Which Watch Brand Would Be the New Rolex?*

Longines has the capacity. Or #spaghettiscameti

Rolex is the Milkshake that brings all the boys to the yard 🤣

I've love to think that someone would be able to supplant the Big R someday. Of all those brands, TAG Heuer seems to have the most name recognition (via product placement and advertisements) so they might hop to the front of the class, but not necessarily because they make the best watches. That's a different discussion altogether.

To be frank, I doubt that Rolex will see their dominance as the No. 1 go to watch brand for those that want to publically display their "success" in my lifetime. Their marketing has ensured that their brand recognition is engrained into all age demographics around the world. My ten year old nephew asked me within minutes of seeing me wearing my Oyster Perpetual if I was wearing a Rolex?

There are so many better watches than the models that Rolex offer. Many available at significantly lower price points but none of them immediately shout out "hey everyone look at how successful I am" better than Rolex do. This desire for public gratification & attention is all the more prevalent now in this age of influencers & social media.

Yeah, becoming the new Rolex in the absence of Rolex is a multi-pronged question.

Who makes good (not great) watches and can market their way to the top of the brand recognition ladder?

Simples 😉

The groups whose brands have been wiped off the face of the earth will still have all the IP, capital and production facilities.

So they'll double down on their "basic luxury" brands - Tudor (Wilsdorf Foundation), Longines (Swatch) and Baume & Mercier (Richemont).

Obviously, Rolex won't lose #1 for a long time (if ever), under current conditions.

Which is why the question was posed as it was; "in a weird future..."

I initiatly thought this, but I don’t see swatch allowing that to happen. There are other groups I think they would push first to take the crown.

Edit: now that I reread this, all the other brands would have been wiped out, so yes, longines.

Sea-Gull obviously. 😉

This is a great question and I’m not sure who could take the throne. I like your CW suggestion, but I would like to see one of their watches in person first.

Tudor obviously because of the Rolex backing. I like Sinn because of the durability; recently really impressed when I held one in hand.

That’s TAG for sure between “Ambassadors” and league sponsorships

Really? Who?

In the scenario, Omega, Glasshute & Blancpain don't exist. I think Longines is a natural choice in this situation.

Tudor was my easy choice because of that affiliation, so I went a little off script.

I had to reread, I agree. All the other groups got wiped out.

Nothing wrong with basic

Longines for sure, for their breadth of catalogue with good finishing and complications.

The tiers are incomplete and only one person's interpretation. But I wanted to start somewhere and not have to create my own list that would get nitpicked before the question was answered.

As presented, GP is likely a Luxury Brand now, so it would not have survived the blip.

So, do you have a brand from the tiers presented that you think could rise to king of the jungle status?

I haven't thought it that far through... feel free to take poetic license. You post, my idea... I don't mind collaborating! 🤣 And for what it's worth, I'd be inclined to write about the gaudy designs fading away, as Invicta enters a new era of mechanical chronographs, deepsea dive watches, and ultra-tough fliegers. 😎

Can you imagine an alternating weekly series of posts over 2-3 months leading into Halloween 2024 about the death of all other watch brands and detailing the Rise Of Invicta? Cuz I can. The Final post would be Invicta smelting down all non-Invicta brands and all remnants of any homage watches they once sold to then sell only the largest & most overdone designs. LOL Perfect watch enthusiast horror story.

As far as quality and finish work I would say Robert W Smith watches are second to none. For movement accuracy and engineering some of zeniths more rare and unscientific offerings would take the cake. I would put Lange in the top teir at. least.

And I would put GP in “high end luxury “ section. Fit and finish, movement quality superior to the likes of Rolex and omega etc. I own Rolex and omega and do not own GP so this is not a fan boy comment.

For top tier brand that replaces Rolex of course!

OK, I'll bite...

Tell me how you see them climbing above the likes of Longines , Tag Heuer or Tudor.

I'm a little late to this discussion. In part because I was trying to come up with a well thought out answer. But I couldn't do it so I'm going to wing it.

Rolex is a great watch but it doesn't do anything extraordinary except marketing. At its core, it's a fairly boring and safe but high quality time piece, with a decent heritage and a catalog just wide enough to appeal to multiple categories (Sport/Chronographs/Dress/Casual). I think the brand that would rise to replace them would need those same attributes.

Of the list in the graphic, there are some interesting choices. As others have mentioned, Longines has the catalog, the quality and heritage.

Rado doesn't have the quite the same catalog but they do have the quality and the heritage and lack of catalog could be resolved.

Hamilton is super interesting to me. They have the working man angle Rolex pushed when it started plus good heritage. Those angles would make for a good marketing campaign. And contrary to what you would think because of the enormous focus on their field watches, they have a decent catalog in different categories.

I could see Christopher Ward making a push. They're already attaining more recognition and I agree that they could be bumped up a class on this list.

But I think in the end it ends up being Tudor. Not because it's the best watch, but because it's a Wilsdorf Co. Heritage can be invented for marketing. And marketing is essentially what has pushed Rolex to the top. I think Tudor makes great watches, they have the catalog they need, and because it's a wilsdorf company, they will invent whatever heritage they need, market cleverly and push their way to the top. I could see history repeating itself with Tudor resembling Rolex as a great while not best watch in its price bracket. But having the name recognition of the masses to carry it to the top. While watches that are arguably better become "also ran". Similar to how Zenith, GO, IWC, and Grand Seiko could all make that comparison or argument against Rolex today.

In the end it doesn't come down to the quality of the watch, but the ingenuity and effectiveness of the advertising.

Just my thoughts. And as always, I could be wrong. I'm just a dumihed.

Curious: which watches are better than their Rolex equivalents at significantly lower price points?

Agreed with the first half of your comment, except I’d also add that it’s also the go-to brand for those that want a near-perfect balance of timelessness, robustness, tool, and luxury.

This is an entirely subjective matter obviously & is only my opinion.

The Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra is a better watch than my Rolex Datejust. A far better movement, the finishing of watch, in particular the dial is better & it's 40% lower in price.

The Omega Seamaster 300m Dive watch is half the price of a Submariner is a better looking watch, better finished, better movement, half the price.

There are many Grand Seiko watches that are way better than the Oyster Perpetual (the favourite watch in my collection). Additional complications, better finishing, better movement. I actually have a quartz GS that is absolutely on a par with my OP in terms of it's aesthetics. It cost me £1,250. Buy a Snowflake or Skyflake for less than an OP & they both knock it out the park in comparison.

It's just my opinion but it's based on owning these watches. I'm sure others will disagree.

Typed this up on my way to the airport — and of course it ended up way longer than intended 😅.

No point debating subjectivity, agreed, but objectively the equivalents you’ve mentioned aren’t better than their Rolex counterparts when you look at the numbers and the total package on offer. Preference is one thing but ‘better’ is an objective term, and for that you need to put bias aside. Like you, I’ll only discuss watches I own or have experienced (GS). Couple of examples:

Seamaster Diver 300:

SMP: 55 hours power reserve; Sub: 3 days PR. Advantage Sub.

SMP: 25200 beat rate; Sub: 28800 BR. Advantage Sub.

SMP and Sub: both highly antimagnetic. Tie.

SMP: 0/+5; Sub: -2/+2. Sub is slightly more accurate and does so over a longer power reserve. Advantage Sub.

SMP: 5-year service interval; Sub: 10-year service interval. Advantage Sub.

SMP: 316L, enamel and rhodium-plated bronze; Sub: 904L, platinum and rhodium-plated white gold (white gold indices and hands on even their base models). Advantage Sub.

Objectively the SMP Diver 300 isn’t better than the Sub, though it’s a gorgeous watch; I owned a 300 but upgraded it to a PO because the bezel action and bracelet paled in comparison to both the PO and Sub. Subjectively I found the dial far too busy. The PO is my favorite diver bar none incidentally.

Aqua Terra:

Similar technical arguments as above slightly in favor of the DJ, though I think this is much closer. Subjectively, I cannot stand my AT’s bracelet and the tolerances to the case aren’t as tight as the DJ 41 (or Milgauss, which I own). The AT does trump the discontinued Milgauss in magnetic resistance (15K vs approx 7K), but Rolex’s new 32xx movements which power the current gen are said to be even more capable than the Milgauss’ 7K Gauss, though I doubt they are quite up to Omega’s 15K threshold. Still, with that one largely pointless exception (unless you plan on sticking your watch arm into an MRI machine, in which case you’d have a lot more to worry about than simply magnetizing your watch), the choice is seemingly between having an extra 50M water resistance on the AT, versus having significantly longer power reserve.

Grand Seiko

I’ve long admired the Shosho and Bamboo GMT, but no matter how many times I’ve tried them on, I’ve been spoiled by the oyster bracelet — if GS upped their bracelet game I’d probably pick up one as I find some of their dials stunning; however, while I admire the Spring Drive technology, comparing that to any traditional movement is not an apples-to-apples comparison, it’s different tech, and not the same as comparing the Coaxial to the Chronergy movements. A more accurate comparison would be to compare Grand Seiko’s traditional Hi-Beat movements, and in that comparison they aren’t quite in the same class as Rolex or Omega’s movements: Hi-Beat vs Superlative: +5/-3 vs +2/-2, advantage Rolex. 200 to 1000 Gauss (depending on model) vs 7000 Gauss (comparing to the old Milgauss since we don’t have exact numbers for Rolex’s current tech), advantage Rolex. 3-year service interval vs 10-year service interval, advantage Rolex.

Tangent: In my opinion, the coaxial movement is an interesting and impressive technical achievement, but interesting and impressive does not necessarily equal better in real-world terms. For all of the interesting tech under the hood, Omega’s watches still need servicing twice as frequently as their Rolex equivalents, aren’t quite as accurate (though this is splitting hairs to be honest), and run at a very noticeably lower beat rate. Said as a fan of many brands, while you can get very close for a little less, looking at the total package I disagree that you can get better equivalents for Rolex models for ‘significantly less’. Happy Sunday brother! 🍻

Personally I think it’s all crap. Buy what you like and don’t worry about where the brand sits on a scale. We can’t chose which watch speaks to us and which doesn’t. The only person you have to please is yourself. If you’re buying to impress someone else, I feel a little sorry for you. Apologies in advance if I’ve upset you but this is me.

Cartier

Gotta include Parmigiani to ultra luxury 🥸