Is this ‘Proof’ Rolex are deliberately withholding stock ???

[Swiss Mad!]

So yesterday (Friday 6th September 2019) I was in town, had a spare couple of hours before my next appointment and decided to take the opportunity to pop into my local AD (as you do) just for a catch up and in an attempt to ‘maintain the relationship’ as everyone keeps telling me is the way to go if you want to keep on your AD’s radar and continue to be considered for the hard to get references as & when they become available.

Anyhow, what happened while I was in there both amazed, delighted & shocked me all at he same time.

Just to explain, I have purchased 3 pieces previously from this AD, a black Sub Date LN, a TT yellow gold ‘Bluesey’ LB & my most recent purchase back in March 2019, a TT RG GMT CHNR.

Due to this, I know the Manager & some of the staff reasonably well and they always make me feel welcome whenever I go in there.

So, to cut to the chase, I’m sat chatting with the sales manager over a cup of tea, explaining which watches I’m thinking of adding over the next coupe of years to my small collection, which would be an SD43 & a JC DBlue.

I also tell him that due to the rarity of both these pieces I’ve never actually seen either of them in the flesh only in pictures or videos on the internet, so although I love the idea of it, I am a bit nervous about the JC DBlue due to its large proportions etc.

As I’m explaining all this to him he says “Wait there” and goes into the back.

He then comes out with 2 little plastic coffins and puts them on the tray in front of us. “We had a delivery yesterday & these are waiting for customers to collect, but you might be interested in having a look” he says.

Boy, he wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t believe it - an actual JC DBlue & SD43 just sat there on the table right in front of me - my 2 grail watches - I was shocked!

He wouldn’t let me try them on out of respect for the prospective new owners obviously & that’s fair enough, but he did let me hold them and take a couple of pics on my phone while they were in my hand.

As I am sure you will appreciate as fellow watch enthusiasts, what a great thrill that was for me to be so up close to these 2 amazing pieces and to actually hold them - amazing for me at least.

Anyway, that’s not the most interesting part.

It wasn’t until I left the shop & was back home just chilling out & thinking about the days events that I was scrolling through the pics I had taken on my phone and I noticed something quite amazing.

The SD43 had a Mk1 dial - i.e no crown at 6 o’clock & a straight stick ‘1’ on the 1220m text.

I couldn’t believe it & had to look twice, three times to make sure.

Yep, there it is, plain as day, a Mk1 dial SD43 that should have only been available between Basel 2017 & Basel 2018 delivered to a UK AD in September 2019!

How could this happen? Have the factory in Switzerland suddenly found an old batch of dials from 2017 they’d forgotten about or is it undeniable proof that Rolex are deliberately holding watches back & drip feeding them to the AD’s ???

I’ve attached a few pics taken yesterday (6th) that back up what I’m telling you.

Thanks for reading, what do you think ?





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