No wonder Rolexes are expensive
Discussion
The Swiss are absolute masters at luxury marketing.
Almost everything they are famous for is massively overrated.
But people worldwide keep lapping it up!
Swiss trains = slow.
Swiss choc = sickly.
Swiss army knives = useless.
Swiss banks = bent.
Swiss watches = overpriced.
Rolexes look ugly, bland, and have little mechanical wizardry. But they remain a highly desirable brand.
You have to hand it to the Swiss. They are smart.
Almost everything they are famous for is massively overrated.
But people worldwide keep lapping it up!
Swiss trains = slow.
Swiss choc = sickly.
Swiss army knives = useless.
Swiss banks = bent.
Swiss watches = overpriced.
Rolexes look ugly, bland, and have little mechanical wizardry. But they remain a highly desirable brand.
You have to hand it to the Swiss. They are smart.
Uncle Pat,
I find in most sections on pistonheads there are a couple of posters who I always take the time to read, if I see their username on the last contributer bar I'll take a look at the thread.
DrZ or Derek Smith in the F1 threads, slippydiff or Steve Rance in the Porsche forum for example.
Your postings always pique my interest in this subsection, they have done for some time. You come across as well informed and your opinions unbiased and (a rarity for PH) based on fact.
What's the deal? Are you a well informed enthusiast or are you involved in watches in a professional capacity?
Sorry if that's nosey, I'm just interested I guess.
I find in most sections on pistonheads there are a couple of posters who I always take the time to read, if I see their username on the last contributer bar I'll take a look at the thread.
DrZ or Derek Smith in the F1 threads, slippydiff or Steve Rance in the Porsche forum for example.
Your postings always pique my interest in this subsection, they have done for some time. You come across as well informed and your opinions unbiased and (a rarity for PH) based on fact.
What's the deal? Are you a well informed enthusiast or are you involved in watches in a professional capacity?
Sorry if that's nosey, I'm just interested I guess.
^^^ Thank you (and to others who have commented kindly also), I really appreciate that - I'm wary of boring people to death with overlong posts, so I'm glad some of my wittering may be of interest.
I don't mind your enquiry in the slightest, and your assumption is about 25% on the money - solely an enthusiast/geek who really should make better use of my spare time! As to well-informed, that's debatable. Know a bit more than the lay-man perhaps, but a lot less than many on here.
It probably comes across that I weigh-in a fair bit on Rolex stuff, but it's partly because a lot of threads tend to be on Rolex, and they generate a lot extreme reaction. If there were a lot of threads going the other way, stating them to be flawless & beyond reproach, I'd try to be balanced there also and take a different tack.
Like anything, the truth of the matter is found somewhere between the extremes.
The sole reason I know a bit about Rolex is because I bought a Submariner (my only Rolex, ever) in 2016, and when buying any watch, at any price, I tend to research it in-depth for many months beforehand. It helps of course that Rolex played an interesting wider role in horology from the 1920's on, and their association with certain public figures & usage in challenging environments often makes for a good read. Plus, from an economics & marketing standpoint, the brand's approach & success as a whole intrigues me - I needed to find out for myself whether they were the 'Emporer's New Clothes', and to satisfy myself that they represented some semblance of value for money (or as close to that optimistic notion as you can realistically get with any 'Luxury' purchase). In that sense, when it came to spending my own hard-earned, I was and am a rigorous critic.
In a lot of areas re watches, I freely admit my knowledge is of 'can be written with a crayon on the back of a stamp' level, so I try to avoid offering opinion in those areas.
Cheers again
I don't mind your enquiry in the slightest, and your assumption is about 25% on the money - solely an enthusiast/geek who really should make better use of my spare time! As to well-informed, that's debatable. Know a bit more than the lay-man perhaps, but a lot less than many on here.
It probably comes across that I weigh-in a fair bit on Rolex stuff, but it's partly because a lot of threads tend to be on Rolex, and they generate a lot extreme reaction. If there were a lot of threads going the other way, stating them to be flawless & beyond reproach, I'd try to be balanced there also and take a different tack.
Like anything, the truth of the matter is found somewhere between the extremes.
The sole reason I know a bit about Rolex is because I bought a Submariner (my only Rolex, ever) in 2016, and when buying any watch, at any price, I tend to research it in-depth for many months beforehand. It helps of course that Rolex played an interesting wider role in horology from the 1920's on, and their association with certain public figures & usage in challenging environments often makes for a good read. Plus, from an economics & marketing standpoint, the brand's approach & success as a whole intrigues me - I needed to find out for myself whether they were the 'Emporer's New Clothes', and to satisfy myself that they represented some semblance of value for money (or as close to that optimistic notion as you can realistically get with any 'Luxury' purchase). In that sense, when it came to spending my own hard-earned, I was and am a rigorous critic.
In a lot of areas re watches, I freely admit my knowledge is of 'can be written with a crayon on the back of a stamp' level, so I try to avoid offering opinion in those areas.
Cheers again
A Rolex that you can keep for many years and then sell for quite a bit more than you paid for it seems like a fairly cheap watch to me.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4974970/In...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4974970/In...
Yipper said:
The Swiss are absolute masters at luxury marketing.
Almost everything they are famous for is massively overrated.
But people worldwide keep lapping it up!
Swiss trains = slow.
Swiss choc = sickly.
Swiss army knives = useless.
Swiss banks = bent.
Swiss watches = overpriced.
Rolexes look ugly, bland, and have little mechanical wizardry. But they remain a highly desirable brand.
You have to hand it to the Swiss. They are smart.
Almost everything they are famous for is massively overrated.
But people worldwide keep lapping it up!
Swiss trains = slow.
Swiss choc = sickly.
Swiss army knives = useless.
Swiss banks = bent.
Swiss watches = overpriced.
Rolexes look ugly, bland, and have little mechanical wizardry. But they remain a highly desirable brand.
You have to hand it to the Swiss. They are smart.
Yipper’s on good form
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Uncle Pat...Your postings always pique my interest in this subsection, they have done for some time. You come across as well informed and your opinions unbiased and (a rarity for PH) based on fact...
Completely agree, I found your contribution to this thread fascinating. Despite the modesty, you certainly put your knowledge across very well and I have certainly learnt something just from your few posts.Thanks.
I remember reading something a while ago which I thought rang true. People newly into mechanical watches want a Rolex - brand recognition and perceived quality. Then as they become more knowledgable about Horology they go away from Rolex and into other brands - Overpriced for their relatively simple mechanics. Finally, after a while they come back to Rolex, realising that they simply make great, reliable mechanical watches which will last a lifetime.
Roger Smith, arguably the greatest living watchmaker, said this when asked for his opinion on the best watch under $10k. If it's good enough for him....
"I don’t know if this would surprise people, but personally, it would have to be a Rolex. They are exceptional watches and what impresses me about Rolex is that they’re not very adventurous, which is good, because they know they have a great movement. The movements that they use are tried and tested. They’ve been around forever — why change the wheel? They have a watch that you can use for dress, sports, and it’s a great all-rounder. Put one on your wrist and you’ll probably die with that watch on your wrist. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I look at the mechanics of a watch, the case and how all the components are constructed; to me, [the Rolex is] bulletproof, and I don’t think you can get much better than that. They don’t sponsor me, by the way."
Roger Smith, arguably the greatest living watchmaker, said this when asked for his opinion on the best watch under $10k. If it's good enough for him....
"I don’t know if this would surprise people, but personally, it would have to be a Rolex. They are exceptional watches and what impresses me about Rolex is that they’re not very adventurous, which is good, because they know they have a great movement. The movements that they use are tried and tested. They’ve been around forever — why change the wheel? They have a watch that you can use for dress, sports, and it’s a great all-rounder. Put one on your wrist and you’ll probably die with that watch on your wrist. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I look at the mechanics of a watch, the case and how all the components are constructed; to me, [the Rolex is] bulletproof, and I don’t think you can get much better than that. They don’t sponsor me, by the way."
te being spoken beforehand.thebraketester said:
Its not even a hand made movement.... Mass produced same as many others.
Which most people probably view as a positive.Hand made means variable. Mass produced normally means consistent.
My Daytona gains two seconds a day, my hand made Jeager LeCoultre clock has just gone back, again, for gaining forty seconds an hour.
thebraketester said:
Another angle then... is a rolex worth twice the amount that a omega costs, if you remove the badges? If there something that is inherently better about a rolex?
To the buyers, yes. It’s probably been pointed out hundreds of times here, but there’s little “inherent”value in a modern mid-range mechanical watch. My radio-controlled G-Shock keeps better time, is more robust, and more reliable, but hasn’t stopped me buying some nice mechanical watches too.I like them, I like wearing and winding them, and I like to know that there’s a quite well made mechanical machine inside keeping time. This means that I’ve now once sat down and compared costs, movements, materials etc and made a rational,choice; I’ve seen a watch that I like, and decided to buy it.
I spent a lot of money on a temperature change powered desk clock a little while back because I liked the idea and thought that it was beautiful. No-one was selling the same thing cheaper, and I could afford it, so I bought it. There is no measure of “worth”other than that one; it being worth that much to me.
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