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Why are omegas so easy to buy, and rolexes so difficult?

ninman
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There's one thing I've been struggling to understand for a long time, but why is it I can walk into an omega boutique and, apart from a few exceptions, buy any watch I want, but rolex has none to sell?

I mean, omega watches are just as good as rolexes, just as well made, just as legendary, yet everyone wants a rolex, and apparently far fewer want an omega.

Why is that? Anyone know? What's making people go crazy over rolex?
 
JwRosenthal
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^ yup, influencers and hype. Rolex has been a status symbol since the 80’s rather than just being based on its merits as a timepiece. Also heavy shenanigans with grey markets and shady back door dealings (alleged) with dealers.
Plenty of used Rolex around if you know what you are looking for and have deep pockets. Market is cooling so there are apparently shorter wait times and more on the secondary market.
As for quality- both make fine watches, but Omega doesn’t need to remind people about their status.
 
gbesq
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Through clever marketing and, some would argue, intentionally producing fewer watches than necessary to meet demand, Rolex has positioned itself as a Veblen good (look it up) in the minds of many consumers. Objectively, are Rolex watches any better than Omega watches? Nope. But do consumers believe that Rolex is more desirable? Yep.
 
eugeneandresson
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Why are omegas so easy to buy, and rolexes so difficult?

-> Thats total hogwash.

Rolexs and Omegas and Pateks and anything not-rare are super easy to buy. Infact if you go and look at C24, there are probably more Rolex's for sale than Omegas!

Its just a question of the number of idiots who want to 2x their purchase price that differs between the two brands...

Edit: I rest my case

upload_2022-11-19_12-55-15.png upload_2022-11-19_12-55-44.png
Edited:
 
dsio
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You should be able to walk into a store and buy a watch, it shouldn’t be this unpleasant, consumer hostile experience and you shouldn’t have to buy some trashy bling off an authorized dealer to get on “the list”. I was lucky to buy all my Rolexes under MSRP, I’d not even bother now as they’re good but nowhere near worth the frustration.
 
Donn Chambers
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Why can’t you buy Rolexes in stores?

Greed.

When people are willing to pay 2-3x the MSRP price for Rolex sports watches, those aren’t going to be sitting in showcases for long, if they even get there. They are sold as soon as they come in (often to repeat customers who pay in cash) and they in turn flip them for a profit. This started with a few people doing this, but in the last several years it has snowballed with lots of people looking to get rich quick. All the social media sites are filled with people like this, and that just promotes more to try.

Unless Rolex really restricts sales to one per customer per year (as has been rumored for some time) this will continue for some time. And if they do implement that policy, there are plenty ways around it using shill buyers.
 
M'Bob
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I was thinking the other day how the Rolex hype thing perpetuates, thus affecting demand.

I had a college coach I was treating the other day, and we got into a conversation about coaching and training techniques. And it became readily apparent to me that he was handing down ideas from generations of coaches before him, without bothering to validate the efficiency via current research.

The point? I heard as a kid that Rolex was the best (this was of course, amongst non-watch cognoscenti). So, as an adult with some spare change, I was already inculcated with the desire to own one. But then, as I got more into it, I of course found out that they were good, but far from nirvana.

So, if you count the number of pre-enlightened drones, who just heard from someone that they were the best, and that you need to have one to “arrive,” you can get a picture how the demand side, at least, got so high.
 
johnireland
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Omega's problems are the result of the directions the company took in the seventies in response to the Japanese digital watch invasion. They weren't the only watchmakers to succumb, but stumble and fall they did. Many watchmakers went belly up and died because they were on shaky ground to begin with. Omega went off on a strange design tangent as they tried to catch the falling knife. The seventies produced some truly ugly watches and Omega had more than their share. Rolex, on the other hand, played to its strengths...kept their designs simple and traditional (as did Patek and VC)...and in the process they ate Omega's lunch and took them behind the wood shed. The James Bond movies give the Submariner a big boost, the Daytona gave Rolex a star chronograph sports watch, and the DateJust and Day Date spoke to business men. Rolex haters like to call it hype...but the real name is successful advertising and marketing. And one could say that it was Rolex's success that prompted large holding groups like Swatch and Richmond to begin buying up failed names and offering life lines to those who were just surviving...such as Omega and JLC (among others).

Finally Omega got their hands on the James Bond franchise...and in terms of my own awareness, that was the beginning of their comeback. Rolex haters never would accuse Omega of "hype"...but what Omega has done is follow the very successful Rolex playbook...celebrity ambassadors, playing to successes of the past while upgrading their products. The most popular and rarest watches have the ability to command the highest prices. Patek are certainly masters of this. Yes, Rolex is popular, but why are Omega fans complaining? Everyone's prices have been going up for the last 20 years, and retailers have protected their own interests by doing anything and everything to keep their margins of profit up. Rolex has made mistakes...staying at the 36mm size for so long was one of them...they fell way behind in the big watch trend. Now they seemed to have fixed that. Omega beat them to that, much to their credit...and that also has helped them sustain their return to prominence.

But all of this is happening in a world where the watch is no longer a tool. More and more people are leaving their watches in their desk drawer or never even own a watch. And they are increasing in number and we are decreasing. Arguing that this brand is better than that brand, trying to put down this brand or that with words like "hype," is a waste of air. Just as cars are going electric, the functions of watches are being absorbed into electronic devices. We are better off enjoying what we have, and cheering for everyone to be successful for whatever time mechanical watches have left.
 
NGO1
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Why are omegas so easy to buy, and rolexes so difficult?


Generally in these threads, thousands of comments, no one ever mention the opposite sex. To simply put, you don’t get laid wearing an Omega.

also, every single speedmaster from the beginning of time is exactly the same. Fact!!

wait wait. Let me put on my flame suit.
 
omegawatchlover
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Because Rolex is the better watch. Better cases, not chunky and weird.
Heads up, I like vintage Omega though!
 
Aroxx
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NGO1 ngo516
Why are omegas so easy to buy, and rolexes so difficult?


Generally in these threads, thousands of comments, no one ever mention the opposite sex. To simply put, you don’t get laid wearing an Omega.

also, every single speedmaster from the beginning of time is exactly the same. Fact!!

wait wait. Let me put on my flame suit.
A fancy watch is more likely to attract watch nerd dudes if anything. Not the ladies. 😉 YMMV.
 
Archer
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Aroxx Aroxx
A fancy watch is more likely to attract watch nerd dudes if anything. Not the ladies. 😉 YMMV.

Any “ladies” that are swayed by the watch I’m wearing, I’m not really interested in...
 
Archer
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omegawatchlover omegawatchlover
Because Rolex is the better watch. Better cases, not chunky and weird.
Heads up, I like vintage Omega though!

Objectively, I don’t see a difference in quality. Last time I checked “chunky and weird” are not quality attributes.

It all comes down to personal preferences. One persons stability, is another persons stagnancy.

Rolex and Omega have pursued different strategies, and both have had successes and misses.
 
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