Although I knew it was an issue, until confronted with it in person part of didn't think it was true, I naively thought I could place an order, waiting several months for sure, but at least get one, also, it's not like I was looking for a Sub or Daytona but a 36mm OP. Go figure...... 🙄
I had a very similar experience. One AD near me outright acknowledged that while they don't participate in the practice 🙄 other ADs sell to known resellers in exchange for a certain percentage of grey market profits.
Although I knew it was an issue, until confronted with it in person part of didn't think it was true, I naively thought I could place an order, waiting several months for sure, but at least get one, also, it's not like I was looking for a Sub or Daytona but a 36mm OP. Go figure...... 🙄
@MTROIS had posted a video earlier in this thread where the presenter said that Rolex were reputedly making over a million watches a year and yet you can't even get a simple 3 hand watch like an OP from an AD. So where have they all gone? He slammed their "greedy" business practices.
I got talking watches to the sales guy in the local AD, at the end he had the decency to be embarrassed by the issue, as he said, I was a local man, and a 'watch guy', his words, he said the guy buying the 16 watches was a Saudi, which is not local to the south or Ireland at all...... Money talks and mine wasn't talking loud enough.
I recently come across this article on the Veblen effects in the luxury watch market. Rolex has certainly achieved this alternative curve and the article helps explain this thread title. And I wonder if Omega has recently started to alter it’s business approach of no more limited editions, general price increases and some newly introduced very high priced watches in an attempt to transition from the textbook supply/ demand and to the Veblen effect equilibria.
Here is the link to the article:
https://www.horolonomics.com/2021/11/highway-to-jomazone.html
And below is part of the leading paragraph before the writer dives into the economic explanation:
“Most markets follow the law of demand: as price goes up, the quantity demanded of a product declines. As I've discussed previously, luxury markets are different. They typically "break the law" when it comes to demand: when price increases, people may actually want the product even more. We refer to this as a Veblen effect, after Norwegian-American economist Thorstein Veblen. There are many reasons why this might happen. Veblen, himself, might have attributed it to "conspicuous consumption." A high-priced object could confer social status on an individual, and the higher the price the bigger the status "halo." There is also the possibility that a high price today could signal an even higher price tomorrow (more formally, there may be positive serial correlation in prices). In this case, as price increases, speculators may be drawn to a product in anticipation of a payout from the future increase in prices. You can also think of this as the "siren song" of potential capital gains.”
this article on the Veblen effects in the luxury watch market
Yet, for years now (this thread started 3yrs ago, and wasn’t novel back then):
One side of room: but how!? Why?! Mad!! They’re doing this on purpose!!
Other side: well yeah, of course
One side of room: but how!? Why?! Mad!! They’re doing this on purpose!!
Other side: well yeah, of course
One side of room: but how!? Why?! Mad!! They’re doing this on purpose!!
Other side: well yeah, of course
I enjoyed watching this video from Alex, Watchadvisor channel, as it is not too often that one of these YouTubers calls the R-system out.
For the German speakers amongst ourselves, his rendition of the snotty Rolex AD salesman using a Viennese accent around the 11’55” mark of the video made me especially laugh. 😁
Enjoy!
