For those who acquired both a Rolex & Omega

gbesq

That pretty much sums it up, but to be fair we do hear from time to time from members who have had a good buying experience at their Rolex Boutique. Rolex makes good watches. It's just the company generally, the charitable trust that isn't, their marketing claims (i.e., lying), their refusal to return parts when they serviice your watch, their restricting parts and driving independent watchmakers out of business, their refusal to service their vintage watches, and the whole artificial scarcity-get on the waiting list-build a relationship nonsense to create demand and jack up prices that I have a problem with.

gatorcpa

I guess Rolex won’t be sponsoring the December Mid-Atlantic GTG.

BTW, you forgot about Rolex using US Customs as their private police force until they started losing court cases…

gatorcpa

502 to right

I own both brands. But my Rolex watches are from the 5 digit era.

gbesq

I have been to a Rolex OB and both observed and experienced the "attitude," but I'll admit that my experience is limited and anecdotal and that I had no interest in purchasing a watch when I visited (although there were no models available for sale) and I did get the standard "establish a relationship" and "join the waiting list" lines from the salesperson. As I stated in my previous post, I don't have any problem with the watches. Although Rolex's styling cues don't appeal to me, I acknowledge that the watches are well made. I'm just bothered by all the hype over a mass produced mid-tier luxury brand (which is really no different than the offerings from Omega which, in my opinion, makes a better movement than Rolex). What bothers me, as several other posters in this thread have noted, is Rolex's business and advertising practices, but as my friend blufinz52 notes, those practices really don't affect the quality of Rolex's product or their appeal to consumers for those who are willing to wait to make a purchase. To each his own.

sgk

For what it’s worth. I expressed interest in the Sub no-date 124060 at the Rolex AD in Bahrain in Nov’23. The staff was pleasant and the guy said he could get it for me in 6 months. Got the call in Feb’24.

When I next expressed interest in a BLRO or the new Daytona, I was told that’s going to be a few years of waiting… basically don’t hold you’re breath.

My take is, success varies based on what model you’re after. Also service in Asia and the Middle-East tends to be more cordial (not always though)

gbesq

That pretty much sums it up, but to be fair we do hear from time to time from members who have had a good buying experience at their Rolex Boutique. Rolex makes good watches. It's just the company's policies generally, the charitable trust that isn't, their marketing claims (i.e., lying), their refusal to return parts when they serviice your watch, their restricting parts and driving independent watchmakers out of business, their refusal to service their vintage watches, and the whole artificial scarcity-get on the waiting list-build a relationship nonsense to create demand and jack up prices that I have a problem with.

gbesq

No offense, but there are frankly a significant number of manufacturers that make a better product than Rolex and that don’t seem to have any trouble keeping up with demand. JLC is a good example. While Rolex makes a good watch, the demand for their products is as attributable to shrewd marketing as it is to build quality. It certainly ISN’T attributable to the manner in which they treat their customers.