Has the Rolex bubble finally burst? Perhaps it has
Discussion
Boo12345 said:
Octoposse said:
SaintWill said:
hungry_hog said:
why did they call you when you had the watch already?
Because I was after a two tone to add to my collection. I've bought a couple from them. When it came through I changed my mind but went through with it and sold it to my friend. P.s. there is no such thing as a wait list (the concept of something ticking down like countdown timer). At least not from what I've experienced or been told directly from them. Also there is no one-watch limit like some kind of restriction policy. As a valued customer you can buy 10 subs if you want to.
My experience anyway.
Edited by SaintWill on Monday 27th March 18:38
. . . but from the other side. AD perfectly civil . . . nearly two years now since I asked for an AirKing. Genuine local prospective customer.
No watch for me. Other people ask, get a watch (or two). Other people don’t ask, get a watch (or two).
Going to London on a two week training course in May. Will try there.
Boo12345 said:
Looking at your previous posts on the matter of getting a watch,has it not occurred to you that it might be your attitude that isnt getting you anywhere?
Yeah, but probably not in the way you mean!Too polite, too undemanding, too inoffensive, not “powerfully built company director” enough, too grateful for being ”put on the list”, and never played golf on a course that doesn’t have a windmill and a drain pipe.
Octoposse said:
Boo12345 said:
Looking at your previous posts on the matter of getting a watch,has it not occurred to you that it might be your attitude that isnt getting you anywhere?
Yeah, but probably not in the way you mean!Too polite, too undemanding, too inoffensive, not “powerfully built company director” enough, too grateful for being ”put on the list”, and never played golf on a course that doesn’t have a windmill and a drain pipe.
Edited by Boo12345 on Monday 27th March 23:28
okgo said:
I was already in the thread, what with having bought a couple in recent years/weeks in the case of my GMT. At no point has any of the sycophants handbook posted here ever been required, obviously I wouldn’t do it anyway because it’s mental. Buying stuff makes you a better customer whether it’s Tesco or Rolex, that should come as no surprise, but to think they’re assessing your ‘story’ like some kind of public vote by text Itv talent show is hilarious to me.
Shops entertaining this kind of crap should be shunned - Pragnell in Mayfair is the only one I’ve gone in (the sum total of about 90 minutes for 3 purchases) and the staff there I’m sure could give two hoots about my ‘story’, neither do I care for theirs, it’s just a shop, I can’t imagine they’d appreciate me wandering in for chit chat every few weeks either.
tldr - go to another shop.
Great that you've never had to do this and would never now. Shops entertaining this kind of crap should be shunned - Pragnell in Mayfair is the only one I’ve gone in (the sum total of about 90 minutes for 3 purchases) and the staff there I’m sure could give two hoots about my ‘story’, neither do I care for theirs, it’s just a shop, I can’t imagine they’d appreciate me wandering in for chit chat every few weeks either.
tldr - go to another shop.
Some people still want Rolexes and have to jump through some hoops to get them.
If you're frustrated with this as a process, you're not alone - we'd all rather be able to go in and get one.
But being rude to 1) a guy who's frustrated by the process and trying to get himself a watch as a birthday treat 2) a guy trying to help him do that... isn't impressive behaviour.
Look in the mirror time.
Cupid-stunt said:
My bad, you're right!I think there is a story behind it. I read somewhere that it might be a charitable piece as jigsaws represent Autism.....might be BS though!
TWW said:
If you're frustrated with this as a process, you're not alone - we'd all rather be able to go in and get one.
A process that has 100% been deliberately engineered by Rolex. It's just a watch, they could churn out millions of them if they wanted so that every single person who wanted one could walk straight in and buy one.But then what, once everyone knows they can just go and buy one the staged rarity and hence desirability is gone and people wouldn't be interested anymore.
It's basic human psychology, if something is perceived as difficult to get and rare, then it is even more valued and desirable.
As I said, this situation has 100% been deliberately engineered by Rolex and it is a brilliant strategy.
Same thing as diamonds, DeBeers have skip loads of the things lying around but only release a small percentage per year to give the illusion of rarity and hence desirability. Add in a back story of "3 months wages" that has somehow been adopted by society as fact and you are a marketing genius.
Joey Deacon said:
TWW said:
If you're frustrated with this as a process, you're not alone - we'd all rather be able to go in and get one.
A process that has 100% been deliberately engineered by Rolex. It's just a watch, they could churn out millions of them if they wanted so that every single person who wanted one could walk straight in and buy one.But then what, once everyone knows they can just go and buy one the staged rarity and hence desirability is gone and people wouldn't be interested anymore.
It's basic human psychology, if something is perceived as difficult to get and rare, then it is even more valued and desirable.
As I said, this situation has 100% been deliberately engineered by Rolex and it is a brilliant strategy.
Same thing as diamonds, DeBeers have skip loads of the things lying around but only release a small percentage per year to give the illusion of rarity and hence desirability. Add in a back story of "3 months wages" that has somehow been adopted by society as fact and you are a marketing genius.
Generally people also desire things that are, to varying degrees, out of their price bracket too.
Whether or not they could make more watches we will never know, suspect they probably make as many as they can but perhaps more logically create rarity with certain models way more than others.
I spoke to Rolex recently in a working capacity, it amazed me how effective their marketing is because they hold almost no data on who their customers are both prospective or those that have bought.
I spoke to Rolex recently in a working capacity, it amazed me how effective their marketing is because they hold almost no data on who their customers are both prospective or those that have bought.
Cupid-stunt said:
I thought they had done a tie up with Swatch for a moment!! 
Octoposse said:
SaintWill said:
hungry_hog said:
why did they call you when you had the watch already?
Because I was after a two tone to add to my collection. I've bought a couple from them. When it came through I changed my mind but went through with it and sold it to my friend. P.s. there is no such thing as a wait list (the concept of something ticking down like countdown timer). At least not from what I've experienced or been told directly from them. Also there is no one-watch limit like some kind of restriction policy. As a valued customer you can buy 10 subs if you want to.
My experience anyway.
Edited by SaintWill on Monday 27th March 18:38
. . . but from the other side. AD perfectly civil . . . nearly two years now since I asked for an AirKing. Genuine local prospective customer.
No watch for me. Other people ask, get a watch (or two). Other people don’t ask, get a watch (or two).
Going to London on a two week training course in May. Will try there.
Please don’t shoot the messenger just wanting to lower your expectations and preparing you for, as I understand it, the inevitable.
My advice would be to get a friend with history to buy it for you, it’s not like you are trying to get one of the ‘pieces’ (cringe) that are trading at a huge premium on grey market.
Best wishes
981SPYGANG said:
Re trying in London I’m thinking they will say you need to register interest at your local AD.
Please don’t shoot the messenger just wanting to lower your expectations and preparing you for, as I understand it, the inevitable.
My advice would be to get a friend with history to buy it for you, it’s not like you are trying to get one of the ‘pieces’ (cringe) that are trading at a huge premium on grey market.
Best wishes
Thanks - my expectations are already set! Please don’t shoot the messenger just wanting to lower your expectations and preparing you for, as I understand it, the inevitable.
My advice would be to get a friend with history to buy it for you, it’s not like you are trying to get one of the ‘pieces’ (cringe) that are trading at a huge premium on grey market.
Best wishes
And my local AD has absolutely no interest in selling me a watch - one of the good things about this thread is the number of people who’ve confirmed that they get a call from ‘their’ AD about new stock without being on the ‘list’ . . . I don’t think at first everyone believed it when I remarked that I knew that’s what my local AD, independent family business, not part of a chain, did all the time.
Next nearest AD is 25 miles, in a medium sized city, no point going there.
None of my actual friends are “valued customers” at our AD, just people in our wider circle of friends who only do favours for each other, unless there’s something they want.
Apologies for emotion - it’s hit just the weak point in my armour - lifetime of being the outsider - nice job, nice house, nice life, nice car, nice (new) family - still a bloody outsider!
And, to be fair to Rolex, I can’t find anything as ‘good’ (well made, well designed, right size, exactly what I need) as the current AirKing, that doesn’t have a significantly or unaffordably larger RRP.
Joey Deacon said:
TWW said:
If you're frustrated with this as a process, you're not alone - we'd all rather be able to go in and get one.
A process that has 100% been deliberately engineered by Rolex. It's just a watch, they could churn out millions of them if they wanted so that every single person who wanted one could walk straight in and buy one.But then what, once everyone knows they can just go and buy one the staged rarity and hence desirability is gone and people wouldn't be interested anymore.
It's basic human psychology, if something is perceived as difficult to get and rare, then it is even more valued and desirable.
As I said, this situation has 100% been deliberately engineered by Rolex and it is a brilliant strategy.
Same thing as diamonds, DeBeers have skip loads of the things lying around but only release a small percentage per year to give the illusion of rarity and hence desirability. Add in a back story of "3 months wages" that has somehow been adopted by society as fact and you are a marketing genius.
You have to bear in mind, that out of Rolex's 115 year history, that they have always sold every watch they produced. They have never needed to hype things up or create artificial scarcity. They have gradually increased production over the years, but since the crazy situation started a few years ago, they haven't sold any additional watches than usual have they? It hasn't benefitted them. They still sell all the watches they make, like always.
They manufacture over 1 million watches per year, and have spent the last 3-4 years planning and building a new factory extension that will increase production by around 20%, so they are doing what they can to supply more watches, but for a big business like Rolex, producing a product such as a Swiss watch, it can take years to even plan for a factory extension, never mind build it.
What actually happened was, that around 4-5 years ago, the general public suddenly decided that they had spare cash to spend on luxury goods (not just Rolex, things went mad for Porsche, Ferrari, Louis Vuitton, and many others) and this created more demand for the watches. Once this demand hit, it meant that the used market rose as well, and people started flipping, the grey market boomed, and the rest is history. The fact that most Rolex watches became worth more the second you walked out the shop then fuelled things even more. It was a cycle of demand and rising used prices.
It was nothing to do with Rolex choking supply or anything like that. It was a demand problem, not a supply problem. The supply did not change, but the demand certainly did.
Rolex has a long history of slow steady growth, they aren't in the 'get rich quick' business, and I'm sure they would rather get back to that and knock all the nonsense on the head.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 28th March 11:15
Octoposse said:
Thanks - my expectations are already set!
And my local AD has absolutely no interest in selling me a watch - one of the good things about this thread is the number of people who’ve confirmed that they get a call from ‘their’ AD about new stock without being on the ‘list’ . . . I don’t think at first everyone believed it when I remarked that I knew that’s what my local AD, independent family business, not part of a chain, did all the time.
Next nearest AD is 25 miles, in a medium sized city, no point going there.
None of my actual friends are “valued customers” at our AD, just people in our wider circle of friends who only do favours for each other, unless there’s something they want.
Apologies for emotion - it’s hit just the weak point in my armour - lifetime of being the outsider - nice job, nice house, nice life, nice car, nice (new) family - still a bloody outsider!
And, to be fair to Rolex, I can’t find anything as ‘good’ (well made, well designed, right size, exactly what I need) as the current AirKing, that doesn’t have a significantly or unaffordably larger RRP.
I can understand not liking being an outsider but I'd gently suggest that buying a Rolex is unlikely to bring you into an inner circle (I know you didn't suggest it would).And my local AD has absolutely no interest in selling me a watch - one of the good things about this thread is the number of people who’ve confirmed that they get a call from ‘their’ AD about new stock without being on the ‘list’ . . . I don’t think at first everyone believed it when I remarked that I knew that’s what my local AD, independent family business, not part of a chain, did all the time.
Next nearest AD is 25 miles, in a medium sized city, no point going there.
None of my actual friends are “valued customers” at our AD, just people in our wider circle of friends who only do favours for each other, unless there’s something they want.
Apologies for emotion - it’s hit just the weak point in my armour - lifetime of being the outsider - nice job, nice house, nice life, nice car, nice (new) family - still a bloody outsider!
And, to be fair to Rolex, I can’t find anything as ‘good’ (well made, well designed, right size, exactly what I need) as the current AirKing, that doesn’t have a significantly or unaffordably larger RRP.
I often feel like an imposter - a poor lad who "done good" - and so I think I know the outside syndrome of which you speak.
I also would suggest that you look harder outside of the Rolex world. There are so many great brands - Omega, Bremont, Breitling, IWC, etc. that don't require a bizarre pantomime to buy the watch you want at RRP. I have some JLCs, an Omega, a Breitling and I am considering adding a Breguet or a Bremont. I have my name down for two Rolexes (a GMT and a Skydweller) but I am not inclined to "get to know the names of my AD's children" to own them. If they turn up, then fine. If they don't, well, it's no skin off my nose. It's just a feckin' watch.
With my relaxed attitude, I suspect that I will never "get the call" but I am not bothered in the slightest.
okgo said:
Unlikely, in most cases Rolex do not own the shops, just that they’re distributors. You think Pragnell would tell you to go to WOS?
Good point.It’s just with WOS, M&W, Goldsmiths and Rolex Boutique Old Bond St all being linked/part of WOS (register interest at local AD) I didn’t want our friend getting even more disheartened.
Lord Marylebone said:
Joey Deacon said:
TWW said:
If you're frustrated with this as a process, you're not alone - we'd all rather be able to go in and get one.
A process that has 100% been deliberately engineered by Rolex. It's just a watch, they could churn out millions of them if they wanted so that every single person who wanted one could walk straight in and buy one.But then what, once everyone knows they can just go and buy one the staged rarity and hence desirability is gone and people wouldn't be interested anymore.
It's basic human psychology, if something is perceived as difficult to get and rare, then it is even more valued and desirable.
As I said, this situation has 100% been deliberately engineered by Rolex and it is a brilliant strategy.
Same thing as diamonds, DeBeers have skip loads of the things lying around but only release a small percentage per year to give the illusion of rarity and hence desirability. Add in a back story of "3 months wages" that has somehow been adopted by society as fact and you are a marketing genius.
You have to bear in mind, that out of Rolex's 115 year history, that they have always sold every watch they produced. They have never needed to hype things up or create artificial scarcity. They have gradually increased production over the years, but since the crazy situation started a few years ago, they haven't sold any additional watches than usual have they? It hasn't benefitted them. They still sell all the watches they make, like always.
They manufacture over 1 million watches per year, and have spent the last 3-4 years planning and building a new factory extension that will increase production by around 20%, so they are doing what they can to supply more watches, but for a big business like Rolex, producing a product such as a Swiss watch, it can take years to even plan for a factory extension, never mind build it.
What actually happened was, that around 4-5 years ago, the general public suddenly decided that they had spare cash to spend on luxury goods (not just Rolex, things went mad for Porsche, Ferrari, Louis Vuitton, and many others) and this created more demand for the watches. Once this demand hit, it meant that the used market rose as well, and people started flipping, the grey market boomed, and the rest is history. The fact that most Rolex watches became worth more the second you walked out the shop then fuelled things even more. It was a cycle of demand and rising used prices.
It was nothing to do with Rolex choking supply or anything like that. It was a demand problem, not a supply problem. The supply did not change, but the demand certainly did.
Rolex has a long history of slow steady growth, they aren't in the 'get rich quick' business, and I'm sure they would rather get back to that and knock all the nonsense on the head.
Edited by Lord Marylebone on Tuesday 28th March 11:15
Within each brand also seems to comes levels of scarcity……..Steel Daytona/Nautilus/Birkin/GT3/La Ferrari all being examples of less availability and for high spend customers.
981SPYGANG said:
Wise words but most companies like to engage in a bit of drip feeding to create the ‘Willy Wonka Golden Ticket’ scenario when customers ‘get the call’……and you must agree if all models were freely available/windows were fully stocked/not exhibition only the desire for many would not be as great.
Within each brand also seems to comes levels of scarcity……..Steel Daytona/Nautilus/Birkin/GT3/La Ferrari all being examples of less availability and for high spend customers.
You are right, companies do like to drip feed to create interest, but there are two different entities here: Rolex the manufacturer, and Rolex AD's. Within each brand also seems to comes levels of scarcity……..Steel Daytona/Nautilus/Birkin/GT3/La Ferrari all being examples of less availability and for high spend customers.
I don't think Rolex as a manufacturer or brand is encouraging this 'golden ticket' stuff or is happy with it. The AD's on the other hand, who let's remember are not Rolex, have of course filled their boots, and used the increased demand to tell their customers to spend big on other items, other watches, jewellery, and so on, in the vague hope of getting a Rolex.
Porsche dealers are doing exactly the same thing. Telling people to buy their wife a Cayenne, the daughter a Macan, themselves a 911, and after all that, they might, just might, be allocated a GT car, and treating people like scum in the process. They are making Porsche the manufacturer/brand look bad, but they don't care, it's all about their profit.
To a large extent, Rolex AD's are making Rolex look like a
holes, but we need to bear in mind these are two separate things. Rolex are making as many watches as they can, and they are expanding production to try to meet demand, but their AD's are just milking it for all it's worth while it lasts.
981SPYGANG said:
...and you must agree if all models were freely available/windows were fully stocked/not exhibition only the desire for many would not be as great.
But Rolex have always been desirable watches to folk who like wearing watches, and they were a successful company prior to the recent hype. However recent years may have seen genuine buyers tempted by an easy & quick profit, plus other folk who were ordering then purely to sell, walking out of the AD with their new Rolex watch and then walking straight into the 2nd hand watch shop next door to sell for an easy £2k profit. You can't blame any of those folk really. Why wouldn't you? But before all of this recent nonsense and when you could walk in and buy almost any Rolex watch, they were still very desirable.
Edited by Big Stevie on Tuesday 28th March 13:35
AstonZagato said:
I can understand not liking being an outsider but I'd gently suggest that buying a Rolex is unlikely to bring you into an inner circle (I know you didn't suggest it would).
I often feel like an imposter - a poor lad who "done good" - and so I think I know the outside syndrome of which you speak.
I also would suggest that you look harder outside of the Rolex world. There are so many great brands - Omega, Bremont, Breitling, IWC, etc. that don't require a bizarre pantomime to buy the watch you want at RRP. I have some JLCs, an Omega, a Breitling and I am considering adding a Breguet or a Bremont. I have my name down for two Rolexes (a GMT and a Skydweller) but I am not inclined to "get to know the names of my AD's children" to own them. If they turn up, then fine. If they don't, well, it's no skin off my nose. It's just a feckin' watch.
With my relaxed attitude, I suspect that I will never "get the call" but I am not bothered in the slightest.
Its strange reluctance that people seem to have against being friendly and showing an interest in others.I often feel like an imposter - a poor lad who "done good" - and so I think I know the outside syndrome of which you speak.
I also would suggest that you look harder outside of the Rolex world. There are so many great brands - Omega, Bremont, Breitling, IWC, etc. that don't require a bizarre pantomime to buy the watch you want at RRP. I have some JLCs, an Omega, a Breitling and I am considering adding a Breguet or a Bremont. I have my name down for two Rolexes (a GMT and a Skydweller) but I am not inclined to "get to know the names of my AD's children" to own them. If they turn up, then fine. If they don't, well, it's no skin off my nose. It's just a feckin' watch.
With my relaxed attitude, I suspect that I will never "get the call" but I am not bothered in the slightest.
When we are undertaking a contract at a clients house, we are there for around 16weeks and if its theirs or their kids birthdays there is always a card, prezzie or a nice bottle of something.
Its just called being nice, and in my experience small gestures can make huge differences.
Whenever I am in collecting something, its an appointment thats usually booked for an hour. We usually have a good blether and asking how our kids and family are and vice versa is a usual topic.
Some people on here are totally adverse to that and might see it as a sign of weakness or whatever, I really have no interest.
Since I posted on here late January about going in with my son to collect his watch for his 21st and got slaughtered for it, I have since been offered and bought a bluesy sub, and now a JC Deepsea.
So which route works best?
My advice is as before; call up, make an appointment, spend your allocated hour trying on a few display models over a cuppy, have a good blether indicating how long you have wanted one etc and let them get to know you.
Or alternatively, turn up unannounced, go in, tell them you want a Rolex, give them your details, leave then await the call that never comes and come on here and post bitter comments.
The choice is yours.
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