18 months is quite a wait.
So I had lunch with a friend I haven’t seen for ages yesterday and noticed he was wearing a new steel Pepsi GMT on jubilee. I actually thought it was an older model for a while (I’m not much of an expert on the new ceramic models as I prefer the older classics) but noticed the bezel and asked him about it - he was never really ‘into’ watches so I was curious how he got it. Turns out he went on a waiting list at his local AD (somewhere in Surrey) with no buying history, less than 18 months later he got the call. I thought these were hard to get? - was he just lucky?
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18 months is quite a wait.
Errr I’d happily wait 18months for one. Any idea who the AD was? Lol
Considering some AD’s won’t even bother putting you on ‘the list’ for one he’s done well IMO.
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I wouldn't mind that wait. An AD in London I've bought two SS Sports pieces from refused to put my on the list for a SD43 because I'm in "allocation debt". I need to buy nonsense with them before they will put me on a list for something desirable again. Needless to say the last two Rolex watches I've bought new since were from a different AD and I won't be going back. 18 months is nothing with some purchase history let alone none.
There have been similar stories but they do seem absolutely inexplicable. There can't be an AD in the country that doesn't have a lot of people on their list/'expression of interest'. Said it before, I went into my AD on the day the BLRO was announced and one of the assistants had the phone glued to her ear and a counter full of bits of paper with names and phone numbers on. (Can't remember what else was launched that day but suspect the GMT was and is the most popular release of that year's Rolex Basel.) So multiply that by the following days, months and years ....
If I was a previous customer of that AD and had wanted that watch, I would be rather brassed off.
Yes but how the hell do you become a customer unless you are a customer, I hate this stupid game they play. Been waiting 18 months for a Batman and I've heard nothing.
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Some people do seem to get lucky and get the watch they are after. For every ‘lucky’ story though there’s 50 ‘still waiting and heard nothing’ stories.
Grey prices though, are coming down, it appears that the odd ss professional is now being seen in shop windows. Next will be the return of subs to shop windows, followed by Pepsi’s and BLNR’s, then people will be getting calls from AD’s for watches they haven’t even asked for, then people will be asking for discounts and not long after that, people will he saying ‘my AD has called and offered me a Daytona, will I get my money back if I need to sell it?’ Everything goes in cycles - fact, maybe or possibly :-)
I get the feeling the Pepsi’s are starting to trickle through in greater numbers as it feels like there have been a few more incomings I have seen.
I picked up mine this week, it was only the 2nd my AD has had since launch.
Depends on the city the AD is located and the type of AD.
To be clear, the waiting list is almost non existent. What happens is that some greedy ADs use the SS hype to milk their clients by forcing them to buy hundred of thousands of jewelry before they get them on the VIP list. Once there you get the watch you want within a month, or as soon as the next shipment is IN.
Some other ADs do treat their costumers even and their new comers as human beings and get what those customers want in a descent time.
Lately however, it’s been noted that too many incomings are being posted on forums without previous purchase history and wait. Mainly Submariners or all sort including hulk.
GMT BLRO and BLNR are also coming relatively easy.
Too many factors can come into play but those who got their name into the hand of the greedy category of ADs are doomed.
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I managed to get one in 3 months from a WOS group AD last year with no purchase history (a friend had bought a couple of pieces from them and I went in with him though). I felt very lucky.
I simply don’t believe your AD has only had 2 since launch though (no offence). I always ask ADs all over the place how many of each watch they get and they always claim they get like 4 per year of each popular watch and it’s just not believable based on the amount on the secondary market, the amount of VIPs they need to sort out etc.
I picked mine up on Valentines Day having phoned my AD on the day it was released at Basel. I've only bought watches that I've really wanted from said AD, namely a James Cameron DSSD which I got within 2 weeks of phoning them about it. The other purchase was a Tudor BBB. My AD said that they receive one Rolex GMT Pepsi per month.
Wow! My watch collecting vocabulary has increased yet again, with the awesome term “allocation debt”. Fantastic!
I never realised such a thing could exist until the weird, wonderful and sometimes downright crazy world of Rolex crossed my path. Thankfully it’s not quite devoured me just yet, despite its best attempts. I would quite like a “root beer” though. Fortunately I think I’m just about in allocation credit, so maybe next year....
With regards to the OP’s question though, I’d say ‘yes’ he was a little lucky, although as per other comments, other factors might have helped, such as location. I feel pretty sure I could get the same watch this year if I wanted it, as I have a very good relationship with my local dealer. A.K.A. Allocation credit. A.K.A. Spending far too much money with them! Albeit on things I actually want!
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Perhaps they are telling the truth if they are a very small AD!
I just know many others seem to downplay the number of watches they get. I was offered a SS sports model at the start of the year from an AD which I turned out (waiting for something else and not a flipper). I popped in a week later and met a different sales assistant for the first time. They claimed they hadn’t had any SS sports models so far that year.
Yep. Said they couldn't put me on the store list but could send my name to head office as a registration of interest but that I wouldn't get it due to allocation debt. I had a BLNR and ND SubC from them. In the same conversation they offered me to buy a full gold SkyDweller and then come back in 8 days for any watch I wanted as their returns period is 7 days.
It was a Fraser Hart store in London and I've never been back since. Totally pointless and honestly rude.
I can't afford a full gold anything and if I could I wouldn't have the money left over for a SD43, was never going to work! I did ask if a DJ28 would help as I was buying one at some point. They said it would help, but that it probably wouldn't be enough to get on the list for a SD43. It was at that point I finally realised I was a mug and left.
You may have missed my point.
You can't get a job without experience the man said, you can't get experience without a job, you can't get a Rolex without buying Rolex, but you can't buy a Rolex as you haven't bought a Rolex. So maybe someone is going hungry as they can't get a job as they don't have a job, and the only way to get a job is to have a job, you see?