Just in... Rolex buys Bucherer!
Discussion
Some commentary here from someone in the industry. it’s obvious the AD network will be dismantled and the new distribution channel will be boutiques
https://youtu.be/OsK9xydui-I?si=g_tsWyojZviL5XKq
https://youtu.be/OsK9xydui-I?si=g_tsWyojZviL5XKq
EK993 said:
Some commentary here from someone in the industry. it’s obvious the AD network will be dismantled and the new distribution channel will be boutiques
https://youtu.be/OsK9xydui-I?si=g_tsWyojZviL5XKq
Thanks, will watch later but I can't see how that would work in the UK. Over here there are just a handful of Bucherer branches and they're all in London. https://youtu.be/OsK9xydui-I?si=g_tsWyojZviL5XKq
Deep said:
Thanks, will watch later but I can't see how that would work in the UK. Over here there are just a handful of Bucherer branches and they're all in London.
Quite simply they will open new branches in all the major cities around the U.K I'm.sure Rolex have the money to do it quickly if they wanted toJamescrs said:
Quite simply they will open new branches in all the major cities around the U.K I'm.sure Rolex have the money to do it quickly if they wanted to
That's quite some commitment but as you say they have the money.I've also often thought that there are too many Rolex dealers in the UK. Just look at London, on Regent St you have Mappin and Webb and WOS almost opposite each other, for Rolex that makes little sense.
NDA said:
DTC (direct to consumer) works for quite a few brands - Omega, Patek, Seiko (and others), Tesla, Apple.... etc I guess the difference with this is branding - it won't necessarily be that obvious that Bucherer is Rolex owned.
Omega and Patek also sell through other stores though and even some Omega boutiques are actually owned by WOS group.The question is whether Rolex are wanting to go the Tesla route and ONLY be DTC, it would involve a huge commitment from Rolex as Bucherer has only a handful of stores in the UK and none at all in the middle or far east.
Have they had butique stores for ages? I'm sure there are few stores that have their name over the door.
Maybe it's a frachise deal though. I think they quite like being able to blame the retailer for all their scarcity schinanagins. Keeping the Bucherer name (or flipping their own for that) would buy them a bit of deniability when doing that.
Maybe it's a frachise deal though. I think they quite like being able to blame the retailer for all their scarcity schinanagins. Keeping the Bucherer name (or flipping their own for that) would buy them a bit of deniability when doing that.
I went to AP direct in London before lockdown. Odd affair, like I had been invited to a rented office. The “ambassador” was in jeans and teeshirt. Asked me why I had decided to begin my “Audemars Piguet journey”
She offered me a Royal Oak for £14k within three weeks. I declined because I didn’t like the one she let me try on.
Yes I know.
She offered me a Royal Oak for £14k within three weeks. I declined because I didn’t like the one she let me try on.
Yes I know.
Feels like a lot of overreaction tbh. It might ultimately end up that Rolex goes the d2c route but if that happens it feels like it'd be years if not decades away. They must surely know they've got a ton of loyal customers with relationships with ADs that don't particularly want to start over. Dumping all other ADs and going Bucherer only is a good way to p
s off a loyal customer base. Given it's a multi-generational business, they may be thinking about a slow shift over time but if so I don't see that anyone that already has an existing good relationship with a non-bucherer AD is immediately going to get screwed for allocations. Likely if they want to go this route the allocations will just get slower and slower over years and people will gradually shift.
It's also interesting that they've increased production, grey market has certainly corrected if not collapsed and supply is definitely more plentiful than it's been in the last few years. I think we have a few good years ahead of us of good supply and *gasp* maybe even the opportunity to walk into a store and buy a non-daytona steel professional at some point in the not too distant future?!
s off a loyal customer base. Given it's a multi-generational business, they may be thinking about a slow shift over time but if so I don't see that anyone that already has an existing good relationship with a non-bucherer AD is immediately going to get screwed for allocations. Likely if they want to go this route the allocations will just get slower and slower over years and people will gradually shift.It's also interesting that they've increased production, grey market has certainly corrected if not collapsed and supply is definitely more plentiful than it's been in the last few years. I think we have a few good years ahead of us of good supply and *gasp* maybe even the opportunity to walk into a store and buy a non-daytona steel professional at some point in the not too distant future?!
Soleith said:
Feels like a lot of overreaction tbh. It might ultimately end up that Rolex goes the d2c route but if that happens it feels like it'd be years if not decades away. They must surely know they've got a ton of loyal customers with relationships with ADs that don't particularly want to start over. Dumping all other ADs and going Bucherer only is a good way to ps off a loyal customer base. Given it's a multi-generational business, they may be thinking about a slow shift over time but if so I don't see that anyone that already has an existing good relationship with a non-bucherer AD is immediately going to get screwed for allocations. Likely if they want to go this route the allocations will just get slower and slower over years and people will gradually shift.
It's also interesting that they've increased production, grey market has certainly corrected if not collapsed and supply is definitely more plentiful than it's been in the last few years. I think we have a few good years ahead of us of good supply and *gasp* maybe even the opportunity to walk into a store and buy a non-daytona steel professional at some point in the not too distant future?!
I highly doubt those relationships are going to matter. If Rolex dump the AD's, the customers will still want their Rolexes to show off / resale so will just turn to the new distribution channel. They won't suddenly abandon the brand just because they can't go and have a nice chat with their AD. s off a loyal customer base. Given it's a multi-generational business, they may be thinking about a slow shift over time but if so I don't see that anyone that already has an existing good relationship with a non-bucherer AD is immediately going to get screwed for allocations. Likely if they want to go this route the allocations will just get slower and slower over years and people will gradually shift.It's also interesting that they've increased production, grey market has certainly corrected if not collapsed and supply is definitely more plentiful than it's been in the last few years. I think we have a few good years ahead of us of good supply and *gasp* maybe even the opportunity to walk into a store and buy a non-daytona steel professional at some point in the not too distant future?!
Rolex clearly want to make a change to the distribution model, they have invested to do this, and won't want to wait decades to make this transition. Infact having a dual distribution model for any length of time is going to be far from optimal for them, it would make sense to just get it done in as quickly as possible.
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