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Rolex is a funny brand. They have cheap models that exist exclusively for you to make a dealer happy by buying several of them, before they will consider allowi

Rolex is a funny brand. They have cheap models that exist exclusively for you to make a dealer happy by buying several of them, before they will consider allowing you to buy a high-end watch. “Normal” people can’t actually buy these high-end Rolexes, even if they have the money.

anonymousiam 2y ago
Ferrari does the same thing. You need to have a "relationship" with the dealer before you can buy one.
brchr 2y ago
This is only half correct. It is true that some/many Rolex AD’s will allocate the most desirable watches to customers with an existing purchase history, and that some customers therefore buy less desirable models in order to earn goodwill with the AD. However, it is not the case that the most desirable watches are necessarily (or even on average) the most expensive models. For instance, it is generally the steel models that are the most desirable and command the highest markup from MSRP on the secondary market. The Submariner, the Daytona, the GMT-Master II: almost all of Rolex’s most iconic, most in-demand, most "flippable" watches are the full steel versions, which are the cheapest versions of those model families. To give a concrete example, it is generally considered easier to get a full-gold GMT (~$43k) or a two-tone (half steel, half gold) GMT (~$18k) at an Authorized Dealer than it is to get the full steel version ($11k).
philg_jr 2y ago
The amount of money that has been floating around since 2020 has really exasperated the demand in the Rolex market. Dealers have been playing the "exclusive" game with customers pretending like stock is limited because of the popularity of the watches and the willingness for customers to pay above MSRP in the gray market. There has been a lot of talk recently on the web that this is starting to cool and the dealers will go back to selling to whoever wants to buy one.

anonymousiam 2y ago

Ferrari does the same thing. You need to have a "relationship" with the dealer before you can buy one.

brchr 2y ago

This is only half correct. It is true that some/many Rolex AD’s will allocate the most desirable watches to customers with an existing purchase history, and that some customers therefore buy less desirable models in order to earn goodwill with the AD. However, it is not the case that the most desirable watches are necessarily (or even on average) the most expensive models. For instance, it is generally the steel models that are the most desirable and command the highest markup from MSRP on the secondary market. The Submariner, the Daytona, the GMT-Master II: almost all of Rolex’s most iconic, most in-demand, most "flippable" watches are the full steel versions, which are the cheapest versions of those model families. To give a concrete example, it is generally considered easier to get a full-gold GMT (~$43k) or a two-tone (half steel, half gold) GMT (~$18k) at an Authorized Dealer than it is to get the full steel version ($11k).

philg_jr 2y ago

The amount of money that has been floating around since 2020 has really exasperated the demand in the Rolex market. Dealers have been playing the "exclusive" game with customers pretending like stock is limited because of the popularity of the watches and the willingness for customers to pay above MSRP in the gray market. There has been a lot of talk recently on the web that this is starting to cool and the dealers will go back to selling to whoever wants to buy one.