Let's talk about Rolex (again)
It's not a hate post. I'm just intrigue at how things are run behind the crown.
Just had a quick read on how the Hans Wildorf foundation is so into philanthropy. It's like hey don't really care how much people are selling them outside of the crown, as long as they get their projected yearly profits.
No kids or descendants. (Unless out of nowhere someone claims to be the descendent of Hans Wildorf!) If Hans was alive now (or his great great grandchildren if he had any) I wonder if he/they would do as much philanthropy as they do now. But why does the foundation do all this good work? It's more then just to get tax benefits. Is it simply because they know the money or brand wasn't theirs to begin with so no point looking like they owned it. Or simply because they can or that they know people expect them be generous with all the money they make.
The idea of them building new factories to meet up with the supply and demand seems like more of a "ok fine we will do it". But they knew that even ramping up their production, people will still buy their watches or the amount that they produce which comes out of their factory. In fact they could simply build the factories, and when the demand goes back to normal (as if) they would return back to their normal ways. The challenge would be keeping the quality.
Regardless of what people say about the rumored Rolex price bubble burst, it doesn't matter to Rolex because that is all happening outside of their doors. They know that they've done pretty much enough to keep the demand for years to come.
Just another average person with an interest in watches.
No way in hell they are going to ramp up production. If anything they will restrict it more until grey market prices bounce back up
Your lenses are rather rose coloured...
Rolex/the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, don't do philanthropic work out of the goodness of their hearts, it's a business decision that helps them stay opaque to the outside world.
It's also clearly good media relations... People don't feel as bad about spending huge sums of money on a watch when they "know" the profits go to charity. "I didn't buy a new status symbol, I helped the less fortunate, and got a watch as a thank you"...
The cynic in me always suspects that when big business gives money away it is simply because there are benefits they receive in terms of lower taxes etc. Even more so when you are a "foundation". A prime example of this is Bill Gates. His personal fortune has risen exponentially since he created the Gates Foundation. The realist in me says, no matter the primary reason behind these good works you cannot deny that without them, the world would be just a little worse off.
I believe Rolex have increased production over the last few years from 800,000 to 1.2 Mil per year. No chance they will go much past this though!
We should keep in mind that Hans Wilsdorf said to create a great watch company all your need is great marketing. Or something to that effect.
So the underlying DNA of Rolex isn't watchmaking, it's myth making. Their claims are often dubious. But if you think of it in that framework, then the charity thing makes perfect sense. It's marketing. Rolex made it's mark associating and exaggerating the link between their watches and historical accomplishments.
My jeweller watch guy told me this just the other day that they run as a charity ! I never bothered to look into it . At 62 I think I am now pretty much happy with my level of materialism in regards to my hobbies, watches included. I will never be a monk , but I will never be a mad hoarder either . No judgement, but saying that Rolex is just a curiosity to me at this stage of life , always liked them , but priorities always got in my way to spend that sort of money on myself and not my kids or pay the bills, kudos to those that are successful enough to be able to collect watches in this price bracket.
My jeweller watch guy told me this just the other day that they run as a charity ! I never bothered to look into it . At 62 I think I am now pretty much happy with my level of materialism in regards to my hobbies, watches included. I will never be a monk , but I will never be a mad hoarder either . No judgement, but saying that Rolex is just a curiosity to me at this stage of life , always liked them , but priorities always got in my way to spend that sort of money on myself and not my kids or pay the bills, kudos to those that are successful enough to be able to collect watches in this price bracket.
Rolex is a well oiled marketing machine. Your jeweller sounds like he went through some Rolex AD boot camp. Charity yes if you're on the receiving end. Being a buyer doesn't get any priviledge.
Rolex is a well oiled marketing machine. Your jeweller sounds like he went through some Rolex AD boot camp. Charity yes if you're on the receiving end. Being a buyer doesn't get any priviledge.
Oh , he said charity with a bemused sense of cynicism don’t worry 🙂 . He is a Rolex owner of a couple of nice pieces though , He has a Yacht master and a two tone sub .
The Rolex Charity angle should be taken with a large pinch of salt. Charities in Switzerland are very lightly regulated, and famously house all sorts of dodgy behaviour (e.g. FIFA, the IOC, both Swiss Charities). They also don't publish any annual reports, unlike large foundations elsewhere. I always thought that if the Rolex Foundation were that great (exp given the billions a year they earn from the watch company), they'd be much more transparent and public about how the money gets spent. Other than a few orchestras and photogenic people who also appear in their marketing campaigns, it's not clear where any of the money goes.
The Rolex Charity angle should be taken with a large pinch of salt. Charities in Switzerland are very lightly regulated, and famously house all sorts of dodgy behaviour (e.g. FIFA, the IOC, both Swiss Charities). They also don't publish any annual reports, unlike large foundations elsewhere. I always thought that if the Rolex Foundation were that great (exp given the billions a year they earn from the watch company), they'd be much more transparent and public about how the money gets spent. Other than a few orchestras and photogenic people who also appear in their marketing campaigns, it's not clear where any of the money goes.
I shared this video a few weeks ago. It comes from a Rolex YouTube account. It highlights some of the places that benefit from their cash. #thisisnotamarketingploy #thisisnotamarketingploy etc etc!
https://youtu.be/AVYBNCyEkE0
Rolex is an enigma of an enigma. The Sports Watch segment of the industry is owned by Rolex. Ownership has pushed their Sports Watch line from Tools Watch to to watch I call "Toolry". Example: 18K or Platinum Dive Watches that are hard to get & rarely seen in the wild past the wrists of celebrities and the super wealthy. Watches that are elusively rare to find/purchase unless you are an actor who needs to kit out his stunt crew - or an NFL quarterback who gifts his entire offensive line with a Rolex. An enigma or an enigma.
Pros & Cons
Addressing the Foundation: @Stroud_Green mentioned Bill Gates, lets toss in his mentor & surrogate daddy Warren Buffet = allegedly giving away half of their fortunes already yet both always sit in that top 5 wealthiest people in the world. Talk about a tax shelter/employ your relatives (yep checkout who usually works in a foundation) and marketing ploy! Rolex does the same thing. Someone possibly benefits from the generosity while the corporation lives on in the most healthy form. Bill Gates has been retired for decades and still sits on top of the money pile = an enigma of an enigma. Rolex has been run by an efficient government for decades with no "owner" at the wheel & thrives = an enigma of an enigma.
Role taught the watch world how to market. People outside of our addiction ask me what the best watch in the world is. I always reply "I don't know... it's subjective. I do know the best marketed brand and that's Rolex" The brand name was created by Wilsdorf because it just sounded like a luxury brand. Everything since inception is smart branding of product.
Rolex doesn't sponsor an F1 Team. They sponsor the whole damned circuit. Drivers sit in cars during their sport we don't see them. It's actually dangerous for a driver to have a watch strapped to their wrist while driving. Tennis players, golfers, actors (subsection of virtue signaling charity figureheads that Rolex loves) all are very visible in their activities. Rolex makes sure their Brand Ambassadors all have a Rolex on their wrist while engaged in their profession. A tennis player wearing a Rolex while playing speaks to the durability of the sports watch. No one outside of a Rolex sponsored athlete does this. A turn back to racing if I may... Rolex dug in hard on marketing from Paul Newman and his love of the Daytona. Newman never raced wearing a Daytona: again, a safety issues. More Daytonas were sold with Zenith movements during those years than ever before. Talk about great marketing about a product with another manufactures movement in it! Once Rolex & Zenith split the industry suddenly leaned in hard on in house manufactured movements. Rolex got ahead of a perceived weakness when the Zenith movement was removed by pushing hard into in house movements. This smart marketing has the industry raging on the subject today. How many luxury brands have been busted for their dubious claims of in house movements ? It's created a murk about the whole subject.
No doubt Rolex swaging their exploits had made the watch world better. The Submariner hailed as the grandfather of dive watches is another dubious claim: Blanc Pain Fifty Fathoms screams out here. Name a Swiss, German, French or Japanese, watch manufacturer that isn't chasing the Subs' street cred. These manufacturers have built some amazing dive watches in their pursuit to knock off the Coronet from its pedestal. Mercedes Gleitze failed attempt to swim the English Chanel has driven water resistance ever since. That water resistance push fueled the dive watch craze of the 50's & 60's (Back to the Submariner) Sir Edmund Hillary & Everest .... talk about dubious claims & murk! We now have a 36mm & 39mm variant (sadly no Titanium model yet) These pieces are beautiful and yet a wind of BS Rolex marketing. Again, look at how the Explorer models have driven the market to build better competition. The now retired Mil Gauss pushed antimagnetic properties in watch makers. Any Omega in the current lineup is 15X in gauss ratings of the Mil Gauss. Seriously, Rolex has pushed the watch world to make better products.
I'll end on production. For decades the Daytona was hard to get unless you were a member of the aforementioned crew. Rolex just applied the scarcity branding model to all of their watches. First the Daytona, then Pepsi, Batman, Kermit/Hulk etc. tested the consumer markets for putting up with Rolex BS. Purchasing a Rolex makes you feel VIP and Lucky , like getting into a club on Saturday night