their interesting market strategy is just to raise price up, that's for sure. it it would be an abundance of sport model, the demand would be less. Humans are always attractive by things that they can't easily. let's look at the Patek nautilus S/Steel, you can't get them period.
It's easy to fall victim to the Rolex craze. I wanted a ceramic Daytona so bad until I finally got one. Now I almost despise the watch. For some reason I feel that the ceramic bezel makes the watch look cheap. The Daytona was supposed to be my grail, but all it did is renew my interest in vintage pieces, which I realized I love wearing much more. I only wear the Daytona occasionally, mostly when I feel the need to prove the point that I wear cheaper 34mm vintage watches by choice and not because I'm a pretender. And the day I won't feel the need to prove myself to anyone, I'll be really cured and will probably let the Daytona go. I'm almost cured. I certainly don't crave for the Rolex hot models anymore. I find them too shiny and mostly oversized. I'm proud and happy to be back where I started in my watch collecting journey, with a healthier mindset this time.
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It's easy to fall victim to the Rolex craze. I wanted a ceramic Daytona so bad until I finally got one. Now I almost despise the watch. For some reason I feel that the ceramic bezel makes the watch look cheap. The Daytona was supposed to be my grail, but all it did is renew my interest in vintage pieces, which I realized I love wearing much more. I only wear the Daytona occasionally, mostly when I feel the need to prove the point that I wear cheaper 34mm vintage watches by choice and not because I'm a pretender. And the day I won't feel the need to prove myself to anyone, I'll be really cured and will probably let the Daytona go. I'm almost cured. I certainly don't crave for the Rolex hot models anymore. I find them too shiny and mostly oversized. I'm proud and happy to be back where I started in my watch collecting journey, with a healthier mindset this time.
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The fact that I can walk into a 1,500+ sq foot Rolex Boutique and they only have DJ’s and Cellini’s and some random solid gold pieces. 5 years ago they had subs and other SS models always in stock.
There is no way demand is higher now then back then. They claim they get 2 subs a week and I wager that it is one of the highest volume shops in their network. I’m pretty sure they are Rolex owned. South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa CA. Next to Omega, across from Paneri, VC, JLC, and IWC. The same mall has a GO, Brietling and Patek store. Not to mention Mount Blanc, Tiffany’s, and Cartier.
Ever heart of China?
Is it me, I mostly follow GMT Prices on the grey market. But they seem to have gone down a bit. not much but a bit. I do not follow Daytona prices or Subs.
Maybe demand is not so high or more offer???
I've recently been on the lookout for a Sky Dweller (GMT and Annual Calendar complications), just love GMT or Worldtimer orientated watches, and can say I have seen the same thing. Pricing from resellers varies widely on the Sky Dweller (all steel varying face colours) with two tones being more aggressively priced than steel only variants. All that said, I won't pay more than SRP and am willing to wait a reasonable period of time to buy from an AD. Since starting my adventure re Sky Dweller I have also started to look at Explorer IIs and that's where I see the best value right now (relative to SRP). As supply from ADs looks to be better on them, I may end up with a Polar Explorer II until the Sky Dweller comes down from, well, the sky 🙄 OR that I actually can secure one from an AD 🤨
As for submariners, as the popularity grew during the time Batman was slowing down. Rolex also became more specific as to where their watches were going. I think this was a way to slow down the grey market and to take back control of their image.
China's not driving this. If it was the explosion of the Chinese economy, this would have happened at least a decade ago instead of two years ago. Plus, Chinese economic growth is currently the slowest that it's been in three decades. Throw in that Xi has mandated a party crackdown on conspicuous consumption and in particular the giving of expensive Western gifts (i.e. as bribes), and China is not the explanation here.
Is it me, I mostly follow GMT Prices on the grey market. But they seem to have gone down a bit. not much but a bit. I do not follow Daytona prices or Subs.
Maybe demand is not so high or more offer???
Not sure which all GMTs you're referring to, but in general it seems it's always the case that demand first spikes (e.g., the new Pepsi at release on the grey for $20K), then returns back to a bit of a plateau for some time (e.g., the new Pepsi now at grey around $16-18K), until the next "new-new" thing comes out. Same dip has happened to the SS Sky-Dweller ever since the new Pepsi came out... and when the new-new [X] comes out, both the Pepsi and Sky-Dweller will likely bobble down a bit more.
At some intersection of the following four articles, taken together, may be the bulk of an explanation:
"Why Some Watches From Rolex, Patek Philippe & Others Are Impossible To Find At Retail"
http://www.ablogtowatch.com/why-some-watches-rolex-patek-philippe-impossible-retail/
"[T]o make a long story short it is our distinct belief (based on plenty of evidence) that some of the more clever (and independently owned) watch companies are going to be increasingly limiting supply of high-demand sport watches in order to increase demand. This will happen even if it means lowering short-term profits in the form of sales for those specific watches. It is a tactic that only works for stable brands with a long-term vision… and it requires incredible discipline. Discipline typically entirely non-existent in publicly traded or more short-term focused watch brands."
