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#31 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: MN
Watch: OP36 Blue 3-6-9
Posts: 2,193
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Here's an example. Audi is exclusive. It's expensive and has a rich tradition. Can I walk in and buy one? Yes I can. I'm in the process of buying an S5 cabriolet right now. Does the fact that I can actually buy an expensive car make it any less exclusive? No, of course not. That's absurd. What makes it exclusive is the fact that not everyone can afford to buy it. It's irrelevant if there is stock or not.
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#32 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Real Name: Teck
Location: South East Asia
Watch: Tudor Black Bay 58
Posts: 1,846
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Lists are closed until July
You don’t have to sell the exclusive to me!
You are absolutely right in that Rolex always was exclusive based on MSRP alone. The point at which I disagree with is that MSRP is no longer useful as the gatekeeper to exclusivity for Rolex. Simply because the world is so awash in money now, MSRP pricing is no longer exclusive at all. This is exactly why grey prices for coveted models are well in excess of MSRP, whereas grey prices were always almost always a discount to MSRP during the ‘good old days’. The level of exclusivity associated with Rolex has ramped up a few notches since the 80s, 90s and even early 2000s. It’s just the strategy Rolex has chosen to adopt to survive technological innovation. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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#33 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: USA
Posts: 1,114
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Anybody with a credit card can buy a Rolex. They're mass-produced Swiss watches with a great history and powerful brand marketing. They virtually own the Swiss watch segment under $10,000. I've owned them for nearly 40 years, own a bunch, and like them. I have no illusions that they're significantly better watches than their primary competitors, including their own Tudor brand, and dollar for dollar they can't touch a Grand Seiko in terms of finishing. To point out that "retail associates" wear them is kind of demeaning to those who work retail and appears to point out an exaggerated sense of status by the OP simply because he wears a Rolex.
I find it hard to believe that an associate at a factory-owned boutique would would be privy to, much less share with some random walk-in, the global Rolex strategy, particularly since the overwhelming majority of AD's are independent dealers who run their own businesses as they see fit. |
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#34 | |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Chowdaland
Watch: Out
Posts: 596
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Quote:
Same thing with Rolex, steel and two tone a ton can get on credit, maybe not "afford" but they can get in..... I still think Rolex was always exclusive as not everyone is dropping that kind of cash on a watch, but it wasn't as exclusive as steel Patek or AP which I wonder if that's where they are trying to be which is a big shift for them. |
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#35 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: MN
Watch: OP36 Blue 3-6-9
Posts: 2,193
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Good points and I totally agree. Patek, A. Lange Sohne, Jaeger, Breguet are definitely in a class above Rolex. Some of the small boutique brands are incredible. I can't think of names off the top of my head but there was a thread here last year where some people were showing pics of their pieces and discussing some of these really small brands. Some were gorgeous and had very limited runs. That's definitely exclusive!
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#36 | |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: Ohio
Posts: 84
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Quote:
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#37 |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2021
Location: Singapore
Watch: 116500LN
Posts: 370
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It's going to be so stupid if true.
Imagine snobs waiting to get in the store day in day out for SS sports. Flex it on socmed & then flip it. Not gonna happen. |
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#38 |
Banned
Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 130
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It will never happen.
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#39 |
Banned
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Tokyo
Watch: SD43,PAM1616,Hulk
Posts: 3,567
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it's like suicide if rolex actually intented to do as you said.
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#40 | |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: London
Posts: 410
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Quote:
You have a very different understanding of exclusive than me. Rolex models that you can walk in and buy in an AD are not exclusive. Expensive yes, exclusive no. Omega are expensive, but not exclusive. Rolex models that are very difficult to buy new are exclusive. Audi are not an exclusive car (I have one). Never will be. High end cars that are very hard to get unless you build a relationship and buy less exclusive models first (think Ferrari), that is exclusive. Or some hand bags. Not an Audi that I can walk in right now of the street and order. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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#41 | |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: London
Posts: 410
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Quote:
Or an AD selling a Daytona to a walk in he has never met before while telling his £1m per year customer he can’t have one unless she happens to turn up at the right time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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#42 | |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: London
Posts: 410
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Quote:
Exactly - I think the discounts are still of that order, cost basically. It’s good business. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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#43 |
2024 ROLEX DATEJUST41 Pledge Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Real Name: Eddie
Location: Australia
Watch: A few.
Posts: 37,231
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Are we going down any specific track on this thread?
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#44 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: tyo nyc fla ack
Watch: all the good ones
Posts: 1,001
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Bimyō.
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#45 |
2024 Pledge Member
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1,359
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I would like to see a world where you can't just walk in and pick up a Steel Daytona or a Blue Sky-D, but equally you don't walk into a store and there are no watches to buy! Somewhere in the middle suits me just fine.
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#46 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Australia
Posts: 220
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Exclusivity in the truest sense is borderline “money can’t buy” to my mind. Virtually NIL Rolexes fit that definition, or at best 5th or 6th decimal place stuff in terms of total qty of Rolexes ever made.
As far as Sales people or in fact any other demographic in society wearing Rolexes goes, no problem to me. Not sure why that is even a thing worthy of mention.... |
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#47 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: N/A
Posts: 618
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Yeah...no!
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#48 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: midwest
Watch: DJ 41
Posts: 1,496
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OP you may have forgotten a sentence at the end of your post: "then I woke up."
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#49 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Brazil
Posts: 215
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Rolex could provide AD with hundreds of white daytonas, so they could colapse grey market dealers and then the markets come back to reality.
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#50 | |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: MN
Watch: OP36 Blue 3-6-9
Posts: 2,193
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Quote:
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#51 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: Ohio
Posts: 84
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I think exclusive is expensive and rare at retail. Ferraris and Roll Royce are exclusive at retail. Rolexes are being made “exclusive” by the post retail market. The only thing Rolex is getting is a guarantee to sell every watch because they are underpricing.
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#52 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: MN
Watch: OP36 Blue 3-6-9
Posts: 2,193
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I agree with everything you wrote up until the speculation about pricing.
I don't think a pricing discrepancy is what is causing the supply/demand imbalance at all. This is exactly what is playing out with the lumber market right now due to COVID and forest fire/hurricane factors impacting the commodity prices. These watches are absolutely not worth those grey prices at all. Just like a standard length 2x4 is not worth $8.50 instead of $2.45 before COVID. What is creating these price surges is lack of supply and a distribution network that is taking advantage of it. A Rolex sub isn't worth $14K just like a 2x4 isn't worth $8.50. Grey dealers are price gouging just like the lumber yards are, to take advantage of this supply/demand imbalance as long as they can until either demand subsides or supply increases. JMHO |
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#53 | |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: USA
Watch: All Rolex
Posts: 7,019
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Quote:
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#54 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Middle East
Posts: 1,808
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All the lists here in Dubai are closed anyways, and have been for quite some time, so makes no odds to us here.
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#55 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Uk
Posts: 941
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Makes me laugh anyone thinks there has been a list of any kind since 2018
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#56 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Real Name: Teck
Location: South East Asia
Watch: Tudor Black Bay 58
Posts: 1,846
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#57 |
2024 Pledge Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: The States
Watch: Cosmograph Daytona
Posts: 7,149
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Lolololol
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#58 | |
2024 Pledge Member
Join Date: Jun 2020
Real Name: Goat
Location: Southwest Florida
Watch: 16613
Posts: 5,059
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Lists are closed until July
Quote:
Yep. I have a developer that used to be able to build 15 “bungalow” apartments for 800k in wood. Now his nut for those same 15 apartments is 2.5mil for wood in today’s market. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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#59 | |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Chowdaland
Watch: Out
Posts: 596
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Quote:
Rolls Royce, McLaren, and any other $200K+ car I'd say is "exclusive" just given how expensive they are....whereas GT3, GT2, Enzo, GT40, or other allocation cars are exclusive because of price and conditions for sale.....whereas in the world of Booze things like Pappy aren't crazy money if you can get one at list but are ridiculously exclusive as they are super hard to find. Steel sports model Rolex are in the middle for me, not cheap by any means, but not unobtainable expensive (yet) but ridiculously hard to get right now, but still not as crazy unattainable as a steel patek Aquanaut ... will be interesting to see if that is their aim or if they are ok not being that exclusive. |
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#60 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Jul 2020
Real Name: Pete
Location: San Diego
Watch: 2021 Sub & 41 DJ
Posts: 49
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Mine here in SoCal told me there is no more lists. Only preferred buyers who get access to the stainless models buy buying two tone and PM
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