I'm sure this is well known (and I've heard it on forums) but was shocked to hear it from an official UK AD...

When in a store in London we were discussing Breitling, Omega and Rolex watches and the sales girl commented when my other half said "thats like the one you have on order" pointing at a daytona with gold bezel. I have on order the white face SS with black ceramic bezel. I said I'm 6 months into a 4 year waiting list and she openly said "and that assumes you will be buying other Rolex watches in the interim to keep the relationship sweet with the AD and keep you up the list".

I was astounded. Rolex expect that for me to ever receive this stainless steel watch costing north of £9100 in 4 years time that I have to spend money in the meantime on other Rolex gear just to keep my spot alive! WOW. Having never been a Rolex customer, it appears they don't want me to ever be one unless I commit to other watches. Amazed. Sorry but I was just amazed.

 

I would take my money else where. The other alternative is to buy a pre owned watch and pay over the odds, would still work out cheaper than having to buy 2 or 3 rolexes so that you could buy the one you want.
If consumers allow companies to behave this way then they will continue to engage in these practices, if consumers went else where then companies will change their practices.
It is each person's choice but is a Daytona really worth 4 years wait and a few date adjusts that you don t really want?

 

I've just read the article on a blog to watch and it is a superb representation of this position.
I have 2 or 3 nice watches. The Daytona (and I would accept the wait) would be something special for my 50th...although I may well get to 50 before the watch appears! However I also recognise a desire to buy/trade a couple of other watches in that time and will not be buying a Rolex (although may buy something else from my AD) just to be on the 'live' list.
Most people I would say gain wealth and are not born into it. Rolex seems to want to attract the latter!

 

I'm wondering what would be the wait time for the new GMT... To me, it is just ridiculous what they are doing, but that's what you have to do, to get it from the AD. Grey or second hand market are taking advantage of the situation too, by bumping up their prices.

 

for sure. This doesn't allow entry into the brand. And I'd be surprised if they didn't lose more new customers. If they don't want the sort of customers attracted by the ss Daytona, don't sell it! Call it Tudor and reduce the price.
To spend £9k on the actual watch, and potentially £10k to get the watch / stay on the live list is crazy. For this I can buy a top quality speedmaster and have change for a PO!

 

This sounds like an underhand attempt to get you to buy something now.

"Waiting lists" are managed by the ADs and while there may be corporate guidelines, I suspect ADs do pretty much what they want with your place on their list.

You can bet the Grey's are on these lists too and given how much they buy, they'll be higher up the list than most.

Many value their AD relationships and I understand this if they're buying non-Rolex stuff too. If you're just looking for a Rolex, you're decided "tier 2" in the AD priorities.

If you really want something in high demand like a SS Daytona, you just have to accept the buyer premium as a higher price to get it now; or a long wait to get it later...

If you're going to wait (4 yrs!?!) and pay MSRP consider this - there is a high probability grey prices will have softened as supply normalizes and the buzz dies down. In which case, you've forfeited 4 years of wearing pleasure for the grey premium. Divide the premium by the number of months and decide for yourself if the Grey Premium is worth it...

 

Sounds like something similar that happened to me.
My wife points towards a watch and says" that looks like one of yours-but it cant be, because there is no way you'd ever pay that"
At this point I moved her along and said it must be time for lunch!

 

Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.

 

Wow ! 4 years on the waiting list and an obligation to purchase other watches during that time, unbelievable...
I know Rolex stocks in UK are a bit crazy but have you tried sending emails to other dealers ?
I was looking for a SS Sub last year and I emailed all the stores in London, waiting list ranged between 2 months and 2 years, I went with the 2 month shop and 2 weeks later a watch was available for pickup.
Also, I don't know the store you visited, but it is was located in the west end, I won't be surprised with the sales girl attitude.

 

Sounds like the unbelievably snobby PP saleswoman I encountered at Tourneu in Chicago a few years ago.

 

Never bought a new Rolex. This sh!t is unbelievable. I continue to be astonished that so many people become entrapped in this marketing methodology.

 

I have a few Rolexes and like the watches I have but have grown to dislike the smug ad’s and the attitude in general of Rolex the company, which was one of the reasons for moving into omega. I now would rather give my money to a decent company like omega who value my custom rather than one who expect me to buy lots of their crappy models or basically kiss their Ar@#£& to allow me to get the watch I really want, sorry Rolex you can poke it and your new over rated gmt on jubilee. (Emperors clothes springs to mind!!!)

 

I suspect Tudor GMT is going to be another craziness.
For people who need Rolex, because they are good watches - second hand market is way to go.
To me, part of mad pricing and lack of availability is being heat up with all the hype with vintage Rolex, last few years it's been insane, all the records are broken, auction houses getting good profits, however normal people are getting screwed by pricing and availability and AD attitude.
They are doing you a favor, letting you spend your money on their product .... Just nonsense to me.

 

Let's say not far from Leicester square!

 

Unless you must absolutely have it now (which is a financially dangerous attitude to have esp with new luxury watches unless your pockets are deep) then either wait until the hype cools down or find a pre-owned older iteration.

 

Essentially they are catering to a market that doesn't care one whit about what something costs, but rather the exclusivity of the product. So, no, they don't care that you aren't currently a Rolex customer, and now may never become one. This is the same with other luxury goods, such as Ferrari - the ability to purchase new release cars is based entirely off of how ever many cars you have purchased in the past, and even then you may not be deemed to be "good enough" to purchase.

 

I see, perfect place for the smug attitude

 

To be fair, there was an interesting article on ABlogtoWatch that talks about this artificial scarcity being a direct response to the secondary gray market. It's my opinion that there's actually a lot of truth to this for Rolex.

The idea is that for the past 5-7 years Rolex (and other) brands have expanded their manufacturing capacity to meet rising demand in the Asian market. There was so much demand, that much of the supply had to trickle into the secondary (gray market) dealers at substantial discounts to the official AD.

But there's a question about how that affects long-term brand value and brand dilution. So what do you do? You start drying up that supply. Obviously we use the Daytona as an example, but even something like a SS Submariner seems to have a wait list with people paying retail or above on the secondary market.

Rolex does seem to be in a unique position to do this as one of the few independent (private) companies that are not beholden to quarterly earnings. It'll be interesting to see how long this effect lasts.

 

interesting theory, but unless Rolex reduces production by one hundred, the comparison with Ferrari is IMHO a bit bold.
For me Rolex watches are a mass product, nothing as exclusive as a handmade car.

 

While I fully agree that their production of a million watches a year qualifies them as mass market, I have a hard time believing that there could possibly be a 4 year wait for any model of a watch with production numbers like that. Essentially though they are doing the same thing - they limit production of what people really want, and they restrict these models to dealers and then clients whom have already purchased less desirable models to keep themselves in "good graces". The article referenced above on A Blog To Watch about this practice was fairly fascinating.