Perception is there are Rolex's everywhere...

[dwjpaypal]

In London (the city) I would say 1 in 20 people have a Rolex. I've been on the tube before and seen 4 of them in one end of my carriage. I would say 50% are subs.


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[Pimpsy]

Very common at nice restaurants here in Bergen County, NJ and in NYC. Mostly Subs, GMTs and DSSDs on the younger guys. DDs and DJs are ubiquitous on the older crowd.

[S492m]

I spot an average of maybe 5-7 subs in my building almost on a daily basis - glad to be the only exp ii in the building dare I say :)
Though I work in the square mile in London in a building with lots of tech companies (mainly startups) which makes me think the first thing on shopping list when the funding comes through is to go get a sub *chuckles*...


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[Star Ferry]

Originally Posted by eonflux

Location, location, location

Randomly survey 1,000 people attending a fancy charity fundraising event in NY vs 1,000 at an event in a large city in the midwest, and my guess is that there will be a difference in the number of Rolexes worn.
Randomly survey 10 people in business/first on an international flight and 10 in economy on the same plane on 100 flights and there will likely be differences as well.

"Location" is being loosely here as a collection of people in various scenarios, but correlates with demographic factors which correlates with attributes like disposable incomes, social values and norms, etc.
There will be a different number of people with Rolexes if you survey 100 attending an opera in San Francisco vs a 100 at a pop concert at the nearby Billy Graham auditorium.
500 people staying at the Wynn vs 500 at Circus Circus.
Etc, etc, etc

I think another element in the "Rolexes are everywhere" sentiment is the number of watches Rolex produces vs other higher end manufacturers. At 30-40x the number of Pateks, APs, and other companies, there are more Rolexes around and would appear to be ubiquitous.

In my experience, location is important, more insofar as it relates to culture than to wealth.

I think we'd see more Rolex in economy class on certain flights in Asia than we would in business class elsewhere.

For example, someone mentioned earlier that there are HK taxi drivers wearing Rolex. Yet these individuals usually earn under $1,500 per month.

I grew up in NYC and saw plenty of Rolex, but I see 5x as many Rolex in HK. How do they stack up wealth-wise? In the ultra high net worth category, such as number of billionaires, they are comparable. But the depth and breadth of wealth in NYC beats HK, as shown by the fact that NYC has twice as many millionaires.

So if NYC has twice as many millionaires as HK, why does it seem like everybody here has a Rolex strapped to their wrist? Mostly I think it's the culture. People here love wearing Rolex (and, more generally, flaunting wealth). there are even Cantonese slang terms used to refer to different types of Rolex

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Star Ferry

In my experience, location is important, more insofar as it relates to culture than to wealth.

I think we'd see more Rolex in economy class on certain flights in Asia than we would in business class elsewhere.

For example, someone mentioned earlier that there are HK taxi drivers wearing Rolex. Yet these individuals usually earn under $1,500 per month.

I grew up in NYC and saw plenty of Rolex, but I see 5x as many Rolex in HK. How do they stack up wealth-wise? In the ultra high net worth category, such as number of billionaires, they are comparable. But the depth and breadth of wealth in NYC beats HK, as shown by the fact that NYC has twice as many millionaires.

So if NYC has twice as many millionaires as HK, why does it seem like everybody here has a Rolex strapped to their wrist? Mostly I think it's the culture. People here love wearing Rolex (and, more generally, flaunting wealth). there are even Cantonese slang terms used to refer to different types of Rolex

Rolex has a very long history in HK, too. The first authorised dealership was granted here in the 1930s (Lane Crawford), and imitations were already on sale along Cat Street by 1940.

[Star Ferry]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

Rolex has a very long history in HK, too. The first authorised dealership was granted here in the 1930s (Lane Crawford), and imitations were already on sale along Cat Street by 1940.

Adam, I haven't been here for long, but I've read through your photo thread on Rolex signage in HK And it does seem many dealers have been here for a while

I imagine the history has helped inform the culture

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Star Ferry

Adam, I haven't been here for long, but I've read through your photo thread on Rolex signage in HK And it does seem many dealers have been here for a while

I imagine the history has helped inform the culture

Sure. I don't know of any place where Rolex is quite as deeply embedded in the cultural psyche as it is here. I think we're up to 70 ADs now, compared to I think six in Las Vegas.

[Daytona88]

Someone is wearing the million or so watches the Rolex produces annually

[FiftyTwoEighty]

Originally Posted by singe89

Rolex is very common around here. Walk through south coast plaza or fashion island and if you're looking you'll spot dozens. Although you will see Panerai, Patek, AP and even RM as well. I also look when I travel and people are boarding the plane. Last count from John Wayne to Dallas was 8 rolexes, 3 panerai, a Hublot and 2 APs (one was mine).

I really don't care if a watch is common or not but I do appreciate a fellow WIS. I have noticed that people wearing Pateks, APs and panerai usually tend to be more WIS like than your average Rolex wearer. Actually had a business lunch yesterday with a guy that was wearing a JLC reverso GMT. Had a great conversation on watches.

True. I make the SNA to DFW loop too many times than I'd care to admit. You may have counted my Rolex!

In fact, I'll be on that flight home in a couple hours. I think I'll count as people board the plane.

[Partagas]

See them occasionally in my day to day routine. Saw a ton on vacation in Naples, FL.

[Andad]

2000 at your event and not one Rolex - so - but you didn't check every wrist?

1 in 20 in London have a Rolex.

[samshah]

I see a ton on the subways every morning. It's usually the 5 digit subs and very rare occasion the GMT IIs.

I think if you walked around a trading floor, you'd see a pretty large percentage on the guys on the desks.

[Ruud Van Driver]

I see about three or four a day on school days in Singapore. That doesn't include mine and the other three or four in my office (of fourteen people)

[Jake B]

Maybe not in Cleveland but they are EVERYWHERE over here. I could go for a little stroll round the block right now and know that I'll be able to spot a good ten in the neighborhood...Likely even spot one in the lift before I make it to the lobby.

[RinkRolex]

Got my MR-G based on the perception that no one has one. In fact, no one even knows about the watch. Only a Stussy associate noticed it once.

[subtona]

It's not the Rolex owners that would be of concern it's those that don't own and might make inaccurate assumptions.

That said, there is good reason it is a popular watch brand.

[Boaters]

I don't see to many in the wild but not out in the main stream US that much.

[watchwatcher]

Originally Posted by eonflux

Location, location, location

Yep.

[jkili]

I just don't see it. Went to a huge event tonight.....at least couple of thousand people in a well off community generally.

[mschafer]

I felt like this on a shoot yesterday. We had a black and YG Daytona, LN and TT GMTc, Explorer 1016 and current, Sub date; and as outliers a beautiful RG Pam and a simply gorgeous YG Navitimer. Perfect spring day at the Navy Yard.

[warrior]

As others have implied, a lot of it has to do with location and circumstance. On a nice spring day, I can go out to lunch on a walk in the financial district area of the city... and if I'm looking, I can see at least one or two Submariners. EASY. Many big metropolitan cities and immediate outskirts, airports...are where you can see a ton

[ref1655]

Originally Posted by warrior

As others have implied, a lot of it has to do with location and circumstance.

an acquaintance once mentioned that five out of her seven co-workers wear Rolexes...then again, she manages an AD.

[Cimballi]

Originally Posted by superstarmar

Agreed... I very rarely see Rolex out in the wild !!!
Despite that some say they're massed produced,
What's massed produced ? In the big picture of the world
market 7 plus billion people now , 800,000 to 1 million
watches a year is peanuts ...

Not so fast.
To estimate the density of Rolex watches we have to factor in the size of the US market for Rolex (120,000/year) and the average product lifespan (let's say 25 years). It means that there may be around 3 million Rolex watches circulating in the US.
Not negligible.

[Trurolexer]

Rolex is everywhere, even here in Jakarta

[WristEnvy]

I was recently in Japan and Singapore, it seemed every store and restaurant I went to, at least one black sub or dj can be seen.

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[jrs146]

Your SS DJii will fly much more under the radar than a TT DJ. This you got right if you are looking for it not to be noticed. Still... It's a Rolex and the "masses" recognize that crown from afar. As many others have suggested... Go with almost any other luxury brand and you will have full anonymity.

I personally try to stay one step ahead. If I'm at an event or travelling to a place where it's rare to see another Rolex, I'm apt to put mine on. If I'm at a place where I'm going to see a lot of pepople with a Rolex, I'll throw on my AP, IWC, Omega, Etc. Just so I can fly a bit more under the radar.

[roadkillrob]

Boston - see them everywhere, it's pretty normal if you see a nice watch. They make a million watches a year, they are everywhere - if you take a conservative guess at there being 20 million Rolex's out there (say last 30 years of production) and there are currently 7 billion people on the planet, that is 1 out of every 350 people that has one and is you assume out of 7 billion people, if you take the population of the developed part of the world where people might be able to afford them, that is more like 1 in every 100 people own one.

I bet in a big city it is more like 1 in every 30 or 40 people probably own one, I love my Rolex Submariner, but it is the BMW 3 series of watches, it is a luxury watch, but it is the mass market affordable version of a luxury item.

[rabbithole88]

Rolex is common in SF, but I see women wearing them more often than men. For some reason the guys here tend to be "no watch or smart watch".

[RinkRolex]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

Sure. I don't know of any place where Rolex is quite as deeply embedded in the cultural psyche as it is here. I think we're up to 70 ADs now, compared to I think six in Las Vegas.

Very much so Adam. Got to admit, that is one of the reasons I wear Rolex and Tudor. I knew of these brands before I knew how to spell them, I think.

[BLACKHORSE 6]

I hardly ever see them where I am, except for once when I went to an engagement party of a family friend. I was not only surprised at the number of Rolexes, but also how many of them were PM. Several gold Daytonas, DD, a white gold sub, and a YG GMT.