I don't understand the recent Rolex SS craze/shortage. What am I missing?

DoctorEvil

Arrogant pricks. It's stories like yours that are starting to turn me against Rolex as a brand. If they don't want your money, then take it to someone else who does. There's plenty of other great watches out there.

MTROIS

Just curious, in which city was that WoS store?

Doc Savage

I have been wondering when we'd see this happen with Omega. I don't live near any ADs, so I haven't noticed it myself. But I do notice that the 39.5 PO is as readily available at lots of grays like it was in the past.

G Gamma

London, Oxford Street branch. As he waved goodbye he proactively said if you’ve got a relationship with another Rolex dealer try them instead. Remember this is to get on a waiting list not even talking about actually getting my hands on it. Anyway the topic is well covered here no point beating the bush but just wanted to add my anecdote

pdxleaf

To answer the initial question (what am I missing), is that we still think of Rolex as a watch company. It isn't.

Sure, they make watches, but people have ceased to see the products as watches, at least the majority of people who aren't watch collectors. (Ie people who don't only buy and own Rolex.)

The majority of people buying into Rolex consider the brand as a substitute form of currency. Similar to a diamond or block of gold, the commodity becomes disassociated with its physical merits and becomes valuable only in relation to its perceived rarity, or market value.

People buy Rolex watches and put them in a safe. People buy Rolexes as an alternative to sticking cash in the bank. People buy Rolexes to easily transport them across borders. People pay other people with Rolexes. What else does that sound like? An alternative form of currency. Pretty beads and shells.

There are still Rolex fans who buy only Rolex because they think they are a great watch and can't be convinced otherwise. It is impossible for them to believe that everyone else doesn't secretly want one or that other people might truly find many (or all) of the modern brand distasteful or boring. Part of their inability to entertain that thought is their fear that their collection's value will disintegrate, much like how a person who buys a stock can't stand to hear negative news about their stock.

What's going to happen in the future? No idea. It could continue the way of gold and jewels, with ups and downs tied to the monetary system. Or it could crash when money gets tight and all the Rolexes come out of the safe as people try to dump their hyped watches to a flooded market.

IMHO, it makes sense when we stop thinking of them as a watch company. Only when I look at them as a watch and compare them to other watches does it no longer make sense. Truth be told, i would like to have a 1675, but mainly because they were the favorite personal watches of Astronauts. Plus I liked them when I didn't know much about watches. But the prices are insane when compared to all the other great and better watches I could buy for the same money. When I think of Rolexes as a commodity, then it makes sense.

But what do I know? I'm just an Omega fanboy.

DSotW

As is said, all good (and bad) things must come to an end.

At some point Rolex will fall. Were it with a whimper or a cacophony, no one can yet tell. But aside from a few Rolexisti and the grey market dealers, I think it will be with a whimper.

Meanwhile, an Omega fanboy/girl can go about their life as a normal human being....

blufinz52

What the heck does that mean?