What kind of buying experience makes the purchase special?

I’m going to keep this lighthearted:

I agree with you that being treated well when making a ‘special purchase’ helps make it special. Having a disgusting experience and being treated poorly, taints the whole experience.

I do not want a “special” shopping experience when buying a watch. I am not some new money person who needs to feel validated by having a sales associate kiss my butt and give me cheap champagne and tchotchkes. It is all BS.

I am also not foolish enough to be that person who visits a dealer they have never been to in a city of immense wealth and expect to be treated like a regular. I know if I pop into a 5th Ave AD, I am no one. I am okay being no one, they do not know me from any of the other thousand tourists who will pop in that day. I certainly would not expect them to give me a hard to get model when they have a list of a thousand regulars with a deep spend history. As long as they treat me nicely, I know the deal not to ask otherwise.

I want to talk to someone who knows watches and is honest. I am on record (countless times) supporting the allocation model (as long as demand exceeds supply) and with that all I care about is honesty. I have zero issues with my SA telling me I do not spend enough to get the next <insert model> that comes in. I am not that insecure to go online and cry about being mistreated because they didn’t want to take my money. I been around the art world and cars, same rules apply there, heck even worse; When demand exceeds supply, take care of the customers that take care of you. Absolutely fair and I would do the exact same thing.

Give me a cool SA that I can talk watches with, cool watches to look at and try on, that is all I care about. I am lucky to have a couple awesome folks I deal with. I am good with a simple text saying “you want?.” Yes, yes I do. They run my card, ship watch. Easy. Keep the pomp and circumstance for someone else.

I’m genuinely curious about this…if allocation model is ok, then what would you say about another industry with demand exceeding supply, like housing. Would it be ok for a realtor to tell you kindly that you haven’t spent enough to buy this house but I have one on the other side of the perverbial tracks that would be perfect for you. And you can live there for a while until we’ll think about letting you live in this neighborhood. There are actually laws against that type of behavior.

It’s cool that you’ve crossed that threshold of being accepted and even offered watches. All good there. How about those of us who have the means for a nice watch but can’t get in the door because of some artificial barrier. How can the AD or SA be confident I’m not their next whale client?

Housing has regulations, but largely sorts itself out due to capitalism. The person who wants the house most, buys the house. Imagine having to win an auction every time you want a watch? Most people in the US buy a house in lesser neighborhoods/communities until they are in a better position to move to a more desirable neighborhood. Edit, there are plenty of in demand high rises that make potential buyers go through background checks, interviews, etc. If they do not like you, no home for you.

In the art world dealers represent various artists. They take the chance to take on, display, and market emerging artists. Almost all of them fail. But if I do regular business with that gallery buying the not hot pieces, when they get lucky and strike gold with an in demand artist, guess who gets first dibs? The person who supports the gallery regularly or the Johnny come lately with no history who insists on having a piece from the hot artist? Same applies to watches.

For an allocation model, if you want to get the in demand watches, like it or not, you have to regularly buy the less in demand pieces, or other items from the AD. You do not have to have a ton of money, just be a regular. Helps to treat the staff nicely, pop in, make yourself and intent known. I know many people who have bought, say, a Sub with no history. Folks can get lucky by just being nice, but in a big market being nice alone does not help.

The entire create exclusivity game is something I want no part in.

I do like the colorful Oyster Perpetuals with no date, but would never actually consider a Rolex or want to have that Humbled and Blessed buying experience.

Yes housing has regulations because unscrupulous/immoral folks made things tough for groups of people for a long period of time. Obviously, watch enthusiasts are not a protected class. I’d have no issues if ADs are upfront and say we don’t have any Daytonas available but come back in a month, instead of hey, you haven’t spent enough with us so you don’t get that. Maybe if you buy those 3 other watches and establish a spend history will you be considered for that.

To your point, of course we don’t want every watch to go to auction. That’s inefficient for businesses in selling inventory as well as all the watches end up in the hands of the richest people. Oh wait, that’s already happening.

I’m not sure how treating SAs nicely factors into whether I can get a watch. Yes, being a good human being is a good thing regardless of whether I’m buying a watch. The Golden Rule always applies. I don’t have to bend over backwards to go buy in-demand anything else (electronics, cars, home).

I think the idea of waiting for the privilege of spending my money is dumb, so I'll never take part in the whole Rolex buying process...

I would add that you need a place to live but don't actually need a (nice) watch. So even if there is an artificial barrier, and supply < demand isn't that artificial, it really does you no more harm than getting rejected by a door dude in front of a club. You need a Rolex watch about as much as you need a 50$ cocktail accompanied by a headache the next day.

Some markets need regulation to ensure a decent standard of living and protection from scumbags (education, healthcare, food, housing, etc.) but luxury watches sure ain't one of them.

That is one funny picture haha.

I think build quality and AD treatment is what makes the watch special for me, not the unobtainable status.

I cant really blame rolex for not having stock available at their ADs though. Every time stock is available theres always a handful of flippers grabbing it and reselling it the same day.

No, the experiences I’ve had in JLC and Lange boutiques feel luxurious and special. That sells luxury and uniqueness to me way more than being jerked around and treated as an afterthought.

I agree with that. Luxury watch buyers are not a protected class, therefore are not protected by laws. You’re also right that I need a place to live. But I have the means to live almost anywhere I can afford, not live where others choose for me because they think of me one way or another. I know I can’t live in Malibu cause it’s out of my price range, buying a Rolex is not. Similarly, what if I said hey, we can all ride on the same bus to the same place, but you can only ride in certain portions. What’s the harm, we’re still going on the same bus to the same place right?

That is a fair and honest approach. “Hey I know you wanted that but those bros over there bought them all out. Would you consider anything else we have available?”

I bought my OP39 in 2018. The Rolex stainless steel sports issue was well underway but had got to its more recent heights. They had pretty much all the OP sizes and colours to choose from, plus in stock were dozens of datejusts, both colours of Explorer 2, Milgaus, yacht masters, any number of gold or bimetal models. The buying experience was nice, did make it feel special, but boy did it go on a long time! By the end, I was just glad to get out of the place.

I do like dealing with watch enthusiasts at ADs. When I was trying on a Speedmaster at an Omega boutique a couple of weeks back, one of the other assistants walking by commented they were loving my Doxa. That felt good.

If I thought that a watch was acually rare and I had to wait until one was made for me to purchase it that would make it a special purchase when o finally got to the top of the list. I put my name down for a oyster perpetual 41mm a few years ago and have bought about £14k worth of products since at the shop. So I’m not without a spend history. I visited Glasgow a few months ago and the Rolex shop had nothing for sale no surprise there. But I looked in the window of a second hand watch dealer and they had 4 OP41s in the window ready to go and many others models to chose from. The second hand market is drowning in the bloody things yet we have to pretend they are rare and hard to get to justify sucking up to some sales person in a fancy shop on a power trip. No that’s not a luxury purchase. I ended up that day buying a sinn u50 in James porter and was treated with respect and and the whole transaction was enjoyable nothing was too much trouble.

Its such a manufactured brand hype..its actually funny

I really like Rolex watches and their history. Starving consumers of what they want & creating deliberate scarcity is a weird business tactic.

There doesn’t exist any industrial reason why they can’t make more watches available.

Steel with a high nickel content isn’t exactly thin on the ground.

Eventually rivals will surpass them.

I also saw the video. For me that was an opinion only a snob can have who want to feel special (or better) than the rest and need shiny items to be able to believe themselves.

In my opinion that statement is poor reasoning of the almost hostile buying experience of a Rolex. If Rolex really stands for those values, I hope not many people can side with them and still be happy with the alignment of their moral compass.

I agree with both of you actually. Personally I’m always treated well at my local Rolex AD, not all Rolex ADs are created equal, not all play games (I’ve only encountered one so far). This doesn’t mean you’ll be able to walk out with the watch you want, nor that there’s a hidden stash of watches in the basement — demand is extremely high and many of them are sold before they even have the chance to hit shelves — but you can find an AD who won’t BS you and will treat you respectfully. Another thing I always keep in mind — Rolex ADs are also ADs for several other brands, not just Rolex. *They* choose how to leverage Rolex’s demand and popularity, and that should be a reflection on the individual AD, not all of them.

Now, the other argument is also valid; removing watches from the equation, instant gratification is often more fleeting in comparison to hard-earned or delayed gratification. Personally I would prefer being able to walk in and instantly pick up any watch of my choosing, but I’m not going to lie, whenever I get ‘the call’ it makes it more of an event and much more satisfying; this is not justifying ‘the call’, this is just playing devils-advocate for Jenni’s argument. And this is where I think you’re both right: the ideal scenario would be a marriage of the two. Transparency and you’re treated with respect, but if there’s a wait (given demand, not artificial…that’s a myth), then there’s a wait — and when you show up to spend your hard-earned cash, hopefully the AD makes the experience a memorable one. But people are deluding themselves if they think any business is obligated to give an extremely high-demand item, of which they have few allocated, to Joe Bloggs off the street rather than a repeat client — that’s just good business and customer-retention. Nice/respectful to you doesn’t mean you’re entitled as a walk-in to get a high demand item when there are frequent clients of the business already in line for the same item. What is a valid complaint are those ADs that try to milk the situation by getting you to purchase items you don’t want.

Rolex is king, not the cash

I work in retail, so all the bs that comes with going into a shop doesn't interest me, I prefer online - it's about the product only & not having an ego massage 😉

I totally get it LOL ! A shame because Europeans make beautiful shotguns

Here's a couple of Italian products that are incredible machines like a Swiss watch

haha, great....as said, different worlds......I fired enough guns in military service, that´s enough for me......but enjoy your guns, and it seems you do so in the pictures 😀........If I want to shoot again I´ll shoot some zombies on a Playstation game 😂

Love shooting guns too but not when people shoot back. Thank you for your service and sacrifice.

What’s your zombie shooter of choice?

LOL I'm with you. I keep them for my son. He's in the picture. I rarely shoot but I love watching him enjoying it. Thankfully he is a watch guy as well. Just about any random oic of the kid includes a watch

Many European shotguns are not only incredible machines, they are in many cases luxury items, especially if we are talking about those that are highly decorated, very artisan products that can easily demand a six-digit price, and are often custom-fitted to their owners.

Perazzi and Purdey are my Vacheron Constantine and Patek Philippe 😇 Just works of mechanical art all of them

You guys are all making excellent points and are both right actually , depending on how deep your pockets and your circles you run in . The 30,000 foot view shows me your both not wrong and both right . Good dialectic debate , very interesting reads cheers . Rolex isn’t my circus or my monkeys so to me it’s a pointless exercise in futility my end . I was thoroughly entertained though fellow crunchers , lets all see each other’s points of view as valid ones :)

My cousin is a wholesaler of firearms and some of his customers have ALS and De Buthane & Moser & Cie money Weapons and everything else they have is the same . The point I am going to make is this ; “ Rich men die hard “ leaving behind all your toys becomes difficult as none of them go into the ground or furnace with you .

Fair enough. The value of my firearms is not that high, but still high enough to pay for a year of college at a decent university.

Also, mine have appreciated over the years, and I fully plan on selling them in time, and only keep those I use frequently. Similar to watches, the family needs to know what they are worth, and how to sell them. (Along with the usual preparations, such as establishing a trust, so they won't get held up in probate court.)