Rolex watches are bland and dull and few people bat an eyelid at them. A relative has one that he has worn every day for ~30 years, and only ~2 people have ever asked to see it closer in all that time.
One of the many reasons why I buy and wear them.

The others include: reliability, robustness (the clasps are now the best and the bezel is ceramic), timekeeping, classic designs, look better well worn and beaten up, and value retention.
Right.

One of the most recognized luxury items in the world.

"I buy them to fly under the radar and because I can bang them up without worry."

Powerfully built company director, and so on ...

laugh


Markaberdeen

2 posts

70 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
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Note Coke bezel now have stronger prices than pepsi. quote=hungry_hog]As the second poster says - sports Rolex are very strong and have been for many years. Traditionally the Submariner (as an example) has sold above list, a watch that you seen fairly often, yet is elusive to buy new.

You mention 20 shops but I would be surprised if many of them have a steel submariner, GMT or Daytona in stock. The ones I see have the Datejusts in the window. Or oddities like the Yachtmaster.

Rolex keeps pushing up the price of the new models, the used ones follow suit (sometimes overtaking the new model).

A good example is the Green bezel non ceramic Sub (16610LV) - I think they were around 3.5k at release, now going for 8k at some dealers. Pretty much double the price of the black bezel variant. Now the same thing is happening to the Pepsi GMT.
[/quote]

hilly10

7,076 posts

227 months

Sunday 15th July 2018
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I bought my 16800 Sub second hand about 5 years ago for £2,400. Out of curiosity I asked for a quote off Watchfinder they offered me just over 5k

harveys

160 posts

123 months

Sunday 15th July 2018
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I bought the non ceramic lv sub in sept 2005 from Ernest Jones for £2650. Think it's worth closer to 9k?

OGR4M

845 posts

152 months

Sunday 15th July 2018
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harveys said:
I bought the non ceramic lv sub in sept 2005 from Ernest Jones for £2650. Think it's worth closer to 9k?
IIRC Dom H had one (very briefly) quite recently and I seem to remember the price starting with a 12...

Exception rather than rule, I suggest, but you will have no problem tripling your money

dom9

8,040 posts

208 months

Sunday 15th July 2018
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There's a 2nd hand Coke GMTII in Chisholm Hunter's window in Kingston up for £9k... think I paid around £2,800 5yrs back (although it went straight to Rolex for a service, so ~£3,250 total) for mine.

To be fair though, £9k sounds toppy...

Recent price increases and the introduction of the (less attractive?) ceramics seems to have kept prices going in one direction. Where will it end? Does it have to end?

Wills2

22,669 posts

174 months

Sunday 15th July 2018
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hilly10 said:
I bought my 16800 Sub second hand about 5 years ago for £2,400. Out of curiosity I asked for a quote off Watchfinder they offered me just over 5k
So they have around £2000-£3500 in them depending on condition/box and papers etc...



So

Original Poster:

26,271 posts

221 months

Sunday 15th July 2018
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dom9 said:
There's a 2nd hand Coke GMTII in Chisholm Hunter's window in Kingston up for £9k... think I paid around £2,800 5yrs back (although it went straight to Rolex for a service, so ~£3,250 total) for mine.

To be fair though, £9k sounds toppy...

Recent price increases and the introduction of the (less attractive?) ceramics seems to have kept prices going in one direction. Where will it end? Does it have to end?
The used Rolex stock at CH does always look toppy to me.


h0b0

7,558 posts

195 months

Sunday 15th July 2018
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dom9 said:
There's a 2nd hand Coke GMTII in Chisholm Hunter's window in Kingston up for £9k... think I paid around £2,800 5yrs back (although it went straight to Rolex for a service, so ~£3,250 total) for mine.

To be fair though, £9k sounds toppy...

Recent price increases and the introduction of the (less attractive?) ceramics seems to have kept prices going in one direction. Where will it end? Does it have to end?
A friend of mine gets discounts at the department store he works at. They are so generous it is literally the only reason he works there. 3 years ago he got 50% off a second hand gmt Pepsi. I think he paid $2200. He also has a 2009 Sub which was a wedding gift. His father has a collection of Rolex’s which he bought many years ago at reasonable prices. He doesn’t wear them any more because of the appreciated value.

My watch buying hasn’t been as lucrative with IWC, TAG and Omega not rocketing in price. But, at least I haven’t lost money

Countdown

39,690 posts

195 months

Sunday 15th July 2018
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Caruso said:
Yipper said:
Rolex are like Apple and Porsche -- a complete mystery why they are so popular.
Apple have made a habit not of doing something 1st, but being the 1st to do it well. Porsche also do things very well. It's the same with Rolex, it's about execution not innovation. They've all built a brand on that.
What does a Rolex do better than other watches?

So

Original Poster:

26,271 posts

221 months

Sunday 15th July 2018
quotequote all
Countdown said:
Caruso said:
Yipper said:
Rolex are like Apple and Porsche -- a complete mystery why they are so popular.
Apple have made a habit not of doing something 1st, but being the 1st to do it well. Porsche also do things very well. It's the same with Rolex, it's about execution not innovation. They've all built a brand on that.
What does a Rolex do better than other watches?
Appreciate.

Bedlamater

216 posts

97 months

Sunday 15th July 2018
quotequote all
Quite a difference between bid and retail out there so don’t get too carried away, but prices have appreciated a lot in the past 2/3yrs for many of the sports models.

I purschased a used 2010 white dialled SS Daytona with B&P for €7000 (circa £5500 back the) from a French brocante back in the summer of 2015, absolute bargain. What is crazy thinking back is that it had been sat there for over a year as I had first thought about buying it on the previous summer holiday in 2015..

UnclePat

508 posts

86 months

Sunday 15th July 2018
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Countdown said:
What does a Rolex do better than other watches?
Perhaps a few things, but mainly inspiring people to talk b***ocks (both for & against) on Internet forums.

endo

244 posts

180 months

Wednesday 18th July 2018
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scherzkeks said:
jshell said:
Yipper said:
Rolex watches are bland and dull and few people bat an eyelid at them. A relative has one that he has worn every day for ~30 years, and only ~2 people have ever asked to see it closer in all that time.
One of the many reasons why I buy and wear them.

The others include: reliability, robustness (the clasps are now the best and the bezel is ceramic), timekeeping, classic designs, look better well worn and beaten up, and value retention.
Right.

One of the most recognized luxury items in the world.

"I buy them to fly under the radar and because I can bang them up without worry."

Powerfully built company director, and so on ...

laugh
You laugh, but I agree with Jshell (apart from the ceramic bezel part, and i prefer the KISS stamped steel clasps of yore....)

Long before social media and internet one-upmanship, Rolex sports/professional models were just that, hard wearing watches that could be worn every day, take abuse and keep telling accurate time.
And that's how I've always viewed them, My Dad bought his GMT new for the princely sum of $200 way back in the stone age and has worn it on every continent, onshore, offshore sun, rain or snow and it has the scars to proove it.
So when I finally had my own money I bought a Sea-dweller, with intention that it'd be worn every day and get taken to the grave with every dink and dent telling a story of it's life.

  • funny story, the woman in the AD was shocked at it's conditon when I had it serviced 5 years ago, she couldn't believe someone actually wore their watch to do stuff
(admitedly I was wrong on that theory, because I ended up with a lot of watches years later)


It's only in the past decade or so that Rolex have been pushing the watches as luxury items, and as such everyone perception has change.

As to the bubble, it is... it's going to keep growing
-as long as people keep buying into the rarity of certain models/variants,
-greed feeds the flippers that drives the ever increasing prices.
-Rolex keep production low (good thing imho.. a luxury item isn't luxury if every one has one)

Hilarious when you think 2 years ago... you'd be losing serious money if you flipped a Sub 5mins after buying one from an AD

Buster73

5,042 posts

152 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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harveys said:
I bought the non ceramic lv sub in sept 2005 from Ernest Jones for £2650. Think it's worth closer to 9k?
I bought my first Rolex, a non date Sub in Switzerland nearly 19 years ago , netted down to £1290 after discount , yes discount !

Quite frankly I don’t care what it’s worth now , it’ll never be sold , full stop.