Reply With QuoteBe sure to let us know next week when you get your watch.
My local Rolex dealer 3 months ago had no watches in the window , today there were 14 , inside there were a lot more including Explorers , Sea Dweller’s and Yacht-master. The salesman told me they were for exhibition but he went out of his way to say if I wanted a particular reference to be sure to contact him . I got the very strong feeling that any the watches in the store could be mine next week . Milton has alluded to a softening in the market , I think it’s here .
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Be sure to let us know next week when you get your watch.
Completely different opinion at my AD last week. They have three watches in a nine or ten watch display window, only four watches inside "for exhibition only" in what must be a twenty watch display and sales areas (that cost them the best part of £500k before lockdown) and, as a very long-term independent AD, said that they have a list of regular customers awaiting watchesso long that it's simply not worth taking any more names as they have so little stock incoming. They certainly don't see an end to shortages any time soon.
Not sure if it's here yet, but it's not far off that I wouldn't be paying over RRP for a lot of models.Originally Posted by Kitz
Does anybody know what happens to the "exhibition only" watches as from what I've seen there are a) more of them on display and b) they have working movements in them! Have ADs been told to keep a display stock to continue to entice potential customers (instead of an empty window)? Are they allocated to them by Rolex but restricted from selling them somehow? Or are they actually watches that will find their way to preferred customers after a predetermined length of time on display, say 4 weeks?
Ant
Who is Milton?
I was told by the saleswomen in my local Mappin & Webb that they've been asked to hold on to stock for a few weeks to display them before passing them onto wait-listed customers. Makes sense to have watches to see in-store, and customers who've already waited 2 years for their Submariner won't mind waiting another few weeks.
The exhibition only pieces were always full working models. The idea that they were movementless was a myth.
I guessed so, but surely there's a weird feeling knowing that your new watch, albeit stickered up, has been tried on by who-knows-how-many browsers before you get to purchase it. Not like the days of being the first ever person to open and wear the watch fresh in from the manufacturer.
The good thing is though that it is more evident watches are arriving and then going to customers. Bit like the watch is signalling to the waitlist - I could be yours!
Last edited by frp422; 28th March 2023 at 14:46.
Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual and leading expert on Rolex vintage & modern, His 1667 epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political upheaval. It addressed the fall of man, including the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and God's expulsion of them from the Garden of Eden. Paradise Lost elevated Milton's reputation as one of history's greatest poets.[1][2] He also served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell.
Milton Haywood Jablome (b. February 1972) is a well-known debunker & naysayer of Rolex myths & legends.
He is no relation to the well-known Rolex dealer & enthusiast Haywood Milton (coincidentally, also born in February 1972), although the two are often confused (particularly in the dark), leading to much hilarity amongst their peers.
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Jim.
I did actually LOL.
BTW my dealer had a shop full of every style of Rolex - display only, non for sale. This was in October 2022. I don’t think this has changed since then. I sometimes pop in and try on the gold president DD or perhaps Roselor GMT. A lot cheaper than buying them.
BTW BTW - there is a long running “Rolex in the window” thread but kinda dried up when there were none…
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 28th March 2023 at 15:26.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
And my mum's cat.
I was dropping my watch off for a service ..
Having bought my Sea Dweller new for £1650 I find the present price expensive .
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In your case I'm sure you wouldn't be waiting long for a new Sea-Dweller or Submariner if you wanted one. ADs decide who they sell to and you're clearly demonstrating, by taking in a 'vintage' model for service, that you're not someone new to the brand who wants to make a quick buck.
He probably meant Milwood:-)
I popped into my local Rolex AD last week as I happened to be passing by. I have purchase history with them, but nothing Rolex. I was wearing my 16600 at the time (not that I think this has any relevance) and tried on a few display pieces before the store supervisor informed me that he did not think I would have a long wait if I registered interest in a "professional" model, whatever that is supposed to mean.
Yes, and they are for sale if the AD wants to.
An AD tried to sell me a sitting on the window “display only” TT Datejust when I was shopping for my SS DJ.
I find it really weird that there is no one on this forum that works at an AD that could come on and debunk some of the myths about availability etc
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There might well be but imagine the messages and questions they would get asked.
In the last week I’ve been into the Carole’s shop
In lakeside and two in Rome, all exhibition only No stock they can sell. It doesn’t appear anything has changed, I’ve bought two very recently both Grey.
AD in Venice has none for sale as of last Saturday.
I did not want one, but was killing time and popped in to ask about a titanium yacht master.
Armed guard outside too, lol.
AP dealer round the corner - armed guard, but nothing displayed in window at all.
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Most of them are FOS though.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Waste of time. Went into the county's AD today. To give them credit they stopped short of laughing but only just.
A member called 'Oracle' used to do just that. He hasn't posted for over a year (Jan 2022). I wonder why he stopped?
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Jim.
My AD said the exhibition ones are customers watches. They wait until a replacement comes in then release them so they have a constant selection to be viewed.
I’m after a new sub but will try a grey or WTB rather than the merry go round
That can’t be right surely? Customers wait possibly years and pay several thousand pounds for a watch that’s sat in a window for months and been tried in by multiple customers. Rolex take the p*ss anyway but that would just be beyond belief.
I don't find it weird at all. Why should they pipe up even if they are members on here (it would only descend into the usual bickering). I doubt they care about the myths, prices keep rising, the customers keep coming and the watches keep selling.
I spoke to mine today, need to find some funds.
The manager of my local Goldsmiths told me the same. The exhibition watch gets offered to the waiting list once a new one comes in to replace it in the display case.
Makes perfect sense really.
Last edited by DMC102; 28th March 2023 at 19:55.
That's excellent news
Are these "strong feelings" normally reliable?
So 'my special new premium watch' has been tried on by half the town - makes for a really premium experience!
Understand it's hard to avoid that given the lack of availability, but it's hardly ideal. Wouldn't be too keen if 'my new car' was the dealership test drive car.
I’ll have disagree, it makes no sense at all to the buyer who wants a new watch, not one that’s been on display and tried on a load of times. I think it’s fair when dropping many thousands of pounds on a watch that you get one straight from Rolex in the coffin and wrappings.
Agreed. That is how I understand it to be, from conversations with a couple of non WOS group, independent ADs.
The exhibition pieces are fully stickered so not really an issue.
Not an issue? Maybe not for you but for most people it would be a huge issue. New means new to me.
When I bought my new Seamaster it was a massive amount for me to indulge on a watch. Because the AD only had the window one I asked them to get me a new one and I waited a couple of days for it. The collection experience was way better getting a brand new wrapped and boxed watch.
I’d be asking for the one that’s just arrived and the old one can go back in the window.
If you want to be able to go in and try on a watch then you need to be accepting of the fact others may have tried yours on before you bought it.
It’s not like people resize them or actually go diving in them for an afternoon. I wouldn’t worry.
Remember the days when the windows were full of them and you could walk in and buy one?
They weren't guaranteed untouched and box-fresh back then, and they're not now either. You didn't know how many people had handled and worn them before you then, and you don't now either.
The difference now is that you have to wait between trying and buying, and at least the one-in-one-out with the exhibition watches means there's actually something to look at and try on.
Yep. Seems to be more of an issue for people that aren’t going to be buying one anyway, but still enjoy a good Rolex moan. On a regular basis…🤣🤣
It’s called having an opinion about a watch related issue on a watch forum. Other opinions are available.
Agreed, fuss about nothing. How do people buy 'new' clothes and shoes?
Applies to lots (if not most) consumer goods?.
Last edited by Chris_in_the_UK; 28th March 2023 at 20:54.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Not in my experience of several different dealers
And girlfriends…
Ain’t that the truth! 😂😂😂
I’ve had enough brand new watches over the years with dodgy screw down crowns that I always unscrew the crown, adjust the hands manually to check the date change/crown positions work and hand alignment are all correct, then hand wind to check it’s smooth and all functioning correctly. And being a bit of an enthusiast like the rest of us I know what I’m doing - no changing the date near midnight or screwing the crown down with all my might etc. I don’t trust your average instagram Rolex wannabe strolling into the AD in their Gucci tracksuit to even know they don’t run on a battery, let alone unscrew the crown carefully - they probably try to pry it up with the edge of their iPhone 14 pro max!
Nobody is going to buy one anytime soon!.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
The coffin box was never intended to be customer facing, and ADs had a policy of resizing a bracelet and removing stickers before it leaves the store, so those are non issues. I get that some buyers would prefer a watch that hasn't been on display for a short time, however they can turn it down and rejoin the queue if they wish.
Buyers get to inspect their purchase before leaving the store, the warranty is issued at date of purchase and the buyers name is on the paper work. That was good enough for me. I was happier with that arrangement than paying nearly double at Watchfinder.
Apologies MR . Haywood Milton , knows a lot more about Rolex than most …
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In a perfect world I would like a brand new box fresh Rolex that has not been touched by anyone else.
It’s not a perfect world and I accept that my “new” watch may well have been tried on by a few people before it’s handed over to me. At the same time I expect that the sales people at the Dealership has at least done a little bit of prequalifying before allowing someone to try it on. That they have refused to offer it to some oik in a Gucci tracksuit wearing his Gucci watch with a polite f**k off.
Naturally if I’m not going to accept this then I would expect them to bump me further down the list.
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Well I did get a call out of the blue on Monday for one that I originally asked about circa six years ago and had long given up any hope of actually seeing come through…
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