Reply With QuoteOwning a sub certainly isn’t exclusive nowadays for sure. I guess they are just damn good watches.
As in the title, I don’t really get it. There must be many brands at similar price levels made in much smaller quantities with equal or better levels of precision and exclusivity. Having said that - I’ve got one but a recently acquired Glashutte is admittedly giving me more pleasure. So why the great attraction or is it the marketing that sells them?
Owning a sub certainly isn’t exclusive nowadays for sure. I guess they are just damn good watches.
Dread to think the number of people on waiting lists then!
I suspect a lot of sales occur purely based on Rolex being synonymous with luxury. I feel a lot of Rolex owners buy them because it's the only high end watch brand they know and everybody knows rolex's are valuable. You ask ordinary members of the public to name a high end watch manufacturer I expect the vast majority would say Rolex, I doubt very many would say the likes of PP, VC, AP, ALS etc
Excellent quality watches, continuity of business (unlike many brands that have gone bankrupt or near run into the ground like Glashutte in the soviet era) easily to find (unlike brands like glashutte you mention most cities have an AD you can walk into and try one on) easily recognisable by almost anyone.....
- Public perception and known branding
- They hold their value extremely well in the market - usually achieving a profit when sold in the future for desirable models
- Artificial scarcity that has created upsurges of demand on AD waiting lists and spiking the secondary market price for desirable models
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And consequently, easily sellable too if you're in need of some quick cash.Originally Posted by robert75
Brand perception / recognition driven by marketing. Ask your average Joe 'what's the best watch make you can think of' and most will say Rolex without hesitation I'd bet.
Exactly. Mention Breguet, Blancpain, Glashutte etc I doubt many would have a clue what you are talking about.
This !. I love my sub , i've seen loads of em in the wild .
Look at Mercedes-Benz, another brand synonymous with luxury and quality and another default choice for non-enthusiast buyers looking for "the best". They sell almost 2.5m cars a year worldwide and annually sell a similar volume of S-class to Maserati's worldwide sales. For a discerning, car enthusiast buyer who values hand-crafting or limited volume status, Mercedes may not even be a consideration, for most other people it remains a true luxury car and aspirational (without the need for specialist knowledge). It is also an easy shorthand for "good taste" or "status" - I drive a Mercedes may mean less than it did but it still means something to most people.
Rolex is in a similar position. It is unquestionably a luxury watch, a pinnacle purchase, a symbol of success and does not need justification (as many other luxury watch brands would). It is the default choice for millions of people and entirely aspirational. Few would know they produce 1m watches a year. Few would realise that any luxury watch costs very little to make and that often the box and advertising account for the majority of the unit costs. they don't know or care. All they know is that public perception is that this brand has a reputation as high quality and luxurious.
You're on a watch forum filled with opinionated people who know far more than the average consumer - those luxury watch buyers who buy 999,000 of the Rolex bought each year and are never coming onto this site if you paid them. If you pitch up with a set of really pretty good Bose headphones on the Head-fi forum, see how quickly you'll be disabused of the idea they are in any way worth the money!
I understand this but for seasoned collectors on this forum I’d have thought you’d have mostly moved on and given Rolex a miss as being slightly passé.
I think it’s probably gone in the other direction
Rolex definitely have something. I have been interested in watches for a number of years now and do not own a Rolex. I know that many folks associate Rolex with bling or wanting to show off, but I am still aiming at purchasing one. Perhaps I will realise once I have one that I was after the wrong watch, but as a massive watch fan I need to try it out for myself.
Same with me. I bought a Rolex as a novice but spending time on here has made me look to other brands in preference. Maybe servicing costs of Rolex are more reasonable.....
That’s easy to answer
Rolex use the BMW method of marketing and product perception.
Make a mass market item, price it above the average market value, but not sky high. Every one can aspire to get one with only some effort and will power.
You become king pleb and revered by all the commoner plebs, who didn’t make the effort.
Submariners are very common in the “luxury” market as the are just above entry level.
Same with BMW 3-Series, just a cut above, “everybody” wants one or has one, but each feel special. There are more BMW 3’s on uk roads than ford mondeos.
Genius
Agreed, started with a Sub, twenty odd years ago, been through many brands even the trinity, but the only brand I’ve come back to is Rolex, for now the 6th. time
Where does this figure come from?
The highest number of movements for COSC rating from a single manufacturer in one year was circa 800k by Rolex over 10 years ago. It has also been reported a couple of years ago that Rolex themselves have said they are slowly scaling back production to 500k - 600k annually.
Still buckets of watches, but a million it ain’t
Rolex don’t do cosc now though
Er, yes they do
Interesting point but Fords are simply horrible to drive which may explain why there are less of them on the road.
Many buy Rolex to show off. Whereas better quality watches like JLC, Blancpain and GP are purchased to oneself and enjoyed alone.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/...54/lot.77.html
Results like this also have something to do with it.
We’re all motivated differently, but when I consider what personally attracts me most about any particular watch and/or brand beyond the obviously prosaic (aesthetics, practicality, size, value etc.), what I tend to appreciate are things like a track record for innovation, a rich story/history, timing precision and engineering prowess. Rolex has those in spades, and the day I ever come to consider such attributes passé is probably the day I should step-away from this hobby.
Branding undoubtedly plays a massive part – and their marketing is heavy, expensive & knowingly misleading – so that Joe Bloggs with no clue about watches sees them as the automatic aspirational choice, but whether you’re selling to a brainless ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ cast-member or an informed watch geek, it’s awfully difficult to sustain success over decades if your branding is covering for a turd of a product.
Articles which sum-up Rolex for me are this one by Jack Forster on the ‘Rolex Problem’ and the three stages of Rolex opinion (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackfor.../#7fc15d99216c ), and this from Hodinkee, which discusses at length the history & engineering aspects (https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/inside-rolex ).
In terms of your examples, of a Rolex and Glashutte, I don’t think it’s especially helpful to directly compare the models for the purposes of deciding which is ‘better’. They’re each shooting for different targets. It’s perfectly legitimate to prefer one over the other, but for my part I’d love both in a collection, because each has its distinct virtues.
I can fully understand why they’re not to everyone’s taste, but for some unfathomable reason Rolex in particular seems to attract the strongest of opinions.
We all have our own way of approaching this; mine is to have a couple of likeable...to me...Rolex models, but no more. Given how 'samey' (in a good way) Rolex are, two does it for me. I wouldn't want more.
There are lots of equally fine watches out there, and used, they are often well-priced. Glashutte Original, Zenith, and Grand Seiko spring to mind. Just for a start.....
The think the popularity comes from the design, robustness and the fact they retain there value.
Good point, depends which ford, the mondeo example is a little old now circa 2000’s or so, when it was in the top 10.
Off subject but ford are dropping the model as no one is buying them. It’s all SUVs these days
Oh that old one. Any expensive higher end watch is bought to show off to some extent, it just depends if it’s for self satisfaction or peer approval.
I’m not a lover of the brand,I’ve had a couple and still have one ,but for me there’s nothing special about them,I’ve never felt special wearing one,I’d much rather wear something that’s not well known .
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What a load of rubbish, I would imagine the majority of people that purchase Rolex do so because they like the design and associate the brand with reliability.
You’d think.
20 years in this hobby gone from a Rolex through a journey past the trinity, unusual, rare, and it’s the only brand (so far) I keep coming back to, on number 6 at the moment
And luxury
Unfortunately I think there is a disparity today between most cities having an AD (yes) and being able to walk in and try on a stainless steel 'professional' watch (no) :)
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The majority of people walking into an AD to try a Rolex are not looking for professional models.
Because they're very good watches and people like them. It's not exactly rocket science or the basis for a Phd. Although these days...........
ook
My mistake - I just meant they don’t announce it, preferring their own slight tighter tolerances.
I would disagree.
I liked the article on "the three stages", although l think there are stages in between and sidestep stages too.
I think lm at stage three now - but l agree with much of the stage two stance - but just don't care!
So the majority of people that purchase a rolex do so to show off, can you explain exactly what there is to show off about?
Is rolex a luxury watch? It's more mid market these days hence why you see them everyday.
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I'm astonished you have to ask, but l have nothing much to do tonight so here goes...
...even rolex themselves portray ownership as a thing to be proud of, to show other people you've "made it".
One of their advertising campaigns, for instance, was based around which achievement your rolex was a reward for.
To not recognise the bragging right element of much of rolex ownership is extremely naive.
Of course, many people buy them for their reliability, or brand loyalty, or whatever reason, but many more buy them for their recognizability (is that a word?) and the image of ownership. They're an aspirational "luxury" brand.
Last edited by Umbongo; 25th September 2018 at 19:50.
... and those that do are out of luck.
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Was just about to post the same....I'd like to know how many waiting lists.
I don’t suppose they have to anymore. Most people don’t care anyway, those that do already know. And anyone who can read, it’s there on almost, if not, all dials.
Yes, of course, they aren’t a necessity. Price and popularity do not really have a bearing on luxury imo. Exclusivity, is a different matter, as Rolex aren’t compared to the upper tier brands
It's a luxury watch. Mid-level luxury in terms of the watch industry, but it's quite obviously a luxury product.
Anything that costs several thousand pounds, when there are versions of essentially the same thing available for under a hundred pounds, is a conspicuous luxury.
Of course, it's all relative - pay me a trillion pounds a year and a stainless steel rolex won't seem quite such a luxury - but that's what the gold and jewel encrusted abominations are there for - and the ones with valuable defects on the dial, or red writing, or Durex on the dial...
Is that not the same for Patek, Hublot, Omega, Tag, Breitling, IWC pretty much any major watchmaker?
Oh I don’t know, the fact some of the staff at AD’s look quite nice is always a bonus.
I buy them because I like them ... is that wrong ? Glad to hear I’m ‘labelled’ on tzuk by some .
Yes.
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