Will tariffs affect price of watches

[Rolexatlast]

Originally Posted by hambone1983

certainly not any close substitute to Swiss watches.

I was just puzzled by the comment that there is some benefit to society in making luxury watches more expensive

Fans of grey dealers advocate this constantly…. berating people for wanting to buy from ADs at ‘retail’ price instead of paying a much higher ‘market’ price from a grey

[Eric-London]

Originally Posted by brandrea

I will gladly pay more for the ones made in my motherland thank you 🇨🇭

lol, hilarious.

As an aside, between 35-40 million TV's were sold in the USA last year.
Not a single unit was made in the "motherland".

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Eric-London

lol, hilarious.

As an aside, between 35-40 million TV's were sold in the USA last year.
Not a single unit was made in the "motherland".

Agreed … the Swiss (my motherland) isn’t known for its TV production


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[V25V]

Originally Posted by GB-man

Austerity no matter the flavor is a disgusting cake nobody wants to eat.

Unfortunate when you’re trying to reverse 35T in debt.

Well said.

[Kinnakeet]

Originally Posted by 330ci

Rolex made Canadian market watches as well.

I had a Rolex Corvette which was alleged to be canadian market only, as well as a few Tudors. They made quite a few models in the 40s & 50s that were Canadian specific. Though more to do with marketing of the watch than production to save money.

My memory evades me at the moment but I know I’ve had a few others. Would be cool to see some more French date wheels and regional namesakes again

My husband has an SRP777 Seiko with a French date wheel. Purchased in Toronto. Same watch purchased in Florida comes with a date wheel in Spanish.

My guess is that there is not a large number of French date wheels compared to others.

[BraveBold]

Originally Posted by brandrea

Come on guys … it’s been a good discussion let’s not get this thread locked.

I for one learned something from @330ci about Rolex that were made in Canada (or at least partly made here).

Back to the topic and specifically Rolex, I can’t imagine Rolex winding back the clock and making watches elsewhere. They’ve invested heavily to bring everything in house and their marketing / prestige revolves around “Swiss made”.

Agreed.

There is no way they will change production bases based on this. They are in a pretty unusual position where it will barely impact them - though demand declines may be exacerbated and THAT could have a later impact.

[Krash]

It was just a matter of time before this thread went sideways.


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[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by brandrea

Back to the topic and specifically Rolex, I can’t imagine Rolex winding back the clock and making watches elsewhere. They’ve invested heavily to bring everything in house and their marketing / prestige revolves around “Swiss made”.

Thx for the voice of sanity, we NEED you here on TRF.

As we know, an ADDITIONAL new Rolex factory / LARGE building should be up and running in Switzerland during 2026. Imho Rolex is doing all it can to support and service past / current production, while also seeking to expand both during a new factory opening full-steam in 2026.

PS: I look forward to TRF members going back to whining about having to get the showroom model and/or no discount when grays are. You know, like it has historically been for decades to just a relatively few years back... before CTR ALT P.

[Maleg]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

...

PS: I look forward to TRF members going back to whining about having to get the showroom model and/or no discount when grays are. You know, like it has historically been for decades to just a relatively few years back... before CTR ALT P.

Wait a minute. Are you saying I didn't have to accept the showroom watch?

Homestly, I never thought to ask for one new in the coffin. I didn't even know it was a thing.

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by Maleg

Homestly, I never thought to ask for one new in the coffin. I didn't even know it was a thing.

Well, back in my day (when we walked uphill to school, both ways).....

Am telling ya, in a few years you'll get a Rolex, and him too gets a Rolex, and yes even that other guy gets a Rolex. And we'll be VERY grateful for recent times as manufacturers came forward and produced many truly interesting timepieces. From Christopher Ward to MB&F and H. Moser, and of course Gronefeld, George Daniels, and soooooo many others. Heck, even Louis Vuitton is taking horology seriously.

So cry we did for the past few years due to Rolex availability, tho imho we have also witnessed horology's most historic growth in many directions as we enter the age of AI.

Let's stand back and think about that.

jmho

ymmv

[elau1958]

Originally Posted by BraveBold

Add me to the list.

Not taking offense exactly, but I do not see the purpose of the question other than to somehow “make” the discussion political.

This is a problem with today’s society. Trying to make analytical topics (science, economics, health etc) political and/or partisan.

Discussing the economic impact of tariffs is not politics. It is economics - the economy doesn’t care about political affiliation.

And I thank you as I am afraid my post will become "side way" as someone already mentioned.

The reason I opened this topic is rather simple. Rolex has traditionally increase their prices across the board every year (perhaps they did not in some years that I know of) so I already factored in their usual practice.

The intention of my post is try to understand if and when there are tariffs, how much more I will end up spending (although no one will know until it actually happens) as I am nearing retirement and would like to acquire my possibly "last" watch, a Daytona.

Let's say a 10% tariffs + 5% price increase on the watch, I am looking to pay 15% more next year then if I would have bought one this year. The ADs are getting more inventory than before and if I have the chance, I would rather pay 10% less (theoretical number of course). Or worse the tariffs may be higher than 10% as no one really knows until it actually happens.

There was a "customary discount" by the AD back in 1995 when I bought my first Rolex. I distinctively remember the AD gave me a 10% discount. It was an Air King and I still have the watch and still is in my rotation.

Obviously if I want to pay more, there is always the grey market. But I started this journey with a brand new Air King and would like to end this journey with a brand new Daytona. The feeling of trying on the watch and waiting to be sized is an experience in itself and I still remember how my hand trembled.

[Fleetlord]

A tariff on luxury watches won't have any impact on, well, anything.

It's not going to foster any domestic luxury watch production. Manufacturers aren't going to move production to the US to avoid paying tariffs. They will just pass the increased costs on through to the consumer.

It's not going to persuade people to stop buying foreign made luxury watches because there aren't any domestically "USA Made" choices (at least none that I know of) and the tariff cost is peanuts when passed on to the consumer of a luxury watch. An extra 15% or whatever isn't going to stop someone who wants Rolex from buying Rolex.

The tariffs the treasure will collect amounts to peanuts as well. It's like 1% or maybe less. So in the big picture of tax revenue, it's dumping a bucket of new water in to a lake.

Much ado about nothing in this industry. Others that aren't "luxury", sure...there will be pain.