7 ms·
As an aside, that advert for the Rolex GMT Master Chronometer says the price for the steel model is $255 USD. Today that watch lists for $9,250. Adjusted for in
by pivo 8y ago
As an aside, that advert for the Rolex GMT Master Chronometer says the price for the steel model is $255 USD. Today that watch lists for $9,250. Adjusted for inflation, $255 in 1970 would be only about $1700 today.
- wbl 8y agoMechanical watches have become status symbols.
- rconti 8y agoBut they haven't become more expensive to make. Likely this points more to something like the skyrocketing wealth disparity which means $1700 is no longer enough to spend on a veblen good.
- pjc50 8y agoPerhaps the handmade ones have due to "Baumol cost disease"; it's highly skilled manual labour, not mechanised production.
- bunderbunder 8y agoPlenty of other watch manufacturers have gone toward partially or completely mechanised assembly of their mechanical watches. I would guess that, if it hasn't become more mechanised in that time, it's because their margins have grown large enough that there's not much incentive in doing so.
- garmaine 8y agoTechnically the margins haven’t grown if the cost has also increased.
- bunderbunder 8y agoWell, it depends. If the sales price increases faster than the costs, then the margins have grown. If the sales price increases slower than the costs, then the margins have shrunk.
- nraynaud 8y agoI suspect Rolex is a bit victim of the bullshit job culture. I know that their very expensive models are slid in the production schedule with a planning manager. I would expect that if I paid my watch $10M, either it's been made by a very limited number of artisans on a desk away from the production line, or they just trashily stop the line at random moments to fit my watch as a sign of my importance, but certainly not have paper pushers quickly slide my watch between 2 batches of plebeian $10000 Rolexes.
- jdpedrie 8y agoThat seems like a strange way to look at it. If we grant that part of the appeal of a Rolex is that it is out of reach of most people, $1700, adjusted for inflation, was out of reach 50 years ago. Today, a luxury good of that price is well within reach for a middle-to-upper-middle class person who cares to save for a little while. If Rolex raised their price that much to keep it too expensive for the middle class, that seems to imply a greatly increased standard of living for everyone.
- 0x8BADF00D 8y ago> If Rolex raised their price that much to keep it too expensive for the middle class, that seems to imply a greatly increased standard of living for everyone. But that’s precisely it. The standard of living hasn’t gone up. Only the nominal price of money.
- jahewson 8y agoThe standard of living has gone up since 1970. But it pretty much leveled out by the 1980’s. So yes, mostly.
- epicureanideal 8y agoI don't know... my anecdotal experience is that the 1980s were noticeably more dreary than the 90s. And although most of the gains in quality of life since then have been in tech, they've been amazing gains. Flat screen TVs, powerful laptops, cellular phones, smart phones... I think what leveled out was the amount and quality of housing and education, which of course are large expenses.
- scrooched_moose 8y agoIt's more that Rolex are now seen as status symbols and they charge for that premium. Plenty of mechanical watches can be had for under $500: http://timetransformed.com/2014/12/27/which-is-the-cheapest-mechanical-watch-for-men/ http://timetransformed.com/2014/12/27/which-is-the-cheapest-... The one I'm wearing retails at $1020 and can regularly be picked up for about $850.