Has Rolex lost faith in the desirability of its product?

[Pentameter]

Originally Posted by Moggo

Do these kids not have parents?! Burning money?? I would disown her on the spot, disgusting.

its a photo - I doubt they actually burned the money, and if they did maybe they only burned one bill for effect, but not the entire pile sitting on the table. I could be wrong of course, I'm just saying don't flip out over a picture that doesn't even SHOW money actually burning - it's obviously meant to IMPLY that, but they could have easily taken that pic without burning any money.

[cbalster]

I believe Swiss watch exports overall all are down double digit %'s from their peak. I don't think things are as rosy as the previous posts would have you believe. Sure, Rolex can't meet demand for a half dozen or so professional models in Stainless Steel, but they're probably seeing that offset by lack of demand for precious metals models. If you can sell all your SS Pro models at MSRP but slowly sell other 5 PM/DJ/ladies models at a 5-20% discount, I don't quite count that as winning. I won't believe Rolex is winning until there is a ladies datejust shortage.

[RJRJRJ]

Originally Posted by cbalster

I believe Swiss watch exports overall all are down double digit %'s from their peak. I don't think things are as rosy as the previous posts would have you believe. Sure, Rolex can't meet demand for a half dozen or so professional models in Stainless Steel, but they're probably seeing that offset by lack of demand for precious metals models. If you can sell all your SS Pro models at MSRP but slowly sell other 5 PM/DJ/ladies models at a 5-20% discount, I don't quite count that as winning. I won't believe Rolex is winning until there is a ladies datejust shortage.

Swiss watch exports overall =/= Rolex. Rolex, PP, AP are doing very well.

[pepsiretail]

Originally Posted by Pentameter

these are the posts that infuriate me the most - people making ridiculous sensationalist claims that imply they know all of Rolex desires and motivations, and that they're all nefarious or manipulative. Give me a f'ing break.

This isn't "false scarcity" - it's REAL genuine scarcity, based off a sudden & steep spike in demand.

There isn't a "new manipulative marketing strategy" being employed by Rolex - they're using the same old manipulative marketing strategy they always have, and that most other companies use too. Veblen goods.

None of this points to insecurity in their own product - it points to insecurity in the markets, the economy, the continued interest in luxury wristwatches which are by all means antiquated and virtually obsolete in terms of technology - and insecurity in the continued demand not just for Rolex, but for ANY luxury watches. As someone else posted earlier today, it was only 10 years ago that Rolex was in a much different situation, and I'm sure most of the people there today were around then, so it's not something lost to ancient memory - whatever increase in demand they are seeing now could easily be gone tomorrow. They're playing it cautious and adopting the slow & steady strategy.

No one is being "tricked" into anything here - at least not any more so than any other company that is utilizing marketing to try and sell you things that you don't need. I suppose you could look at the world that way, but I doubt you are critical of the "tricks" that other companies use every time you see a commercial either on tv or online.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Rolex is not the illuminati.

My thread is my assertion, nothing else.

Your post is your reaction, nothing else.

[JR16]

Originally Posted by cbalster

I believe Swiss watch exports overall all are down double digit %'s from their peak. I don't think things are as rosy as the previous posts would have you believe. Sure, Rolex can't meet demand for a half dozen or so professional models in Stainless Steel, but they're probably seeing that offset by lack of demand for precious metals models. If you can sell all your SS Pro models at MSRP but slowly sell other 5 PM/DJ/ladies models at a 5-20% discount, I don't quite count that as winning. I won't believe Rolex is winning until there is a ladies datejust shortage.

Not sure where the “peak” was, but for 2018 overall Swiss watch exports down 2% in units but up 6% in sales. For luxury watches more than 3000 CHF, both units and value exported up around 8%.

Here’s a link to 2018 report for those interested.
https://www.fhs.swiss/file/59/Watchmaking_2018.pdf


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Dashford]

Originally Posted by RJRJRJ

Swiss watch exports overall =/= Rolex. Rolex, PP, AP are doing very well.

But driven by very few models (all of which are hard to get new).
Patek (Nautilus / Aquanaut)
Rolex (GMT / Daytona / Sub)
AP (Royal Oak)

A classic example is the disastrous Code 11.59 from AP.

I'd love to see what percentage of overall sales are driven by these 6 models.

[Rashid.bk]

Man, the way people talk you would think Rolex is a covert black ops watch manufacturer doing secret world wide manipulation and control of the watch world. Lately they have even been accused of single handily creating demand for worldwide mechanical watches.
Seems the way to go for any company is to have a culture of secrecy and never create a public relations dept.
Let the public run amuck speculating while you simply chill and do what you do best, make timeless classic watches. There is no such thing as bad publicity really if there isn't proof and the product is first grade.

[Rashid.bk]

Originally Posted by Chadridv

I’m not the OP and to be fair I’m not looking to really weigh in without some more thought. However, while the statement is a bit ambiguous I can tell you I have direct experience with an AD (chain of about 4 stores) told me they had 7 Hulks in stock across the 4 stores. After a conversation with a manager I was told they couldn’t sell me one, despite no one having paid for or even left a deposit on any of them.

All of this supposedly at the advisement of Rolex to only sell hard to get items to the highest level VIPs.

That seems like False Scarcity to me.

Thank you sharing experiences like this. I have never believed that there is a shortage or that demand spiked. Social media surely has spiked, but what it has made is not more buyers but more grey dealers.
The demand that everyone talks about isn't from buyers but from "dealers". Look at our for sale section. I could have named all 10-15 of our real trusted sellers just five or so years back. Now every joe blow is a trusted seller.
That is the demand, that is the spike. And that is why if true from Rolex, this post makes sense, sell the popular models to only the highest vip's because they are usually most often real genuine buyers who not only spend on watches but a crap ton of jewelry and special occasion presents for friends and clients.

As I have always said, there isn't a shortage(that would be a PP 5711 which isn't available by the dozens second hand) nor any spike in demand, just more opportunist and "business men" aka grey dealers.

Originally Posted by Pentameter

these are the posts that infuriate me the most - people making ridiculous sensationalist claims that imply they know all of Rolex desires and motivations, and that they're all nefarious or manipulative. Give me a f'ing break.

This isn't "false scarcity" - it's REAL genuine scarcity, based off a sudden & steep spike in demand.

There isn't a "new manipulative marketing strategy" being employed by Rolex - they're using the same old manipulative marketing strategy they always have, and that most other companies use too. Veblen goods.

None of this points to insecurity in their own product - it points to insecurity in the markets, the economy, the continued interest in luxury wristwatches which are by all means antiquated and virtually obsolete in terms of technology - and insecurity in the continued demand not just for Rolex, but for ANY luxury watches. As someone else posted earlier today, it was only 10 years ago that Rolex was in a much different situation, and I'm sure most of the people there today were around then, so it's not something lost to ancient memory - whatever increase in demand they are seeing now could easily be gone tomorrow. They're playing it cautious and adopting the slow & steady strategy.

No one is being "tricked" into anything here - at least not any more so than any other company that is utilizing marketing to try and sell you things that you don't need. I suppose you could look at the world that way, but I doubt you are critical of the "tricks" that other companies use every time you see a commercial either on tv or online.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Rolex is not the illuminati.

Very well said.

[Oyster84]

We're all speculating here... Unless someone has some hard evidence one way or the other, and not just hearsay, I will remain neutral on this issue. I would never claim that Rolex is intentionally dialing back production, BUT maybe they are having issues with production or raw materials. It certainly wouldn't be the first time it's happened. In fact it happens all the time.

[WS9D]

i believe it’s Rolex way of dealing with the emergence of smart watches. They realize they have to do something different to succeed such as during the quartz crisis which had a huge impact on the Swiss watch market.

[Calatrava r]

Originally Posted by zjd168

There is no confirmed evidence backing this statement at all.

I talked to four ADs I dealed with before, none of them claimed they got less SS shipments than before. The only huge difference is the demand.

Every Rolex dealer I know is not receiving anywhere near the shipments they were in SS sports. They cannot even special order a sports model. The allocations this last half of this year are crazy low. One or two Subs if they are lucky and you bet those are spoken for.