Would you rather?

[eanzenberg]

Would you rather have watches freely available at retail and trading for less than msrp on the grey market, or the world we have today?

[Seddyspaghetti]

Today

[Koolpep]

Originally Posted by eanzenberg

Would you rather have watches freely available at retail and trading for less than msrp on the grey market, or the world we have today?

It would be nice if we could all remove the bragging and flexing about getting watches for MSRP and all the shenanigans needed to achieve that. Imagine we could focus on collecting watches and enjoying them, rather than competing, pumping and dumping, trading like commodities.

But realistically, there seems to be no end in sight unless trends change drastically.

[ny_yeti]

not the world today.

[mew]

Today, not tomorrow and not the good old days because that ship has sailed.

[Cigars&Watches]

Today. I don't mind the chase. Makes it exciting.

[DCheeta]

I don’t care. Either way is fine with me.

[eltonbalch]

Originally Posted by DCheeta

I don’t care. Either way is fine with me.

Pretty much this…

[JonaG]

…have the head of a chimpanzee but wearing the watch of your dreams or the body of a chimpanzee and wearing the watch you have currently?

[mquarter]

Yes

[Laszlo]

Doesn’t matter it’s all relative!!!

[TswaneNguni]

It is what it it is and it has benefits and drawbacks .Make the most of it .

[donas]

Originally Posted by eanzenberg

Would you rather have watches freely available at retail and trading for less than msrp on the grey market, or the world we have today?

I'll take yesteryear without a second thought. For those who truly want to own a Rolex for the quality etc of the watch and not as an "investment" or instagram flex why the heck wouldn't you want is below msrp? If for no other reason, it would eliminate 80% of the frivolous threads on TRF now about investing, building "AD relationships", should I buy this watch I don't like because it is offered to me, and the list goes on.

[minute_man]

Originally Posted by donas

I'll take yesteryear without a second thought. For those who truly want to own a Rolex for the quality etc of the watch and not as an "investment" or instagram flex why the heck wouldn't you want is below msrp? If for no other reason, it would eliminate 80% of the frivolous threads on TRF now about investing, building "AD relationships", should I buy this watch I don't like because it is offered to me, and the list goes on.

This, 100%

[garyk]

Originally Posted by donas

I'll take yesteryear without a second thought. For those who truly want to own a Rolex for the quality etc of the watch and not as an "investment" or instagram flex why the heck wouldn't you want is below msrp? If for no other reason, it would eliminate 80% of the frivolous threads on TRF now about investing, building "AD relationships", should I buy this watch I don't like because it is offered to me, and the list goes on.

This! Anything to go back to just the watches on TRF.

[Recondope]

Originally Posted by donas

I'll take yesteryear without a second thought. For those who truly want to own a Rolex for the quality etc of the watch and not as an "investment" or instagram flex why the heck wouldn't you want is below msrp? If for no other reason, it would eliminate 80% of the frivolous threads on TRF now about investing, building "AD relationships", should I buy this watch I don't like because it is offered to me, and the list goes on.

[S7gpt]

Originally Posted by donas

I'll take yesteryear without a second thought. For those who truly want to own a Rolex for the quality etc of the watch and not as an "investment" or instagram flex why the heck wouldn't you want is below msrp? If for no other reason, it would eliminate 80% of the frivolous threads on TRF now about investing, building "AD relationships", should I buy this watch I don't like because it is offered to me, and the list goes on.

this...

[kaiserphoenix]

I think value retention is for sure important. I just wish there was a "better" methodology in how the exclusivity is achieved. Like there is no real benchmark or guidelines as to how to go about purchasing stuff.

[Dougiebaby]

Originally Posted by eanzenberg

Would you rather have watches freely available at retail and trading for less than msrp on the grey market, or the world we have today?

TODAY - Any accomplishment that takes effort, and even some luck, is more rewarding to me.


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[28mm]

I was writing a long response and stopped to read everybody else's first.

Great posts and I agree with many of them!

[horseShu]

Originally Posted by eanzenberg

Would you rather have watches freely available at retail and trading for less than msrp on the grey market, or the world we have today?

but we DO have watches that are available in boutiques and trading for less than msrp on the grey market...

oh, i'm sorry. so only Rolex are considered 'watches' now? i swear, the low blows keep getting lower these days...

[eanzenberg]

Originally Posted by horseShu

but we DO have watches that are available in boutiques and trading for less than msrp on the grey market...

oh, i'm sorry. so only Rolex are considered 'watches' now? i swear, the low blows keep getting lower these days...

That wasn’t my point. In other words, you can experience “how it used to be” by going to other high quality brands that are freely available at msrp but lots of people don’t do that, and especially on a “Rolex” forum. I have my reasons why I appreciate Rolex quality over other brands and I’m sure others have their own reasons, beyond numbers on a spreadsheet going up.

[1995akcoop]

Originally Posted by horseShu

but we DO have watches that are available in boutiques and trading for less than msrp on the grey market...

oh, i'm sorry. so only Rolex are considered 'watches' now? i swear, the low blows keep getting lower these days...

But it’s a Rolex forum.


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[ks58]

Has to be today. Makes every watch purchase that much more meaningful. Plus, everybody would be begging for discounts otherwise and nothing would be selling well.

[Moony17]

Freely available at retail. Buy what you like, and as many as you want. Buy it because you actually like it, and not to flex. We’ll just be focused on building nice collections

[Sandpit]

I would personally take the days of full display windows than the one we see today. I like to buy watches for certain occassions, and it's almost impossible to do that these days and it just sours the experience.

It's a simpler way of buying and owning also. There's no afterthought or discussion to be had on its new value. If you buy knowing it will depreciate then that drop is already factored into a purchase. The loss is written off in our heads.

Instead now people can buy a Sub (or whatever) and the immediate afterthought is how much more it's now worth rather than simply just enjoying it for what it is. I would guess a lot of people have a Chrono24 portfolio which they look at and treat like a stock portfolio.

There's more to it than that also, it's the constant chat from people that spot a watch. Every time there's a conversation about a watch it's about how much it's now worth, or how much did you pay, or did you get it at retail. Even to non watch people it's usually one of the first things mentioned.

Maybe I just miss the days of "oh that's a lovely watch" and that kind of being as far as the conversation goes.

[alphadweller]

Today. I'm not in the market for another watch in the foreseeable future, just wearing and cherishing what I've got. So, I might as well enjoy value going up.

[shaunylw]

I would probably go back to how it used to be. That also includes less worry about theft or being robbed. When you’re trying to buy a $30,000 watch, and everyone knows it’s actually a $125,000 watch, that becomes a big issue. I’ll take trading at retail or below. I would go back to losing money on every watch i decided to sell, at least it was easier back then.


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[kieselguhr]

I don’t really know what it was like before. I was a broke student when it mattered

Let’s be honest, if Rolex weren’t what it is today; the watch world would not be as active. Probably slowly fading into obscurity instead.

I’m sure those of us who love watches for what they are would still be here, but it would be a much smaller community.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by kieselguhr

I don’t really know what it was like before. I was a broke student when it mattered

Let’s be honest, if Rolex weren’t what it is today; the watch world would not be as active. Probably slowly fading into obscurity instead.

I’m sure those of us who love watches for what they are would still be here, but it would be a much smaller community.

This is a really interesting and thought provoking response Nick.

I tend to agree. I’ve been an enthusiast for over 30 years and remember times when I could get a 25% discount on a Seadweller, and when Daytona’s were the ugly stepchild

Although today’s “hype” or whatever you want to call it drives me nuts, I’m not sure what the mechanical watch world looks like without a certain amount of “hard to get”