re: The Rolex business model is dumb

About ten years ago I bought a fake Rolex in Manhattan.
I have a friend who was NYPD and he told me about the little shop in Chinatown that sold them. He gave me an address, I remember it was on Mulberry St. He said to go down the alley next to the building to a little shop at the end. He said to ask for Mr. Lee (I don’t remember the exact name) and tell him you are looking to buy a collector watch. I did that and Mr. Lee was an ancient looking Chinese dude. He pulled a tray from under the counter that had a few different styles of fake Rolexes. If I remember I paid $35 for it. It was a good quartz watch, kept perfect time. I wore it occasionally for years until I dropped it and the crystal shattered.

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James Bond wore a seamaster.

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And just about every other luxury brand out there, including a sub. Lol

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It's the most recognizable brand in the world, and nobody else is even close

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Lmao

As said, it seems to work for them. They appear to be doing ok. They still sponsor a lot of non-cheap stuff like formula 1.

Somebody else posted this here before

They are constantly running ads during tennis tournaments and sponsor 5-10 players I can think of off of the top of my head (Sinner, Alcaraz, Shelton, Fritz, Rune, Swiatek, Gauff, Wozniacki, and Federer).

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Lmao

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I agree with him, only because it’s one of the few brands that even non watch people recognize.

Be that as it may, it's their model. It's like complaining about Ferrari.

There are obviously superior watches, just like there are superior vehicles. You want the Rolex for the brand, not the function.

It's just jewelry bro. Get yourself a nice Grand Seiko or something in that ballpark. It'll be every bit as pretty as the Rolex, while keeping better time. It just won't be Rolex. It's okay.

I know a Rolex retailer who told me that he’s becoming fairly sure they are going to move to a direct to customer model. He thinks they are going to screw him.

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You keep telling yourself the Seamaster is better looking than the Submariner or GMT, lol.

There is a reason you attempted to buy the Rolex first.

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I like some Seamasters as much as I like a Submariner or GMT.

That said, like many people in here who don't "get" watches have said, you can get the time on anything now. I have a Garmin watch for running that stays on me almost all the time that I'm awake.

But for me part of having nice watches is 1) Having something classy, old school, and extremely well-made that I like the look and craftsmanship of and chose out of countless other options, and 2) having something unique that I chose that I can pass down to my daughter. On that front I'm FAR more confident in a Rolex at least maintaining value if not gaining significant value so if she wants to she can sell it, if not she has something specifically mine that will last forever. Will that be true for an Omega? Maybe, maybe not.

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Just people that are into watches. Nobody else gives two shits.

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There is a meme about watches and getting really buff where some guys think it helps them get chicks but you actually just end up getting compliments from other dudes