Has the Rolex bubble finally burst? Perhaps it has

Has the Rolex bubble finally burst? Perhaps it has

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Debaser

5,665 posts

260 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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Ninjin said:
I even buy my ready made custard in a carton from Aldi.... Go figure.

Is that a white gold Daytona on the oysterflex?

jonamv8

3,145 posts

165 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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Personally enjoying Algarves perspective in this thread. It’s different to normal posts in this sub forum and many other people who buy a nice watch are in a similar boat, they couldn’t tell you the mechanism ref numbers and they don’t care but they want a nice watch.

The guys on about no wages for 8 months and potentially selling his GMT to pay for basic living costs, very strange way to brag about being wealthy.

FWIT- i agree, the GMT is better value than the Tudor, my 2p. I got a batman for 6.5k a few years back, probably worth double on a private sale, there or thereabouts. Nice to know as everything else i buy in life seems to depreciate, properly excl.

bigandclever

13,750 posts

237 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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jonamv8 said:
The guys on about no wages for 8 months and potentially selling his GMT to pay for basic living costs, very strange way to brag about being wealthy
Probably easier to get rid of than his Gallardo though, right? But I agree, always good to have a different perspective.

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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Lord Marylebone said:
My GMT was bought in 2017, used, for £5400.
Ladies Rolex don't count as they can be bought anytime, anywhere, for retail, or even a discount. There is relatively low demand for them.
I'm talking specifically about buying mens stainless steel Rolex watches, and in only 3 years, things have gone insane.

You have previously had good experiences buying mens stainless steel sports models, and hence you have only got good things to say about Rolex.

What I'm saying is, go and try to buy one now and you simply won't be able to. A Rolex AD will likely treat you like you are something they have stood in, and your only option will be a grey market retailer who will try to have your eyes out.

You will then think 'bks to Rolex' as many of us in this thread have done, and go and look at spending your money on other brands.

Buying an ordinary mass produced stainless steel dive watch such as a Rolex GMT is not comparable to trying to buy a La Ferrari from a dealer. Rolex are a mass market manufacturer and they produce over 1 million watches per year. Some estimates say nearer 1.2 million watches.
Spot on. The attitude of the AD's is very poor, the last time I asked they told me unless I was a repeat customer there was no chance....because Rolex are such an 'exclusive watch'. I did point out the IWC over the road was three times the price and available now biggrin I really like the Rolex GMT's but i'll buy the new Seiko and Tudor and have enough money left over for other things. Market value of them may be 12K but as a watch, to me anyway they are not.

Our business partner used to buy two or three stainless Rolex's as sweeteners for customers, he's a repeat buyer but he was moaning the other month that now it's impossible. I guess he'll just buy something else. Like the rest of us. Seiko is more accurate anyway biggrin

don logan

3,511 posts

221 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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ddom said:
Lord Marylebone said:
My GMT was bought in 2017, used, for £5400.
Ladies Rolex don't count as they can be bought anytime, anywhere, for retail, or even a discount. There is relatively low demand for them.
I'm talking specifically about buying mens stainless steel Rolex watches, and in only 3 years, things have gone insane.

You have previously had good experiences buying mens stainless steel sports models, and hence you have only got good things to say about Rolex.

What I'm saying is, go and try to buy one now and you simply won't be able to. A Rolex AD will likely treat you like you are something they have stood in, and your only option will be a grey market retailer who will try to have your eyes out.

You will then think 'bks to Rolex' as many of us in this thread have done, and go and look at spending your money on other brands.

Buying an ordinary mass produced stainless steel dive watch such as a Rolex GMT is not comparable to trying to buy a La Ferrari from a dealer. Rolex are a mass market manufacturer and they produce over 1 million watches per year. Some estimates say nearer 1.2 million watches.
Spot on. The attitude of the AD's is very poor, the last time I asked they told me unless I was a repeat customer there was no chance....because Rolex are such an 'exclusive watch'. I did point out the IWC over the road was three times the price and available now biggrin I really like the Rolex GMT's but i'll buy the new Seiko and Tudor and have enough money left over for other things. Market value of them may be 12K but as a watch, to me anyway they are not.

Our business partner used to buy two or three stainless Rolex's as sweeteners for customers, he's a repeat buyer but he was moaning the other month that now it's impossible. I guess he'll just buy something else. Like the rest of us. Seiko is more accurate anyway biggrin
Yep, “repeat customer” means of “stuff”, I was told that I’d had my “quota” of steel sports models, that means - buy more “stuff” and you MIGHT get the watch you want!

They even brought up that I bought a Deepsea in 2013, people didn’t even want them then, I even got a decent discount because they weren’t popular!

jonamv8

3,145 posts

165 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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bigandclever said:
jonamv8 said:
The guys on about no wages for 8 months and potentially selling his GMT to pay for basic living costs, very strange way to brag about being wealthy
Probably easier to get rid of than his Gallardo though, right? But I agree, always good to have a different perspective.
Certainly more liquid than a Gallardo!

We don’t know much about his Gallardo, could be a 60k early model which is hardly big money these days when a Vogues 100k and Audi s5 start from 51k

GC8

19,910 posts

189 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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Algarve said:


When I compare those I understand it a bit more now... Tudor is the watch you buy when you wanted a Rolex but couldn't afford one? A (presumably well made at the price) watch but a knock off none the less?
Im not sure what your motivation is for posting this, but it makes you look silly. You do realise that there are far, far better watches than Rolex?

randlemarcus

13,507 posts

230 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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don logan said:
Yep, “repeat customer” means of “stuff”, I was told that I’d had my “quota” of steel sports models, that means - buy more “stuff” and you MIGHT get the watch you want!

They even brought up that I bought a Deepsea in 2013, people didn’t even want them then, I even got a decent discount because they weren’t popular!
Out of interest, do you still have all of them, or have they noticed you flipping them? No judgement, if you can, then good luck to you.

Algarve

2,102 posts

80 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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The Gallardo is a 2010 LHD convertible, I'm currently in the process of moving it onto UK plates as its on plates from a 3rd country currently and I can't sell it without the safety of it being on UK plates. I've got a far more liquid 2020 Ford Ranger that I paid 40 grand for in one of the most spectacularly ill timed moves I could have managed. Paid for before Christmas, delivered a couple of weeks before the country went into lockdown.

I might not need to sell anything at all, we'll see. I'm just looking into what my viable options are. My dog shelter costs me 1k euros a week to run so if I did have to sell I could perhaps buy myself 3 months breathing room with the watch.

I suppose I could buy one back later when finances allow but honestly don't think I could really see myself paying way over the odds for one. What would be the chances of me ever getting a replacement at list price? I'm assuming zero or near to it lol. If I felt I could replace the watch at some point then I'd quite happily sell this one now if I had to.

If I've got no chance whatsoever of a replacement with my near non existent history at this AD (GMT bought in 2016, ladies < 10k euro watch bought last year) then selling a car would make more sense.

I suppose in a perfect world I'd sell the watch for 14k now, wait on the bubble bursting and get a brand-new one at list price. I'm not sure how it will all go, which is how I found myself in this post originally.

Algarve

2,102 posts

80 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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GC8 said:
Algarve said:


When I compare those I understand it a bit more now... Tudor is the watch you buy when you wanted a Rolex but couldn't afford one? A (presumably well made at the price) watch but a knock off none the less?
Im not sure what your motivation is for posting this, but it makes you look silly. You do realise that there are far, far better watches than Rolex?
I posted that because someone called me a troll, then told someone else not to reply to me. I'm not trolling, my posts re pricing and never having heard of a Tudor are legitimate.

Algarve

2,102 posts

80 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Because someones toys left their pram when they couldn't accept someone genuinely hadn't heard of a Tudor, and for casual buyers like me there was zero chance of AD's behaviour making me swap to that brand.

edit - I'm not exactly blameless myself with that pic of my watch next to a Tudor and my comments that went with it but that was in response to being called a troll originally. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it all though biggrin

Edited by Algarve on Saturday 24th October 18:20

don logan

3,511 posts

221 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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randlemarcus said:
don logan said:
Yep, “repeat customer” means of “stuff”, I was told that I’d had my “quota” of steel sports models, that means - buy more “stuff” and you MIGHT get the watch you want!

They even brought up that I bought a Deepsea in 2013, people didn’t even want them then, I even got a decent discount because they weren’t popular!
Out of interest, do you still have all of them, or have they noticed you flipping them? No judgement, if you can, then good luck to you.
I have everything but the Deepsea, I kept it for about 4 years, I just couldn’t get on with it, they don’t know I sold it, but if they did they can’t expect people to keep things they don’t want!

On that subjecf, it’s not like every dealer has “display” models, it’s quite possible that people might think they want something, even when they go to collect it, but after a month they realise that actually it’s not for them, they then have a tricky situation of possibly being found out if they sell but the upside of an unplanned profit.

How might they find out? Depends how they chose to sell it, I heard of a dealer tracking their customer down on Ebay because the seller showed the serial number

funinhounslow

1,600 posts

141 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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Algarve said:
GC8 said:
Algarve said:


When I compare those I understand it a bit more now... Tudor is the watch you buy when you wanted a Rolex but couldn't afford one? A (presumably well made at the price) watch but a knock off none the less?
Im not sure what your motivation is for posting this, but it makes you look silly. You do realise that there are far, far better watches than Rolex?
I posted that because someone called me a troll, then told someone else not to reply to me. I'm not trolling, my posts re pricing and never having heard of a Tudor are legitimate.
To be fair referring to Tudor a "knock off"; suggesting people who buy one can't afford a Rolex (as if that was the primary obstacle to acquiring one) and for some reason "comparing" a GMT to a dive watch - it's easy to see that how that could be interpreted as a wind up.

If a Lexus owner called a Toyota a "knock off" you'd find it hard to take them seriously, no...?

Algarve

2,102 posts

80 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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funinhounslow said:
To be fair referring to Tudor a "knock off"; suggesting people who buy one can't afford a Rolex (as if that was the primary obstacle to acquiring one) and for some reason "comparing" a GMT to a dive watch - it's easy to see that how that could be interpreted as a wind up.
Fair point, but as I say I'd already been labelled a troll for simply not having heard of someones Tudor. That comment was in reply to that. I appreciate with hindsight I've then just played into the hands of someone saying I'm a troll... I genuinely wasn't to start with.

Though for non watch fans, the Tudor does look like the GMT. I've got no clue what's the difference between a GMT and a dive watch (no need to tell me, I've got no interest at all in knowing). Visually those 2 watches are similar.

randlemarcus

13,507 posts

230 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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don logan said:
I have everything but the Deepsea, I kept it for about 4 years, I just couldn’t get on with it, they don’t know I sold it, but if they did they can’t expect people to keep things they don’t want!

On that subjecf, it’s not like every dealer has “display” models, it’s quite possible that people might think they want something, even when they go to collect it, but after a month they realise that actually it’s not for them, they then have a tricky situation of possibly being found out if they sell but the upside of an unplanned profit.

How might they find out? Depends how they chose to sell it, I heard of a dealer tracking their customer down on Ebay because the seller showed the serial number
In that case, I might be tempted to find the owner of the shop, not just the salesman, and have a chat at whether this is shop policy, advice from Rolex or just buffoonery.

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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Algarve said:


When I compare those I understand it a bit more now... Tudor is the watch you buy when you wanted a Rolex but couldn't afford one? A (presumably well made at the price) watch but a knock off none the less?
That's quite embarrassing tbh. Whilst I could buy one on the black market I don't see the value. The worst trait in the world, well second to being tight, is being a snob. And you absolutely sum up the typical 'Rolex snob'. Which has long been my problem with buying one tbh.
Algarve said:
I've got no clue what's the difference between a GMT and a dive watch
Quite.

don logan

3,511 posts

221 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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randlemarcus said:
don logan said:
I have everything but the Deepsea, I kept it for about 4 years, I just couldn’t get on with it, they don’t know I sold it, but if they did they can’t expect people to keep things they don’t want!

On that subjecf, it’s not like every dealer has “display” models, it’s quite possible that people might think they want something, even when they go to collect it, but after a month they realise that actually it’s not for them, they then have a tricky situation of possibly being found out if they sell but the upside of an unplanned profit.

How might they find out? Depends how they chose to sell it, I heard of a dealer tracking their customer down on Ebay because the seller showed the serial number
In that case, I might be tempted to find the owner of the shop, not just the salesman, and have a chat at whether this is shop policy, advice from Rolex or just buffoonery.
You can find the story if you Google Paul Thorpe youtube, it was earlier this year

Fckitdriveon

1,036 posts

89 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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I m Very much a Rolex man , forms a small part of my business aswell, appreciate lots of other brands , although none sell quite as well.

Never really had anything to do with Tudor, well aware of the brand and heritage , but after a westfields trip the other evening , I found myself in the Tudor store , having a nose. Helpful staff and no snobbery , tried on a few pieces and for the money thought the quality was good, you can’t compare build quality between the 2 imho , but for a 3 k ish watch Tudor have done very well.

Silly comments like tudors are for people who can’t afford Rolex are ill founded and abit silly , Tudor has carved out a nice little niche in the market for itself, decent branding , good quality and in house movements.

Each to their own I say!

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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Not so sure about the Tudor branding
The Beckham connection will have put off a lot of people! Incl me..

bigandclever

13,750 posts

237 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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Good job he never, ever wears a Rolex. Wait a minute!