Nope, just common sense and observation of reality. Have been interested in watches for over 40 years and for almost all of that time you could walk into any Rolex dealer and have any SS sports watch of your choice (Daytonas were more difficult to come by in the last 20 years or so.) Now there are no sports watches in any dealer's stock anywhere. What's changed? The emergence of a major consumer market, China, that has had tremendous growth over the last couple of decades. It has been well documented that high priced luxury watches were directed to China for years, some for dubious reasons (kickbacks, bribes, avoidance of income, etc), and a lot of that has been cut back by the government. Rolex watches are a currency of their own, they have a market value that you don't have with an Omega or Longines. It seems no matter how many sports watches Rolex makes they disappear into a black hole.....do you think the markets in North/South America, Europe, Australia, India have expanded so greatly that they are sucking the pipeline dry? Of course not. So what's left......China. Whether it is real or just a manufactured situation I have no idea.
If there are more plausible reasons for the shortage I haven't heard one. Anyone? Bueller, Bueller?
Click to expand...