Alpha
··Kilt Owner, Beagle Parent, Omega CollectorConversation with my AD today and should expect my M116610LV0002 very soon and at around eleven/twelve months waiting time I am happy 😀
Wanted to buy a SD Deep Blue, but found nothing but jewel encrusted Datejusts and a pair of YG Yachtmaster at the Rolex AD in Nassau Bahamas - they got upset that I was taking pics and I was asked to stop and leave (took one last spy pic just to spite them). They blamed the lack of supply on the grey market for buying up all the stock and selling for a profit, which I pointed out didn't explain why they haven't received a Sub, SD, or GMT from Rolex in weeks.
View attachment 872469
These pictures are somewhat redolent of a display case in a Soviet-era shop; they don't have much stock available and certainly nothing you'd want to buy, but if you really are that desperate you'll take anything at all and be grateful for it!
I'm actively looking for a Sub 114060 or possibly an Explorer 1 at the minute as my first modern watch, so called into my local AD this weekend.
No stainless sport in stock obviously (or certainly none available to me) but we had a chat and I asked the reason for the shortage. The manager seems fairly happy to discuss it and this was the response;
1. Global reallocation of new watches, so in the past certain areas may get more Subs etc. Rolex has changed this to make it fairer so every area/country gets a fair share which has reduced the number available in places like the EU and US.
2. More folk buying as investments as there's no interest in saving accounts.
3. Folk buying to immediately flip to places like Watchfinder.
4. Huge increase in demand in Asia, either in Asian ADs or by Asian tourists in other areas.
5. Skills shortage in Switzerland so production has been disrupted a couple of times.
Interestingly he did suggest they were well aware of the issue with people immediately flipping new watches and that it was a cause of genuine frustration.
Frustratingly for me, I don't expect to have the opportunity to buy a Sub at retail any time soon.
Although Rolex’s reputation has never been higher, their policies to ensure their exclusive status have been frustrating customers for a while now. Not being able to buy one of their products within a realistic timeframe and for a reasonable amount of money has also given birth to an enormous gray market industry, retailers that sell new Rolex, usually online, but who have no formal association.
It begs the question of just how long the brand can continue in the same vein. They are still, by a long way, the biggest selling luxury watchmaker on the planet, but fans’ loyalty can surely only be pushed so far.
Many of the most sought after pieces are now being bought up in bulk by professional investors before they even reach the shop floor, businessmen who have built up relationships with a number of ADs and are given priority over the average Joe, who then sell them on at a steep increase. You can’t really blame the dealers themselves; they have stock that needs to be sold and if they can do it quickly, then all the better.
But more recently, some are trying to inject a little fairness back into the process. Methods such as limiting the number of watches one person can purchase at a time to combat the pros, or holding waiting list lotteries by pulling names out of a hat are designed to separate the real fans from those looking to make a quick buck.
As for Rolex themselves, they have always been a law unto themselves and we can never tell what they might do next. But the one thing that might help the situation, i.e. simply making more watches for ADs to sell, is unlikely any time soon.
But David Alabaster, manager of Cheshire-based jeweller C.H. Moody and Son, thinks that the rise of internet forums has stirred up a frenzy for certain Rolex models. That excessive demand causes prices to rise on secondary market sites like Chrono24 and Chronext. When new and boxed Rolexes are being ‘flipped’ on these sites at double or more their price at authorised dealers, it creates a viscous circle that increases demand even more and pushes prices up to stratospheric levels. “The internet and watch forums are making people crazy,” he says.
Mr Alabaster accuses people on forums of falsely accusing Rolex of restricting supplies in order to drive up prices on the secondary market. “Look at the watch forums and see all those agitated “victims” of Rolex not making enough steel professional watches for them to get their hands on,” he scoffs.
“We have a three year waiting list for 2018 GMTs,” he reveals. “During my meeting with Rolex at Baselworld this year where I was trying to get as much allocation as possible, I was being passed notes from my secretary with orders for 35 GMTs. We will get three. I have to pull names out of a hat to keep it fair,” he reveals.
I walk into half a dozen Rolex ADs every month to see what is available. This month I have been to New York, London, Glasgow, Basel and Dubai. Everywhere I go there are half-empty cabinets and unhappy sales consultants.
Hopefullly things may start to move soon. I could easily see me buying a couple of pieces from them as from what I saw the customer service seemed excellent.
If Rolex is making 2,000 watches a day in total, and the demand for SS professional watches is so high, why are dealers are sitting on unsold Datejusts in steel and gold that nobody wants? Rolex sends unwanted models to dealers who then have to force people to buy them in order to buy what they want sooner than another buyer.
Excuse me, but how do you know the nobody wants Datejusts? I doubt you have any verifiable statistics, just would like to know how you arrived at that supposition.
I wager that to most people DJ IS the only Rolex they would ever recognize as such, and Rolex sells more of them than all the steel sports watches combined, but that's just a guess on my part.
Excuse me, but how do you know that nobody wants Datejusts? I doubt you have any verifiable statistics, just would like to know how you arrived at that supposition.
I wager that to most people DJ IS the only Rolex they would ever recognize as such, and Rolex sells more of them than all the steel sports watches combined, but that's just a guess on my part.