Calling Rolex AD's to be put onto interest lists

[CAPP0]

Dave350 said:

I had an email from a kind member inhere recommending a couple of ADs nearby.

Made an enquiry with the first one and had a phonecall not long after saying they had one in stock.

I’ll be going on the weekend! He said they get 1/2 subs a month.

Dave350 said:

I had an email from a kind member inhere recommending a couple of ADs nearby.

Made an enquiry with the first one and had a phonecall not long after saying they had one in stock.

I’ll be going on the weekend! He said they get 1/2 subs a month.

Dave350 said:

I had an email from a kind member inhere recommending a couple of ADs nearby.

Made an enquiry with the first one and had a phonecall not long after saying they had one in stock.

I’ll be going on the weekend! He said they get 1/2 subs a month.

He's been really good to you then! Or was it three different kind members? Are you going to all three this weekend?

[tangerine_sedge]

sandman77 said:

simonr100 said:

I have been collecting Rolex for over 20 years.

Things are harder now but here is what took me years to figure out.

Be honest with the AD - if you want a hard to get model ask them what you need to do - if it's buy 5 watches first it may be cheaper to buy grey market than take the loss on the 5 watches.

ADs are not impressed if you just buy sports models, they can sell them easy, you aren't doing them a favour buying them.

If you buy a precious metal piece say you will only buy when they have a daytona in stock that you can also buy - they will get you one from the safe.

Offer to leave the paperwork with them for a year so they know you aren't going to sell it on.
Make them realise you are a collector - send a picture of you at Basel etc.

Let them know you can buy immediately - not on finance- when they need to meet their sales targets you will be the person that they call.

Good luck everyone

I honestly cannot believe that some are willing to jump through these hoops to buy a Rolex sports watch. It is completely the wrong way round. The dealer should be selling themselves to the buyer not the other way around. It’s completely absurd.

This. These tactics by the ADs will come back to bite them when the Rolex bubble bursts...

[sidicks]

ellroy said:

Mmmmm. Green..

Yep, green. Black is the new green:
https://www.bellross.com/our-collections/Instrumen...

[ellroy]

You'll crack eventually Sidney.

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN!

[sad61t]

simonr100 said:

I agree, it's the weak £ that means so many tourists want to pick up a Rolex here and save money compared to their country.

Given the waiting lists, they must be witches if they booked a holiday 18 months in advance to come over here and buy a Rolex. Maybe the OP should try getting some clothes delivered from wildberries.ru and speak with a Slavic accent next time he visits an AD.

[simonr100]

sad61t said:

Given the waiting lists, they must be witches if they booked a holiday 18 months in advance to come over here and buy a Rolex. Maybe the OP should try getting some clothes delivered from wildberries.ru and speak with a Slavic accent next time he visits an AD.

That's not how it works.
They come here and buy watches on trips and the AD may sell them a sub date or similar sports watch if they buy something else. Waiting lists in my experience mean very little unless you are a good customer.

[kmpowell]

Simon

Forgive my naivety, but are you suggesting AD's across the country have safes full of Ceramic Daytona's, Batman's, stainless skydwellers, hulk's and Sub's, that they keep quiet unless you buy another watch?!?

[critical mass]

Spoke to my local AD; I'm currently torn between steel Sub date and steel Datejust 41.

They had a nice Datejust 41 with WG bezel, jubilee bracelet and dark rhodium dial. I'm quite tempted.....

The situation re the Sub is that they come in approx 1 per month. There is no waiting list- they put them in the window and it's first come, first served.

[kmpowell]

critical mass said:

Spoke to my local AD; I'm currently torn between steel Sub date and steel Datejust 41.

Trying to choose between a sports or a smart/dress Rolex will only end up in you eventually doing one thing... buying both! The same happened to me, I bought a white gold fluted navy blue Datejust2, then 6-9 months later I bought the BLNR that I also initially wanted.

Different watches for different occasions.

[simonr100]

kmpowell said:

Simon

Forgive my naivety, but are you suggesting AD's across the country have safes full of Ceramic Daytona's, Batman's, stainless skydwellers, hulk's and Sub's, that they keep quiet unless you buy another watch?!?

Not safe fulls but I bet they have some of the more coveted models in the safe for big spenders or to ease a sale of a less desireable watch.
It's only my experience. Think of it from an AD point of view - if somebody reguarly spends £50k a year on jewellery with them and they ask for a watch wouldn't it be nice to be able to get them the piece immediately and tell them that they hold one back for VIP customers? Would you rather sell a 116500 to somebody who won't buy another watch from you or sell do somebody buying a gold date just?

Ss skydwellers are still incredibly hard to get, I don't want one so it doesn't bother me.

I suggest some may hold some watches back to make other sales or to be able to sell easily if they are close to their sales targets.

[sad61t]

simonr100 said:

That's not how it works.
They come here and buy watches on trips and the AD may sell them a sub date or similar sports watch if they buy something else. Waiting lists in my experience mean very little unless you are a good customer.

Hi Simon, that an AD's response (and stock) might vary between customers was what I had, indirectly, intended to say. On second reading my post was rather opaque. If a customer arrives and must buy this week, or the AD loses the business, then I can see that they would be more inclined to find stock; particularly if the deal includes a pearl and diamond confection for Mother.

I would tend to Nigel Timidus, rather than Ivan Assertovich; which is probably why I can walk around car dealers for half an hour and no sales assistant ever stoops to approach me.

[OGR4M]

kmpowell said:

Trying to choose between a sports or a smart/dress Rolex will only end up in you eventually doing one thing... buying both!

Weirdly, my man maths is thinking exactly the same, with a navy fluted DJ41 on a Jubilee, coincidentally. I wonder if I can convince my mortgage lender that I need to stop paying for a year...

[SteveJL]

I popped into a dealer in Kingston to enquire about a (black) black bay. I already have the red version and a pelagos which I haven't gelled with.

I was informed that there is a 6 month waiting list for the black bay and that they require full payment up front! I would have been happy to leave a deposit of course and in the best PH tradition I am a cash buyer having saved up for the purchase.

I did end up walking away as I wasn't comfortable letting them have my money for possibly 6 months and secondly I was hoping to sell them the pelagos - they were not interested in the slightest.

The other local Tudor dealer who actually invited me to the relaunch of the brand in 2014 have never contacted me despite calling and going into the shop requesting that when they get the model I want in I will have it.

Someone must be buying these watches! I'd love to know who it is.

Seems a funny way to carry on for Rolex/Tudor or is it just the dealers?

[Octoposse]

Don't really have a dog in this fight . . . (although do have a 'big birthday' in 2018 and an Air King is a possibility) . . . but . . .

In the last few years I have been into our local Rolex AD (also the largest / most prestigious / best location jeweler in town) twice and each time they have been utterly obnoxious. First time I had just bought a diamond ring for my wife second hand and wanted an insurance valuation. They refused "it's not our policy . . . " in superior terms. Went elsewhere.

In the spring took my ten year old Navitimer Cosmonaute in for a service. They happily took £600 off me but couldn't be arsed to show me some alternatives when I asked about replacement strap. (I went to Ebay and cheapo jewellery shop at the end of the road charged me £2 for adjusting and fitting it).

Having customers competing to give them money rubbing off and shaping attitudes of Rolex AD staff across other aspects of the business?

[critical mass]

kmpowell said:

Different watches for different occasions.

Fair point.....I have the smart dress watch covered (JLC Reverso) and a Bremont Solo which will be relegated to DIY / Gardening/ Watersports. Really looking for something to occupy the middle ground. Hence the indecision.

[Fallingup]

sandman77 said:

I honestly cannot believe that some are willing to jump through these hoops to buy a Rolex sports watch. It is completely the wrong way round. The dealer should be selling themselves to the buyer not the other way around. It’s completely absurd.

You are correct but if you can change things then please let us know. And I can honestly say that I did not have to jump through any hoops!
I wanted to buy 2 watches. An explorer 2 and a sub date. It just so happened that they had the explorer in stock so I got that first. The sub arrived a few weeks later and I was a happy man. Some people seem to be suggesting that they have to buy watches they don't really want in order to get a place on the waiting list. More fool them.

Edited by Fallingup on Sunday 24th September 20:16

[anonymous-user]

Fallingup said:

sandman77 said:

I honestly cannot believe that some are willing to jump through these hoops to buy a Rolex sports watch. It is completely the wrong way round. The dealer should be selling themselves to the buyer not the other way around. It’s completely absurd.

You are correct but if you can change things then please let us know. And I can honestly say that I did not have to jump through any hoops!

Presumably it’s the people willing to do this that need to change, not the person that points out how mad it is. Just think about it for a moment. People wanting luxury goods so much they’re trying to convince a shop to sell them it.

If people weren’t so materialistic then the watches would be thousands cheaper and there wouldn’t be any waiting lists. This is simply supply and demand driven by consumerism.

[Fallingup]

El stovey said:

Presumably it’s the people willing to do this that need to change, not the person that points out how mad it is. Just think about it for a moment. People wanting luxury goods so much they’re trying to convince a shop to sell them it.

If people weren’t so materialistic then the watches would be thousands cheaper and there wouldn’t be any waiting lists. This is simply supply and demand driven by consumerism.

Maybe. But buying an expensive watch is about as materialistic as you can get. I made no effort to convince the shop. They simply realised that I wanted it for myself and not to move on for a profit. Though I never said anything, they are not stupid. I may be in the minority but I actually quite enjoy the fuss over warranty cards and sticker removing.

[kmpowell]

simonr100 said:

kmpowell said:

Simon

Forgive my naivety, but are you suggesting AD's across the country have safes full of Ceramic Daytona's, Batman's, stainless skydwellers, hulk's and Sub's, that they keep quiet unless you buy another watch?!?

Not safe fulls but I bet they have some of the more coveted models in the safe for big spenders or to ease a sale of a less desireable watch.
It's only my experience. Think of it from an AD point of view - if somebody reguarly spends £50k a year on jewellery with them and they ask for a watch wouldn't it be nice to be able to get them the piece immediately and tell them that they hold one back for VIP customers? Would you rather sell a 116500 to somebody who won't buy another watch from you or sell do somebody buying a gold date just?

Ss skydwellers are still incredibly hard to get, I don't want one so it doesn't bother me.

I suggest some may hold some watches back to make other sales or to be able to sell easily if they are close to their sales targets.

So you're saying that if I wander into an AD and say I want to buy a White Gold Day-Date 40, but only if they sell me a 116500LN with it at the same time, that will up my chances?!?

Whilst I would love this to be true, I can't see it myself, else I'd do it tomorrow. The Rolex 'Boutique' (WOS) on Bond Street runs a 'physical deposit' only waiting list for all watches, and having seen their waiting list, their categories of customers have lots of "VIP" statuses littered through the waiting list.

That said, I could be proved wrong, and I will be exploring the 'dual purchase' option this week with a few AD's.

[EmilA]

Dave, mind sharing the AD's that you were told with me please? I live in Birmingham and I'm hoping to be on the list of all AD's within a 40 miles distance. As I said I've brought from WoS on New Street and from Goldsmiths in the Bull Ring so was hoping one of those shops could "deliver the goods for me"

And sadly I'm only looking to buy from an AD as well.