Ah b#llocks it is exhibition only meaning EVERY Rolex is exhibition only in that store!!!!
Yes from my local AD, without being a big spender or longstanding customer. By 'trying hard' I mean just calling in now and again and showing some interest face to face and letting them know you're still waiting. Many people will ring an AD once, and leave it at that, then post on social media that it's impossible to buy a new Rolex.
By that definition I have been trying hard and despite having a decent purchase history with the group (different brands of watches and also some jewellery) over the last 4-5 years, haven’t been able to get certain watches I have wanted for a while. Your experience is enviable but not the norm I would say.
I changed AD within the same group as previous one wasn’t helpful. When I went to new dealer I took the serial numbers of watches Id bought from the group and asked that they check all were registered to my name - probably half were not. Updating the records, registering interest online and then staying in touch helped.
I have tried 2 ADs in the same group and they can both see all my purchases. They don’t say it but I feel it may not be good enough for them. I also wear my “difficult” watches bought from them when visiting to reassure them (without explicitly saying) that I’m not a flipper. However, more recently I have made statements like “I’m not going to buy stuff I won’t wear” and “I’m not going to blindly continue spending based on vague hopes and promises” so if that’s the problem then so be it.
I'm not saying anything original, but how many are wanting a Rolex purely because they cannot have one? Brands want exclusivity but it's gone so far wouldn't be surprised if it bites them in the arse. I'm not interested in playing this game anymore.
CHNR in the window of Mappin & Webb St Anns Square Manchester yesterday sat proudly atop a for display purposes sign.
It was amusing to watch the foot traffic skidding to a halt on seeing the watch. The CHNR used to be the watch you chased if you couldn't land a Batman or Pepsi, it's now being treated like the Holy Grail!
We had a far more interesting time in WOS across the square looking at some nice GP and JLC pieces.
True, rarity and exclusivity are not the same thing. That said, even though (semantically speaking) rarity is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition of exclusivity, I think many would understand exclusivity to include an element of rarity. To that extent then, there's a mild irony in people buying Rolex for what they believe its exclusivity to (at least partially) entail when, in practice, it does so perhaps far less than they realise.
My local AD had pretty much the same selection in his window at the weekend. There certainly seem to be a lot of James Camerons out there but unfortunately none that are actually for sale !
I am not in the market for a Rolex at the moment but I was walking past... In this a thing now? What's the point? Whole situation is bizarre of course.
Sky-dwellers, explorers, milgauss, sub, JC DSSD
So you can try on before going on the list I guess.
Wouldn't mind trying on the white Exp 2
Having to jump through hoops just to maybe get the chance to try one on is not appealing. Prices getting a bit silly but going grey market is still cheaper than spending a small fortune building up store capital on watches/jewellery that you don’t really want.
Saw exactly the same in Chester today, for exhibition purposes in an AD. Im so used to just seeing diamond dot dial ladies watches at this branch that I actually stopped and looked in. Ironically within 300 m there are three greys ( including Time piece watch repairs) that had Ceramic subs for £11/12K and LV’s for £15K.The biggest suprise was two 2021 31 mm OP’s in Time Piece . Both new with five year warranty, the Coral red was £6.5 and the light blue “Tiffany” face was £8.2K . Thats not far off 2X retail of £4150.
Last edited by higham5; 19th October 2021 at 17:36.
To be fair having exhibition models does make the shop window look much better than an empty display and it’s an opportunity to see and try on some. I saw the 41mm Tiffany OP in one recently so went in to try it on - never been on my radar but was curious when I saw it there and I wanted to see if it lived up to the hype.
I went to the local Ad whilst visiting family in Devon and tried on the Tiffany dial and really liked it. Also tried on a sky dweller in black on jubilee and it’s a lovely watch. I really liked the dealers openness about the waiting lists and how it would work for me. I wish they were local as I think they would have squared away all the watches I wanted
I don’t know if it has been mentioned but apparently the exhibition models do not have a working movement. The time can be set but the watch doesn’t tick. The movement is disabled with a pin or something.
Everything Rolex is “desirable” now but I remember calling in at my AD around the time the Sky Dweller came out and was as good as asked if I wanted to put my name down for one. (And for completeness, I’m a Z list customer.) Can’t remember how long ago that would be but I didn’t fancy it so said no thanks. Who knows if I’d have got one but it was back in the day when people bought watches because they wanted to keep and wear them!
SkyDweller has been hard to get from day one in stainless steel. Two tone or gold is another story entirely. A blue SkyDweller is as bad as a white Daytona.
Makes so much sense to show off their watches but also super frustrating for the ADs, imagine having to explain every five minutes they are not for sale, guess it gets the customers in the door though!!
I remember calling 22 dealers and finally finding a sub date “in stock and in the window”Picked it up the next day for £2,350….. back then it was a bit of luck to get hold of one vs now by a)paying well over list, sometimes almost 100% over b)going on a list.
WOS Brent Cross had a JC and Seadweller last week. Couldn’t be bothered to go in and enquire…..a couple of three years ago I would have.