Reply With QuoteSorry but that’s madness - spending thousands on something you don’t really want.Originally Posted by Stonewood
I always wonder how close I actually am from getting a call for one?
Would be interested to hear of other peoples buying history with the AD before they got the call for something like a Batman/Pepsi or Daytona?
Last week I bought a yachtmaster that I didn’t really want, just to boost myself up the list!
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Sorry but that’s madness - spending thousands on something you don’t really want.
That’s OK. I know what you mean. It is very mad. But it’s even madder to be offered the chance to buy a Batman/Pepsi at RRP. I just hope I have jumped up the list. There was method in my madness haha.
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Presumably you are kidding on that one !!!!
Totally agree with this and it's a game not worth playing. I would look at the premium between list and market price and see if it's worth paying the extra. In the case of the Batman, those have been listed on SC for £11k or so and even the BLRO for a little bit more. If you paid that asking price today and kept the watch for 5 years the list price by then would probably be higher than what you originally paid.
Clearly this doesn't work with a £23k+ market price Daytona, but it did work a few years back when they were £13.5k.
There is far more to the equation than cold hard cash...
Last edited by Wallasey Runner; 17th November 2020 at 22:58.
I’ve bought a watch that I had wanted for a while from an AD, knowing that it’d give me a spending history with them for putting my name down for a Pepsi. However I would not have bought that watch if it was not one I wanted, just to get a spending history with them. If I don’t get a call for the Pepsi, I’m not that fussed, as I’ve still got a good watch that I wear.
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Yes I hear what you are saying and agree it makes sense on a Batman. Maybe I will take that route if I can’t get one. Thanks.
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In the last few years I’ve bought a two tone Datejust 41, two tone lady Datejust, Explorer II, and 2020 Submariner plus jewellery for the boss and I’m still waiting for a Pepsi. Who knows how it works but I still want one.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
This is everything I hate about Rolex; the elitism is sickening.
Thank you. That’s interesting. Thank you for the input. Fingers crossed for you on a Pepsi!
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I was told a couple of years ago (when things were easier) that buying a gold sub would net me a Daytona with in a year.
I’d imagine if I bought a gold sub now, I’d be offered a DateJust with in a year!
Really🎣🙄
£4,460.
But for a Daytona, not a BLRO or BLNR.
Why? People buy nice things. It's not elitism, it's just people buying things they can afford.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
TBH it is a very underwhelming watch compared to the hype but the heart wants what the heart wants and I understand the attraction. I know in Thailand the ND Sub and Batman is currently readily available in ADs with a short wait (virtually zero foreign arrivals at present and a depressed economy). Pepsi is harder to get. I know a couple of ADs have been working with some of their (Thai) clients based in Europe where they do a 'landed' deal for a Sub whereby it is shipped to the EU and EU Vat sorted (it seems to go via Cyprus or Germany first - I think they have lowered the import VAT on these products because of Covid). I know the cost 'landed' on a ND Sub is around 300k Thai Baht (including all taxes) which is around £7300 - so above RRP but below grey pricing. I guess the Batman would cost around £700 or so more so £8k landed - again above UK RRP but cheaper than a grey
You'd need a relationship with such an AD first of course but there is one way of doing it.
ive thought about doing this but there is no way i would buy a watch i didnt want just to boost my chances. if i saw one i was half debating then ya i might do it
You will get different answers from everyone on this. There are (probably) so many variables and spend is just one.
Best to ask your AD and be honest. You might both think you did the other a favour today.
I always found inviting the sales manager for an evening on the sauce and strippers worked wonders, but that was pre-COVID.
It's not Rolex it's the AD choosing who gets what. You might want to get dirt on the AD, naked pictures, etc it may get you to the top of the list after all it's the same game they play.
I think you're probably right. Every AD will probably be different. Was taking the Mrs Datejust in for a service and mentioned I'd like one of the new Subs. Said I'd bought from them before which they looked up on the computer and said they'd bear it in mind. While I was in the shop one person came in to put their name down for a Rolex Submarine (sic). Also a phone request to be on the list for a Sub.
About 10 days later I had a call saying they had a new Sub did I want it? I did and when I collected it I asked about the Pepsi I had been waiting for. They said they didn't get many, and I'm still waiting.
It's pot luck as far as I can see, but being nice to the people in the AD when you're there probably doesn't hurt!
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Worth noting also that the 'waiting list' is a load of old tripe for the real hard to get watches. The AD knows exactly what their allocation will be for the year from Rolex (or at least the major ones I have dealt with know) - it isn't a case of you wait and the AD gets a Daytona in 'out of the blue'! So at the start of the year the AD gets the allocation from Rolex, sorts out most of the hot pieces for their VIP clients, maybe a few Hulks etc are left as a 'tethered goat' for any new Mr Bigs that start buying there and that is that. There isn't a list that you bide your time for as they will allocate each year's pieces pretty much at the start of the year, they aren't waiting for an unexpected watch to come in and then give it to the next person 'on the list'! It saddens me that people think this as it gives false hope. It may be some of the smaller ADs operate this way (with a true waiting list) but the big boy ADs in major cities know what they are getting for the year, and often it is allocated at a Head Office level.
Sure you could get a ND Sub or Explorer by waiting on a list as they aren't that desirable compared to the GMTs and Daytonas/Hulks but you won't get a Pepsi this way unless you get the wallet out
Funnily enough, I think the ND Sub and Explorer are both much nicer watches than the Pepsi, Daytona and Hulk (or I guess the Cermit now or w/e we're calling it). I'd say that's my top two in their whole catalogue. I guess that's helpful at a personal level in trying to actually get them!
The GMT / Cermit are both nice, I wouldn't turn them down given the option, but I'd pick the others mentioned first in a 'money no object' scenario. The Daytona in particular is so overhyped in my humble opinion, it's the ugliest watch in the Rolex catalogue outside of the gemstone stuff. Obviously not a popular opinion, or at least not nowadays. The Skydweller is a beauty, so I get the hype on that one.
I'd tend to agree out with the Daytona comment.Funnily enough, I think the ND Sub and Explorer are both much nicer watches than the Pepsi, Daytona and Hulk (or I guess the Cermit now or w/e we're calling it). I'd say that's my top two in their whole catalogue. I guess that's helpful at a personal level in trying to actually get them!
The GMT / Cermit are both nice, I wouldn't turn them down given the option, but I'd pick the others mentioned first in a 'money no object' scenario. The Daytona in particular is so overhyped in my humble opinion, it's the ugliest watch in the Rolex catalogue outside of the gemstone stuff. Obviously not a popular opinion, or at least not nowadays. The Skydweller is a beauty, so I get the hype on that one.
Just dont think the coloured bezels on the ceramic GMTs are attractive .
Not worth lusting over-very much hype imo.
Hardly any wait and I have all three.
As mentioned, this is the AD not Rolex.
However ADs get so few pieces vs demand that they need a way of allocating them. The most sensible way is by spend and to preferred customers. Not fair for newbies, but a sensible business decision.
(Takes off Rolex he put on this morning and puts on a Seiko instead) All this codswallop is what puts me off wearing my Explorer 2, I just don't want to be associated with a brand whose salesmen do this. Well, and the Seiko is more comfortable, looks better and has better lume. But that's beside the point. It's all so distasteful and loadsamoney for me.
"A man of little significance"
I can speak from experience here for what it’s worth. I count myself extremely lucky with the relationship I have with my AD.
Around the time Ernest Jones lost the Rolex concession, I had to start again. I popped in to my local AD at the time and explained that I was a collector and had a passion for the brand etc. I bought my dad a submariner from them when they were readily available which kickstarted the buying. All went quiet until I was offered a white dial skydweller. I bought it like many above, as a show of faith that il buy what’s offered in the hope of being able to buy more hard to get stuff that I just wouldn’t get an opportunity elsewhere.
Basically, from the moment I bought the skydweller, I then bought a two tone chnr gmt, 2 Batman within a week (one for me one for my brother), 2 James Cameron deep sea sea dwellers (again one for my brother) and then a couple weeks back I was lucky to get a Pepsi and a batgirl. (I had the Pepsi and brother had the batgirl).
It seems once your face fits you tend to get offered bits quite regularly. My brother is extremely lucky as he basically jumped on my relationship and it would seem he gets a watch every time I do..
I have asked for a Daytona, but don’t hold out much hope. I’m extremely lucky to have had what I have.
I will say I don’t think this mode can continue. 90 per cent of people want to wear the watch and can’t buy at list, yet the 10 per cent who can buy the hot watches tend to flip.
I can understand flipping to a degree, I paid £7750 for my Pepsi and was offered £14k from someone I know. How on earth can you potentially make £6250 from a watch in a day that you’ve bought at retail? That for me made me question what on earth has happened to the hobby I once coveted...it’s utter madness and the few at the top will benefit at the expense of the masses..
[QUOTE=Yeti;5591420
I can understand flipping to a degree, I paid £7750 for my Pepsi and was offered £14k from someone I know. How on earth can you potentially make £6250 from a watch in a day that you’ve bought at retail? That for me made me question what on earth has happened to the hobby I once coveted...it’s utter madness and the few at the top will benefit at the expense of the masses..[/QUOTE]
Actually it makes no difference, if there were say 1000 watches floating around, 1000 people own them and enjoy them. How and where they bought them is of no consequence. This shows that Rolex are under pricing their products and that the RRP is too low. The people who get it right are the grey dealers.
You should see a therapist,
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
I will once I have a Batman on my wrist.
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That could be one of the most relevant comments on all these Rolex threads!
Imagine this
AD1 ‘ we’ve just had a Batman arrive, do you think Stonewood still wants one?’
AD2 ‘ nah doubt it AD1, I sold him a yatchmaster last week, so he’s happy as a pig in sh1t. Anyway he’s had his allocation now for the next 23 years’
The future ......
Stonewood ‘ jeez it’s been 22 1/2 years since I got my YM, I’ve a feeling my time is soon’
AD2 ‘hey Stonewood, we’ve just had a datejust come in fella, do you want it?’
Stonewood ‘ooh yes please’
And repeat .....
To show how Rolex clientele have changed over the years its all in the nick names, Batman, Batgirl, Hulk, Kermit, Smurf, Candy...
Rolex at one timer had cool names like, Great White, Paul Newman, John Player Special, Root Beer, Steve McQueen, Double Red, President..
I love my Rolexes but you can keep your lists and AD schmoozing..
In my opinion the whole Rolex situation is ridiculous and I am surprised to hear people are purchasing watches to just jump up waiting lists.
Probably more to do with who you know, most of the good stuff probably goes to their mates at the local Golf Club rather than respecting the loyal customers lol
I'm on the list for a rhodium dial YM40 for my friend. I was very clear that it wasn't for me and if it was going to get anyone into trouble or put me to the back of the line for something else I didn't want it. They said it was fine.
I thought I would be doing them a favour but that couldn't be further from the truth. It's been nearly three months now and it's clear that they're the ones doing me a favour.
The days of undesirable men's models are over and even the YM40 is an 'allocation piece' now. Buying one to increase spend could genuinely go against you.
The main thing is that you have been transparent with them, so no confusion.
Coincidentally I was talking to someone who had a blue YM and he said he’d tried AD’s all over the country and got one in Birmingham but it had been a mission and a half. I hadn’t realised until then they were hard. My first ever Rolex was the platinum YM (mainly steel really) and they were always in every AD. When I sold it I took a deep bath on it!
I always enjoy your insight into the reality of this nonsense. I changed AD earlier this year but stayed with the WoS group as the previous AD was using a ‘tethered goat’ in the window they wouldnt sell and I’d had enough of their nonsense. 5years waiting for a white face Daytona and more history than I’d care to recall or share.
I worked in NY for a while and was in Wemp when they had the JC delivered and offered it to me, I said no and they offered to bundle in a Rolex pen. What an idiot I was.
Wemp also said that a customer needs to be spending $100k a year to get a Daytona.
It sounds like it’s all about the chase for you. I’ll admit it was for me once upon a time and having owned pretty much all the so called desirable SS models (still got a couple) I can tell you that they cannot possibly live up to expectations. Once you have them you will probably enjoy looking at how much greys are offering them up for rather than actually wearing them.
I could be wrong of course and I wish you all the best in your pursuit.
I do not think that 'how much is your purchase history record' is the only variable that will allow you acquire a hot watch nowadays.
If you are ugly, and uncool, and/or looking like a chav, or even a commoner in some cases, you 'll probably never get any hot rolex..
If you do not create some form of relationship with the AD you 'll also probably never get one regardless the history.
some previous history, and by looking decent and kind of cool will get you somewhere though.. In this way, you will be like a walking advertisement for your AD, which is marketing-wise good.
Overall, what I think, keep you Pepsi money, add on top your potential history build-up, and buy a cooler watch.. cooler is subjected to relativity, but am sure you have some watches in mind that is 3x 4x the RRP of the Pepsi.. then go for it.
Evangelos
WTF?!!
I’m a retired old IT guy. I don’t know if I’m ugly or not but the wife doesn’t complain. I do have two degrees so not sure I am a commoner. I’ve never read such a load of sh&te recently. In the last 12months I’ve bought a CHNR and rose gold YM direct from AD. In COVID times they can hardly see what you look like when all masked up and “click and collect”. I feel no obligation to affiliate with one particular AD.
I kinda look cool like this guy
Martyn.
I can only guess you were joking Evangelos?
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 18th November 2020 at 14:17.
I’ve been told I’m very good looking and decent in the sack but still no Pepsi!
Wtf!
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I'd call that an abusive relationship.
Imagine professional or personal relationship that went like this:
"I really want x [at work: a promotion, a good reference, that time off; at home: sex, him/her to stop hitting me, to be allowed to see my friends]. Therefore I will y [do whatever she/says, give them gifts, apologise constantly] in the hope that I might get x."
As long as x is a reasonable request, ideally one that you are entitled to or that should be part of a healthy relationship, then you shouldn't have to do y just to be in with a chance to get it.
Shopkeepers sell stuff. It's a simple transaction: you give them your money and they exchange it for goods. They have the right to refuse a sale or the item might unavailable. If that is the case then you go elsewhere or do without.
But this? This is something else.
Ditto.
All this creeping around AD's is pathetic IMO.
Cheers,
Neil.
Seems a good way to form a relationship
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Totally agree.
In the current environment, trying to buy a new Rolex from an AD is a difficult thing to do.
The MO is now Rolex send the watch to the AD and then the AD sells to the grey dealer who sells to the customer at the market rate.
This suits Rolex, the AD, the grey dealer and the customer who has just bought a good watch.
The only person complaining is someone who wants to pay the artificially low RRP below the market value.
So if you want to buy a new Rolex - get ye to the grey dealer and do the deal. It's as simple as that.
OP, I wish you luck. I'm afraid I concur with those who think you're barking mad for spending that sort of money on something you don't want, in the hope of gaining access to something you do - but I do hope it works out for you.
More generally, nonsense like this is a contributory factor to the fact that I am yet to see a Rolex which interests me at a level beyond the academic. I just can't see myself wanting one enough to jump through the hoops, frankly, but that's me.
Artificially low RRP.... what a load of bullshite... they cost very little to make unless you fancy a bit of yellow metal or carbon crystals added, the marketing and advertising is what costs 85% of the RRP please be realistic here, and in answer to the OP's question you will need to form a relationship with the guy that sets the sales peoples targets for the year not the numpties on the counter.
So interesting timing, just got the call for a new sub with date.. whoop !
Apologies, quoted the wrong post.
Last edited by Toshk; 18th November 2020 at 15:44.
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