Rolex - The watch for the obstinate

Yet more bad translation from Rolex, seen on their ad while watching the French Open final. On the balcony you can see the quote from Roland Garros, ‘Victory belongs to the most tenacious’, adapted from Napoleon’s quote, ‘La victoire appartient aux plus persévérants’, the most persevering.

Rolex somehow managed to say they support tennis because victory belongs to the most ‘obstinate’. So there you have it, Rolex, the watch for the obstinate. Who presumably also ‘defy excellence’.

Can they not afford anyone to check this stuff? Times must be hard at Rolex…

Fitting since Rolex seems stubbornly set on not satisfying the demand for their watches. :rolleyes-new:

I can’t imagine Rolex or any other brand paraphrasing Hitler…

I thought that was instruction number one in the guide on how to become a Rolex AD.

Anyway, I'll never buy one, especially when one can have 99% of a Rolex without the snobbery and snootiness for the price of a couple of tanks of fuel.

It's funny, when you look at vintage Rolex, you always see a watch that is good, but not exceptional. It is embarrassingly easy to find a fair few contemporary watches that are just better. I don't think that's changed, but the older the watches get the easier it becomes. 100% of a Rolex is a damned sight less than a tank in vintage

Patek and Rolex are genuises in Marketing, not watch making

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Originally Posted by erics

Patek and Rolex are genuises in Marketing, not watch making

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Apparently Rolex aren’t geniuses at marketing, as they’ve just said you should buy one because, ‘Victory belongs to the obstinate’, having previously said it, ‘Defies excellence’. I’m struggling to see the genius here. What’s next, ‘Ultimate execrability’?

I won’t fail to miss the next Rolex launch event.


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I would say that obstinance - when defined as a "stubborn refusal to change ones opinion or course of action, despite attempts to persuade one to do so" has led to victory on a great many occasions.

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Originally Posted by Itsguy

Apparently Rolex aren’t geniuses at marketing, as they’ve just said you should buy one because, ‘Victory belongs to the obstinate’, having previously said it, ‘Defies excellence’. I’m struggling to see the genius here. What’s next, ‘Ultimate execrability’?

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I suspect that a large proportion of new Rolex buyers won't have a clue what tenacious, or obstinate mean. Genius in marketing doesn't necessarily mean genius in literature. They're currently selling to a culture that is based on perceived beauty and affluence, not credibility - what has been called the "Instagram generation".

The Instagram generation is certainly a thing. My lad is 30 and him and his mates want to own a Rolex, it is seen as an aspirational thing. They have heard of Omega and probably PP, but I doubt many are aware of the existance of AP, VC, Blancpain etc.

In their eyes a Rolex with a date and a cyclops (guessing Datejust or Submariner) is the thing to have.

Not sure how this has come about, seeing Rolex sponsoring everything or the influencers telling them it’s what they need to do.