Newbie questions about buying a Rolex

[Skee-Bum]

So been lurking on here for a while off and on. I have gotten the green light from the wife to buy myself a Rolex. So that is what I’m going to do at some point.

I read a lot of the threads, and have gathered a lot of information. However, I have some lingering questions that I haven’t gotten answered by reading the threads.

The first one being with regards to the AD’s. How is it decided what watches they get and when? Or is that a mystery? If no one knows that is fine.

I have put my name in at my local AD, he made it sound like I have to check in at the store every so often and show my face. From reading the threads, this seems kind of normal. Or is it? Also have my name on a list at a AD in a famous resort town.

Lastly, how many of you have gotten ticked off by the AD issue and just went gray market. If so what was your breaking point? This is just a start, but will do for now.

[rod727]

I bought gray after shopping or trying to buy from AD. David SW for me. To be fair I bought mine before all of this nonsense started, the price on my 116610 was actually just a fraction under retail but again that was 2016. On another note it just came back from Rolex Dallas service center and she is like new again!
ETA: I wouldn't hesitate to buy again.

[Zero_Regret]

Really depends on the AD and your SA. Also depends what you expressed interest in. If you asked for say a SS Daytona, unlikely you will get it. I personally suggest going to multiple AD's to help improve your odds.

[Zach69SS]

I would try the AD route first and put on your dancing shoes �� try 2-3 of them and express interest to be put on the famous waitlist? This all depends on what you are looking for? Daytona, GMT, Subs are a hard one to start off. Although some on TRF have gotten lucky, so it can happen…

The most important thing is choosing the right AD it can make the difference between getting a piece or not. Follow up once in a while with them and you will be rewarded.

Happy Hunting!

[JAJ2349]

From what I’m told by the two dealers I use, they will sell a Datejust, Day/Date and Oyster Perpetual (minus the popular colors) to anyone.

Typically, you will need a purchase history for the sports models.

[csaltphoto]

My breaking point was my very first visit to an AD. Yeah, sure I didn't know much about Rolexes at that point but to be treated like I just fell off the turnip truck was a bit much... I went with a reputable grey and the whole process was pleasant and professional.

Now since then I've had some great interactions with AD's. Wearing a Rolex into the shop is certainly a good start though.

[rg9390]

If you are looking for multiple Rolexes, and knowing you want a couple Date Just / OP, then I think building the AD relationship is enough.

Meanwhile, if you are looking for just one sports model and that's it, then go gray. Except for SS Daytona, most of the sports models are not too far from retail.

[BlondesNwatches]

It depends what tier they are to what they’ll get in their shipments, but they usually get a shipment every 1-2 weeks. What piece did you put your name down for? Any history with either dealer?

[cascadez71]

Originally Posted by rod727

I bought gray after shopping or trying to buy from AD. David SW for me. To be fair I bought mine before all of this nonsense started, the price on my 116610 was actually just a fraction under retail but again that was 2016. On another note it just came back from Rolex Dallas service center and she is like new again!
ETA: I wouldn't hesitate to buy again.

May I ask what your turnaround time was for routine service?

[Skee-Bum]

Originally Posted by BlondesNwatches

It depends what tier they are to what they’ll get in their shipments, but they usually get a shipment every 1-2 weeks. What piece did you put your name down for? Any history with either dealer?

The pieces I put my name in for are these:126710GRNR, 226570. No, I have no history with either dealer. The local AD seemed cool, the one in the resort town, was very nice, but possibly trying to hit on my hot friend. So far the only dealer that told me no chance, was in Dallas. They said, that they only sell to locals, which is fine.

I will just wait it out for a while longer, and if that doesn’t work will turn to the gray market. Just wanted the experience of picking up my watch from an AD, but could be something I just built up in my head and isn’t really important in the grand scheme of things.

[Harry-57]

The answers to your questions depend on both you and the AD. It's different for everybody. Good luck with it.

[joli160]

By checking in from time to time the AD probably suggests buying stuff you don’t want.
If the AD route is the right way comes down to which watch you want. In many occasions the grey route will be cheaper, faster and not frustrating

[Carguy87]

Originally Posted by Skee-Bum

The pieces I put my name in for are these:126710GRNR, 226570. No, I have no history with either dealer. The local AD seemed cool, the one in the resort town, was very nice, but possibly trying to hit on my hot friend. So far the only dealer that told me no chance, was in Dallas. They said, that they only sell to locals, which is fine.

I will just wait it out for a while longer, and if that doesn’t work will turn to the gray market. Just wanted the experience of picking up my watch from an AD, but could be something I just built up in my head and isn’t really important in the grand scheme of things.

The explorer especially a black dial will be much easier as a first Rolex than the GMT. Will this be a “one and done” or are you looking to build a collection? Also looks like we’re in the same neck of the woods so feel free to PM me too if that’s easier.

Welcome to the forum!

[winst]

Originally Posted by Carguy87

The explorer especially a black dial will be much easier as a first Rolex than the GMT. Will this be a “one and done” or are you looking to build a collection? Also looks like we’re in the same neck of the woods so feel free to PM me too if that’s easier.

Welcome to the forum!

The above is sound advice and echos what my thoughts are.

[Skee-Bum]

Originally Posted by Carguy87

The explorer especially a black dial will be much easier as a first Rolex than the GMT. Will this be a “one and done” or are you looking to build a collection? Also looks like we’re in the same neck of the woods so feel free to PM me too if that’s easier.

Welcome to the forum!

This will probably be a one and done, unless I want to find a new wife. Lol

[BillA]

It is your hard earned money and you have a right to spend as you wish. If you can afford and with no backlash from your spouse, then go grey and pay thousands over msrp.
If that cuts across your grain, stop in at multiple AD’s, tell them what you want and be patient. Good luck.

[EverCloserUnion]

Hi Skee-Bum,

Welcome to the forum.
I've little to add to the excellent advice already provided other than this:

The 'spread' between the AD MSRP and the grey market price for a new/nearly new watch on Chrono24,etc, is a very reliable indicator of AD availability to new customers.

MRSP / grey prices that are very close indicate a watch that can typically be obtained within a few months or even as a lucky walk-in.

The higher the spread, the lower the chance of receiving a call.

[brandrea]

Welcome to the forum.

I’d think you’d have a pretty realistic chance of buy the Explorer as a first.

Good luck and keep us posted

[CH69]

Good luck!

[1William]

Welcome to the Forum. I would think you could get an Explorer II in the black dial within a reasonable wait time from an AD. With that said, have you looked at the prices from our Trusted Sellers? They are not bad when you factor in the taxes you will pay from the AD. If this is a one and done for a bit no reason playing any AD games. I would do some price comparison shopping with the Trusted Sellers, get on the phone and ask all my questions and negotiate, typically 2-5% off. Pay and have the watch on my wrist tomorrow by lunch. Then get on with wearing and enjoying your watch. Good luck and let us know how things go.

[Robison347]

As you have learned, you can either pay a premium and buy a watch from a reseller/grey market dealer, or wait for the authorized dealer (AD) to sell you one. The AD is usually less money, and you get the benefit of knowing you got the real deal, never dropped or damaged. The downside is, you probably have to wait in line.

People on this forum often present the AD wait as some kind of game, and for some I’m sure it is, but where I live there is one Rolex dealer serving a population of roughly 1,000,000 people in their market area. Rolex gives them less than 500 watches a year. We are not a rich area by any means, but I’m sure more than one in 2,000 people where I live aspires to get a Rolex in any given year. Hence the wait list.

My dealer’s allocation is based on Rolex’s ability to make watches and the number of dealers they have to supply. Sure, some big city dealers get far more watches, but there are even more aspirants clamoring to buy them.

I hope that puts the dealer situation into perspective. Get to know your dealer and be patient. As several people have suggested, models like the Datejust are far more common that watches like the GMT or Daytona. If you want a Rolex, I suggest asking the dealer what you could actually get, reasonably soon, as opposed to asking for one specific model that may never come. Small dealers like mine may only get one or two of any specific model in a year, and for most models they have someone who wants it already. Hence the wait list.

Paying a premium will get you a watch tomorrow, but it also puts you in a position of paying a large premium. A GMT that’s $11k at the AD may be $18k on the secondary market. Personally, I would not pay that premium. My first Rolex was a “common” Datejust, and I still love those, even though I now have other models, too.

[Dezorra]

For your first watch, I'd strongly recommend going with a newer vintage AKA "Neo-vintage" watch for a number of reasons. I have both so I can give a thoughtful opinion here. IMO Rolex has lost a lot of its luster in recent years; not just because of the "AD games" you already know about, but because they aren't even watches for true professionals anymore.

It used to be that REAL pro divers wore Subs, REAL pro pilots wore GMTs, REAL racers and their crews wore Daytonas. Now all of those references are not used professionally in any serious capacity and most spend more time in the glow of Excel sheets in cubicles than having any real adventures.

The old references on the other hand still have the look and feel of "tool watches." I have both old and new, and I love my old ones WAY more. I have a 16610 given to me by my dad that is my true "work watch," well scuffed and scratched and it still looks terrific. I also have a 1980s 16750 "Pepsi" that is my birth-year watch, and I like that far more than my ceramic Pepsi, which I never wear because it is too valuable to scuff. I paid double for a watch that sits in my safe all but 2 days a year!

With these older Rolexes, the scuffs and discoloration/patina are actually considered part of the charm, so you can wear them joyfully every day, never worrying about a scratch, knowing your investment is intact (if not growing.)

Then there are the replicas/fakes to watch out for; so much of a taboo subject here I hesitate to even mention it, but the point is, it's far less of a concern with vintage or Neo-vintage watches.

I'll probably never buy another new Rolex again, but I do have multiple vintage references I'd like to own as they give me a lot more joy. Just something to consider, especially for your first watch, as that will determine whether you start a lifelong love affair and become a collector, or get buyer's remorse and end up selling your watch later.

My recommendation: a 16750. GMT's are genuinely useful in day-to-day use, that model can easily have it's bezel swapped out between all-black, Pepsi, and Coke, and it is easy to swap the bracelet between Jubilee, Oyster, and a NATO or rubber strap when you want to change things up. It's like many watches in one and the prices are very reasonable. Mine is my favorite watch by far.

[gerry100]

Everything behind the display case and all the way back to Switzerland is a "black box".

Anything on this site that suggests otherwise is speculation and /or wishful thinking.

If timing is an issue, I guess you could go to a trusted seller here and pay a premium.

Supply vs demand is eternal and my guess is that patience will be rewarded

[Carguy87]

Originally Posted by Skee-Bum

This will probably be a one and done, unless I want to find a new wife. Lol

If going for a one and done, I would decide which one you want as your only Rolex for all time. If it’s the Explorer 2 you can likely get one from the AD with patience and what I like to call “polite persistence”. Drop in once a month to check in, always always always ask for the same sales associate that helped you on your first visit, and within a year I’d think you could land a black dial..

If it’s the GMT that pulls your heart strings, I’d skip the wait and just buy one from our trusted resellers at market price. It’s next to impossible to get allocated a stainless steel GMT as your first piece, and even more difficult if you’re not spending money on jewelry or non Rolex watches.

Remember “the list” doesn’t exist. There’s a pool of people who’ve shown interest in owning a particular watch, and the manager(s) allocating these pieces are going to doll them out to customers in order based on length of relationship, total spend history, type of spending (jewelry/ high margin non-Rolex watches or just Rolex only spend), and community status (coach of the local college football program etc). It’s like the line at a hot nightclub; you can wait outside all night watching people pull up to the door and walk straight in because of who they are / what they’ve spent.

The pool of interest for that GMT will always be bigger than the watches they will receive, and while they’ll try to be polite the truth is they aren’t going to hand you a watch that resells for $5k+ over what you’re buying it for unless they’ve already made that $5k a couple times over in profit on other sales in your spend history. Daytonas and GMT’s are rewards for being a good client, not starter watches to build a relationship from.

Building an AD relationship is great if you want to buy a large number of pieces over the years / decades to come, but if you truly just want one it’s best to pay market pricing and move on. Besides, if they ever did call you for it you can always sell the watch you got on the secondary market and keep the one from the AD.

Best of luck either way and let us know what you decide!

[edyu]

Originally Posted by Skee-Bum

So been lurking on here for a while off and on. I have gotten the green light from the wife to buy myself a Rolex. So that is what I’m going to do at some point.



I read a lot of the threads, and have gathered a lot of information. However, I have some lingering questions that I haven’t gotten answered by reading the threads.



The first one being with regards to the AD’s. How is it decided what watches they get and when? Or is that a mystery? If no one knows that is fine.



I have put my name in at my local AD, he made it sound like I have to check in at the store every so often and show my face. From reading the threads, this seems kind of normal. Or is it? Also have my name on a list at a AD in a famous resort town.



Lastly, how many of you have gotten ticked off by the AD issue and just went gray market. If so what was your breaking point? This is just a start, but will do for now.

For the first watch especially Rolex get it from AD. It's getting better now unless it has to be SS Pepsi or SS Daytona. Most ADs I would think don't mind cultivating a long term customer especially a younger one (tend to live longer and potentially a big spender).

Go back ever so often and just show that you care and want to spend money at their store.

Good luck and it's ok to wait.

[edyu]

Originally Posted by Skee-Bum

The pieces I put my name in for are these:126710GRNR, 226570. No, I have no history with either dealer. The local AD seemed cool, the one in the resort town, was very nice, but possibly trying to hit on my hot friend. So far the only dealer that told me no chance, was in Dallas. They said, that they only sell to locals, which is fine.

I will just wait it out for a while longer, and if that doesn’t work will turn to the gray market. Just wanted the experience of picking up my watch from an AD, but could be something I just built up in my head and isn’t really important in the grand scheme of things.

126710 is harder but 226570 even when it was hot like 2019, I saw both colors ready to be sold in LA on display. I think it will go back to that very soon in terms of availability.