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I don't understand the recent Rolex SS craze/shortage. What am I missing?
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jpjsavage
·What's there to think about? It's an amazing watch. Get it bought!
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Matty01
·Im guessing Rolex operating costs are dropping, cashflow has improved and. price rises are guaranteed in the lng term (so long as they fllow rather than lead the used market)
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jpjsavage
·And they are seeking to reposition the brand towards the higher end of the watch market perhaps?
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desertwanderer
·I was at an AD today. Not all stainless steel but I guess beggars can't be choosers.
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Fusion
·For a lot of people it comes down to having people see a $8.5k watch that's worth $9k on your wrist or a $4k watch that's worth $3.5k on your wrist. On top of that, most people would probably agree that the former is a better "deal" than the latter... Everyone can appreciate a good deal value wise.
Having a Rolex on your wrist is a powerful statement no matter how you fluff it.
I have many Omegas and one Rolex, and I totally understand the allure.. They are reallllly good. Especially the SS sports. They are reliable, handsome, and mine is like a good friend to me.
Having a Rolex on your wrist is a powerful statement no matter how you fluff it.
I have many Omegas and one Rolex, and I totally understand the allure.. They are reallllly good. Especially the SS sports. They are reliable, handsome, and mine is like a good friend to me.
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MTROIS
·For a lot of people it comes down to having people see a $8.5k watch that's worth $9k on your wrist or a $4k watch that's worth $3.5k on your wrist. On top of that, most people would probably agree that the former is a better "deal" than the latter... Everyone can appreciate a good deal value wise.
Having a Rolex on your wrist is a powerful statement no matter how you fluff it.
I have many Omegas and one Rolex, and I totally understand the allure.. They are reallllly good. Especially the SS sports. They are reliable, handsome, and mine is like a good friend to me.
Hope this realization will scare the braggarts away… 😗
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JwRosenthal
·I have been following these threads with fascination. This must be an engineered strategy as I find it impossible to imagine that a company, who’s goal it is to be profitable, would willingly allow their dealers to turn customers away at such an alarming rate.
I will continue to watch from afar as I have no desire to play into this game...I have far better things to spend my time and money on than chasing the girl who has no desire to go on a date with me.
I will continue to watch from afar as I have no desire to play into this game...I have far better things to spend my time and money on than chasing the girl who has no desire to go on a date with me.
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stuart70
·I have been following these threads with fascination. This must be an engineered strategy as I find it impossible to imagine that a company, who’s goal it is to be profitable, would willingly allow their dealers to turn customers away at such an alarming rate.
I will continue to watch from afar as I have no desire to play into this game...I have far better things to spend my time and money on than chasing the girl who has no desire to go on a date with me.
I agree with all you have said apart from one thing Rolex being a ‘charity’ in Switzerland it does not have to make a profit and it can live on its reserves for many years without caring.
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stuart70
·We under the impression that Rolex actually care to any great degree about the end user/purchaser. I went into an AD got spoken to in a manner that I can only consider poor. Due to ‘waiting lists’ AD’s do not care, as they have sold what stock they get several times over. I spoke Rolex (St. James) and got told AD’s have the policies and practices. I.e. Rolex knows and just does not care.
In contrast, I spoke to Zenith & Patek and they could not have been more helpful.
In contrast, I spoke to Zenith & Patek and they could not have been more helpful.
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JwRosenthal
·S stuart70I agree with all you have said apart from one thing Rolex being a ‘charity’ in Switzerland it does not have to make a profit and it can live on its reserves for many years without caring.
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stuart70
·Patek Philippe produce 80,000 watches a year and still waiting lists. Blancpain produce about 30,000 and you can get most watches on demand. Again it comes down to brand value.
Rolex could cut their production by half, double the price and a SS submariner would still be cheaper and more available than either an Aquanaut or a Nautilus added together.
Rolex could cut their production by half, double the price and a SS submariner would still be cheaper and more available than either an Aquanaut or a Nautilus added together.
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ConElPueblo
·S stuart70Patek Philippe produce 80,000 watches a year and still waiting lists. Blancpain produce about 30,000 and you can get most watches on demand. Again it comes down to brand value.
Rolex could cut their production by half, double the price and a SS submariner would still be cheaper and more available than either an Aquanaut or a Nautilus added together.
This is the second time I see you mention this option; have you considered how much Rolex' production facilities have cost to build? How they operate? How much it is to set up production of a single type of watch and how many they have to produce to break even? How much would the wasted capacity hurt them?
Rolex is geared for mass production; they cannot just simply switch from one production ethos to a completely different one. Also, why would they abandon their market position? Do you think that the high end manufacturers are more profitable?
From both a marketing and value chain management point of view this would be daft in the extreme.
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stuart70
·This is the second time I see you mention this option; have you considered how much Rolex' production facilities have cost to build? How they operate? How much it is to set up production of a single type of watch and how many they have to produce to break even? How much would the wasted capacity hurt them?
Rolex is geared for mass production; they cannot just simply switch from one production ethos to a completely different one. Also, why would they abandon their market position? Do you think that the high end manufacturers are more profitable?
From both a marketing and value chain management point of view this would be daft in the extreme.
Sorry, Capital investment is depreciated over the life of the asset. E.g. a building 25 or 50 years.
Would you consider that the Tudor MT movement and the Newer Rolex movements actually may share some components? This would answer some of your questions.
The change in production would be gradual 1,000k, 900k, 800k. I can remember a time about five years ago when many dealers would have a sea dweller, explorers and submariners in the window.
Tudor has jumped to eighth in watch sales (reported by an AD) so that would not be abandoning market position.
For Marketing you would encouraging exclusivity rather than every reality TV ‘stars’ wearing a Rolex
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ConElPueblo
·S stuart70Sorry, Capital investment is depreciated over the life of the asset. E.g. a building 25 or 50 years.
Would you consider that the Tudor MT movement and the Newer Rolex movements actually may share some components? This would answer some of your questions.
The change in production would be gradual 1,000k, 900k, 800k. I can remember a time about five years ago when many dealers would have a sea dweller, explorers and submariners in the window.
Tudor has jumped to eighth in watch sales (reported by an AD) so that would not be abandoning market position.
For Marketing you would encouraging exclusivity rather than every reality TV ‘stars’ wearing a Rolex
But you are suggesting that a company that produces in the region of 800K watches downscale their production to around, what, 100K? Is this what the market can bear, realistically, when talking about exclusive products of that cost? And also completely replace not only their production facilities, but also change their production principles? Not to mention throwing out the marketing ethos of attainable luxury that clings to most of their products, an ethos that has proven to be successful during the last seventy or so years?
The idea is absurd, sorry.
A realistic approach on how Rolex would go upmarket would be to set up either a new sub-brand or a completely different brand, like they have historically done when creating Tudor and Cellini.
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stuart70
·But you are suggesting that a company that produces in the region of 800K watches downscale their production to around, what, 100K? Is this what the market can bear, realistically, when talking about exclusive products of that cost? And also completely replace not only their production facilities, but also change their production principles? Not to mention throwing out the marketing ethos of attainable luxury that clings to most of their products, an ethos that has proven to be successful during the last seventy or so years?
The idea is absurd, sorry.
A realistic approach on how Rolex would go upmarket would be to set up either a new sub-brand or a completely different brand, like they have historically done when creating Tudor and Cellini.
In my post did not state a figure that they would drop the production to. For example dropping production of all watches to 700k or so would increase exclusivity. The main areas that you drop production would be SS models, increase production in bi colour and gold. There has always been pretty good availability of bi and gold Daytona but few steel. The new sea dweller is in bi colour and also the new GMT bi colour is quite available. The loading of the bi colour is about £3-4K. Hence a financial barrier
Cellini has never really done that well and has been re launched several times Prince etc
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wsfarrell
·Here's something from Rolex Forums. The video is worth a watch (so to speak):
"Adrian Barker is the messenger. I present it to TRF-ers as a video of potential interest to some. Don’t shoot me. Adrian was invited to a meeting hosted by an AD, attended by the head of Rolex U.K. as well as some whale Rolex collectors. He confirms what many on here have said - Rolex isn’t restricting supply, they’re aware that folk are having difficulty obtaining certain pieces and they have no intention of doing anything about it."
"Adrian Barker is the messenger. I present it to TRF-ers as a video of potential interest to some. Don’t shoot me. Adrian was invited to a meeting hosted by an AD, attended by the head of Rolex U.K. as well as some whale Rolex collectors. He confirms what many on here have said - Rolex isn’t restricting supply, they’re aware that folk are having difficulty obtaining certain pieces and they have no intention of doing anything about it."
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petay993
·It is a combination of F.O.M.O and this strange irrational behaviour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
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michael22
·P petay993It is a combination of F.O.M.O and this strange irrational behaviour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
Now it all makes sense.
