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

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market for Ceramic daytona definitely getting softer as black ones being offered at 23k or less compared to 1 2 months back at 25k 😵‍💫😵‍💫
 
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given all this, how many years before we are back to getting discounts on ss sports from the grey market? 2 years? submariners can't sell above list forever (given history from the last 30 years). don't tell me about china's emerging middle class either. eventually we'll be back to "normal", no?

One can hope. I am certainly not going to feed into it and pay outrageous prices. I'll gladly take my money to other brands until the Rolex SS shortage is over.
 
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I enjoy my Rolex pieces but I will never pay over list as it makes me feel a mug lining someone else pocket!

I am waiting for a Cameron Deep Sea, have a small deposit down and am currently 8th on the list at my AD. They reckon 12 months and I will be patient and enjoy life in the meantime. I balked at paying the deposit but at least I know I am physically on the famous "list" as opposed to the "expression of interest "bull*hit"

I’m jealous you can lay down a deposit.

I’d be glad to throw down a paid in full deposit for a ceramic bezel if 2 years later I got a call.

Never thought I’d like a modern Rolex watch but that darn watch just speaks to me.

I suppose you just like what you like.

Will keep hunting to find at least a place in line while my watch friends probably scoff at the silliness of all the craze.

In the meanwhile I’ve got my only Rolex in the watchbox to enjoy that fortunately had no wait lists and is just plain old.




I see the reason for the draw now for the two most desirable models.

1) the ceramic bezel and fit/finish of the 116500LN gives an awesome mix of sporty and dressy.

2) the super jubilee on the currently offered GMTs in steel is so damn sexy. That and the cerachrom bezel together make it really hard not to look at.

I can’t say I feel the same way about the tried and true Explorer, Milgauss, and Submariner.
 
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I’m jealous you can lay down a deposit.

I’d be glad to throw down a paid in full deposit for a ceramic bezel if 2 years later I got a call.

Never thought I’d like a modern Rolex watch but that darn watch just speaks to me.

I suppose you just like what you like.

Will keep hunting to find at least a place in line while my watch friends probably scoff at the silliness of all the craze.

In the meanwhile I’ve got my only Rolex in the watchbox to enjoy that fortunately had no wait lists and is just plain old.

That is a beautiful watch! I am currently in Malta and the situation with SS sport watches is the same here. Sales guy was super nice and said they do have a wait list (>1 year) for GMT and submariner's. He said occasionally they will get one or two more than their normal allotment and they put them in the window to "make people happy that are not on the list" and the watches sell within 30-60 minutes. Sales guy seemed a bit frustrated by the whole process. If they make commission on sales it has to be hurting their compensation!
 
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Very interesting. I had a notion they were more plentiful outside the U.S.

This is a pretty small sample size but I’ve been to two ADs in Hong Kong, three ADs in the UK, and three ADs in Italy in the past year and haven’t seen any Rolex SS models.
 
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Without claiming to know anything about Rolex's business, as a former bean counter I can say the term "constraining production" is an amorphous term. Does it mean not adding a shift or not investing in more plant? If they are at or near full capacity of their existing plant and staff they are not constraining production even if they don't expand.

Some of you might remember the "Cabbage Patch" doll phenomenon of 30 years ago. There was huge demand, re-sellers were getting way more than retail. Coleco invested on increasing production facilities for dolls at a time their cash flow was short due to video game investments. The bubble burst and Coleco suffered bankruptcy. Of course iconic brands like Rolex shouldn't be as volatile as a toy but the same principle applies.

IMHO Rolex knows their business. They are doing something right. Being organized as a not for profit can't be too bad either.


Rolex has one of, if not the most valuable, goodwill in brand value of all luxury goods. It's value retention is worth its weight in gold, actually probably better. I disagree the Rolex "bubble" is similar to other asset bubbles mostly because the value retention of Rolex as an asset class has persisted over decades of economic cycles. Their strategy of controlling supply and pricing is remarkable, as annoying as it is to the consumer.
 
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4 years ago SS models were readily available minus maybe the Daytona. Second hand market BLNRs were going for around 8-8.5k and SS subs were below that.

Now SS date subcs are going for 10-11K and oyster BLNRs are 14k. SS date subcs have jumped 2k in the last year alone.

I'm not sure I agree with the assertion that the value retention of a Rolex has persisted over decades.
 
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4 years ago SS models were readily available minus maybe the Daytona. Second hand market BLNRs were going for around 8-8.5k and SS subs were below that.

Now SS date subcs are going for 10-11K and oyster BLNRs are 14k. SS date subcs have jumped 2k in the last year alone.

I'm not sure I agree with the assertion that the value retention of a Rolex has persisted over decades.

Well, lets just look at the real value in USD of a no-date sub since 1970. I admit these are rather anecdotal estimates resulting from a quick Google search, but adjusted for inflation, a non-date sub at retail price has increased at a healthy rate. I'm sure you can attest to the second hand market being even more robust, with most SS models selling at a premium over retail. And this is for the most basic non-date sub, the numbers are much stronger for GMT, vintage models, trendy models (Daytona) etc.

Year Price Infl Adj Real USD
1970 $189 6.19 $1,170

1990 $1,650 1.88 $3,094

2000 $3,800 1.39 $5,296

2010 $7,500 1.15 $8,637

2019 $8,550 1.00 $8,550
 
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Last year in London, I managed to get a new black bezel GMT, by asking what do I have to do to get one. I ended up having to buy a JLC Reverso in order to be able to buy the GMT. While I was in the shop a local asked for one. They told him in West London and Central London it will take 3 years. Meanwhile I was looking at the one in my bad feeling very lucky. Later on the trip checked out some places in Vienna nothing there. Also checked out some shops in Geneva nothing there either.

I checked out some ADs in Mexico City last month. They have nothing there either. One shop did have a white Dial Explorer II.

My friend checked some shops in London and Geneva for me this year and of course nothing there. :-(
 
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On a shopping trip last weekend in London I popped into 4 Rolex AD's, not a single steel sports model and I wasn't surprised. Ladies DateJust's a plenty.
 
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Rolex as an independent company have managed supply and demand well over the years which buyers know and which means that when someone has a Rolex they are more likely to keep it for value appreciation. If that is ever broken then it may unwind but until then ... If any one wants to join a 'waiting list' for my one then they'll be waiting a lot longer than 3 years 😉
 
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withholding watches to create artificial inflation will blow up the minute rolex decides to make more "said watches" available.

times might be good now, but chit could easily get ugly. the premiums for some models are lol funny for watches that aren't even LE.
 
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The Rolex “shortage” for me has been a good thing, in that it’s forced me to broaden my watch horizons. I wanted a Daytona and a Batman but ended with a Speedmaster and a couple Breitlings from the 60s—a 165.024 is next on my acquisition list.
 
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In a dialectic relation, everything affects everything, Rolex and the ´others´… This has result in a more creative Omega attitude, ending IMO with better watches, and for sure a step forward in aesthetics against Rolex…so at the end of the road, we Omega FANS, has have some benefits of the Rolex hype
 
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The Rolex “shortage” for me has been a good thing, in that it’s forced me to broaden my watch horizons. I wanted a Daytona and a Batman but ended with a Speedmaster and a couple Breitlings from the 60s—a 165.024 is next on my acquisition list.

the 806 and their other variants are underpriced imo. they should be more expensive than 4/5k.
 
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the 806 and their other variants are underpriced imo. they should be more expensive than 4/5k.
Good and correct ones are more then that. A lot of mediocre examples or mid matched pieces out there.

But yup.
 
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The overwhelming consensus at Rolex Forums is that Rolex is NOT restricting supply. The so-called shortage is the result of (a) a market bubble and (b) gray dealers. PLEASE read the thread below in its entirety to understand this. There are dozens of threads at TRF that say exactly the same thing.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=692868
 
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Good and correct ones are more then that. A lot of mediocre examples or mid matched pieces out there.

But yup.

I would agree, people will pay good money for correct and well maintained Navitimers. I have three vintage Breitling; the 69 Chrono-matic has never been worn, the 61 and 71 Navis are in all original and impeccable condition.

The problem is that very good examples are very few and far between.