Thought on the crown.

Meh... Rolex neither needs nor cares about us.

It's like suggesting we all praise the sun, because it rises in the East every morning. The sun rises, and Rolex sells watches, neither cares about the watch community.

Solid point. But I'm not suggesting that Rolex cares about us or that we praise them. Just considering whether we should have a different perspective of their role and effect in the hobby.

I think you(and many others) are over estimating Rolex's impact on the hobby. I suspect Citizen, Seiko, Bulova, Movado, Casio, and Timex bring far more people into the community than Rolex does.

I'm guessing 50-90% of people buy an affordable watch, then think "a Rolex would be nice". They might know the Rolex name, but it was the affordable watch that actually got them on the path to being one of us.

MJ is the 🐐 and always will be. He will answer Lebron’s call after 6 Rings. Just the sneaker game alone would dominate “The King”

I hadn't thought of it that way. The exact opposite of my idea. But probably far more accurate.

Excellent points!

HAHAHA! Your not going to get an argument from me. I would be willing to admit that perhaps LeBron is more talented. But MJ's competitive fire and killer instinct put him way over the top.

MJ is more talented and applied himself to both ends of the floor. He won Defensive Player of the Year and 9 time First Team All Defense.

HAHAHA! I tried to post thoughts on Rolex and I'm debating the 🐐 of the NBA.

Again, I don't disagree. He was a killer at both ends. He dominated while playing against some historical talent.

I retract any statement that LeBron may have more physical talent. LOL

Sorry, I’m just worn out on the Big R. I doubt I’m the only one. I would rather talk about Jordan or disparage LeBron 😂

I get it. "R" overload is easily achieved. But the MJ versus LeBron debate isn't much better. 🤣

Perhaps I should have used motorcycles and Harley-Davidsons as my comparison instead of the NBA 😜

Sadly, you are both wrong about the NBA goat. Neither one beat Larry Bird. Just look at videos that compare the two.

I equate Rolex to Apple in their respective industries. They've created a desirable brand through innovation and quality, but as time has passed they have allowed a business model that takes advantage of their position in the market. The thing I resent personally is the waiting list fiasco. Restricting supply,, AD's only allowing access to favoured customers etc, just irritates me. I could in theory buy most other luxury brands just by choosing at a dealer, with no mention of waiting months/years. But I have to wait at Rolex?? Don't flatter yourselves guys, there are other brands equally as good that will get my money instead for that very reason alone.

I've started appraising watches by their own qualities and merits. The name on the dial is not a deciding factor on my opinion about a particular watch and I can appreciate the quality of the finished product that Rolex produces without having it detracted by the antics of the brand or it's AD's.

In much the same way, I can appreciate a well made Chinese watch despite the brand name. A stronger consideration is the value. Does the constuction and finish of a Rolex warrant the price demanded?

It's always good to have a little bit of the crown around! This little Coronet gem is in my wife's office. She owns 3 Rolex to my one. Of course I paid for them all 😉

I understand and agree that Rolex isn't innovative. They have a product that's winning so they play it safe and improve in small increments as you mentioned. Also, I don't know of any business that is excited about competition. They would all be monopolies if they could. My thought when I posted this was that in order to grab the attention of the consumer and earn a larger market share, that other brands would would become more innovative and competitive.

I want to say Rolex has an image problem. Obviously they don't have an image problem, their image is selling loads of product. But they don't seem to have a very good image within the enthusiast community. Not something Rolex needs to concern themselves with much as long as they continue to sell loads of product and make piles of money. But as an enthusiast I was attempting a thought experiment, very poorly apparently, to see if there was a way to repair that. To try to find the silver lining of the big ugly black cloud that is Rolex.

I underestimated the vitriol that enthusiasts have for Rolex and more specifically their owners. I expected some brand bashing, But I also expected some Rolex owners to have some good experiences they would share as well. In retrospect, I should have known better than to expect anything that resembled a discussion.

Rolex is a business. And their business model has been very successful the last couple of decades if not longer. They don't care who they sell watches to, as long as they continue to sell out there inventory. And can you blame them?

We as enthusiasts generally aren't in it for financial gain. So we have a different set of criteria that we use to judge or enjoy a watch brand. So it makes sense that all the reasons I listed in my post create a negative stereotype within the enthusiast community for Rolex.

I learn new things here everyday on WC. I learned something new with this experience. Most importantly I learned avoid discussions about abortion, politics, or Rolex 😜

But thank you for a well thought out comment and not "eff Rolex they suck"

Don't be part of the common herd of lemmings...be a part of the exclusive group of lemmings instead.

This part was my favorite. 🤣 and spot on.

I personally am not even in middle management. And will likely never have the budget to be able to afford anything in its price bracket. But if I woke up tomorrow and had enough money to be able to spend thousand dollars on a watch Rolex would not be my first choice. Zenith, GO, IWC, Choppard, Omega, Cartier and GS would all come before Rolex. But that doesn't mean I can't see why others would enjoy them. They are a quality product. Just overpriced.

My mother always preached the idea of walk a mile in another man's shoes before you judge him. Understand were the other person is coming from before you get angry. Make sure there is nothing good about something before you dismiss it.

With this post I was trying to find the silver lining to the ugly black cloud that is Rolex's image within an enthusiast community. A reason to embrace them rather than dismiss them. I feel like I was unsuccessful lol. In retrospect I did too much to highlight their negative image and didn't give enough attention to positive possibility. So my presentation was flawed.

Oh well 🤷‍♀

BTW those are an effing amazing set of time pieces.

Thanks for the kind words...I think yours was a great post...provocative and useful for generating discussion.

My main reason for dismissing Rolex is that I really dislike a company that lies about its history and its products...check out this post to see what I mean...

https://www.watchcrunch.com/ChronoGuy/posts/let-s-bust-some-rolex-myths-or-less-euphemistically-known-as-lies-16985

the brand has done a Phenomenal job with marketing the brand plus with some iconic designs keeps them extremely relevant. If it weren’t for the extremely hyped up prices I would own one. But the reality is there are better values out there even within the same house I. E TUDOR

It's just an uniformed and novice opinion, but Tudor's current catalog and vibe bears a strong resemblance to old school Rolex (I'm sure that's not an accident). Some people have suggested that Tudor needs figure out how to break free of the shadow of being the "poor man's Rolex's". I think the should embrace it. Have a advertising slogan like "What Rolex should be". Of course that will never happen. LOL

My humble opinion is the poor man’s Rolex is old and outdated. As the brand has almost the same quality on most models for a faction of the price. And for all but the few with unlimited funds to pay for theRolex label. Tudor and brands like it Ball , Oris and longines and the likes will satisfy 99 percent of us

I think this may possibly highlight one of the dangers of taking everything you hear on YouTube at face value. While there may indeed be some "lemons", Rolex guarantees their watches to run within the +/- 2 SPD for the 5 year warranty period. I know this through personal experience, having just taken in one of my wife's OPs for warranty service as it had been running about +8 SPD. That particular watch had been purchased in late 2018, so it's reaching the end of the 5 year warranty period, and the repair was covered under warranty with no questions asked. I have 5 Rolex in my own collection, and they all run within the 2 SPD range. I certainly can't explain why he would have an issue with his - perhaps his friend had given him a fake, or the watch store that he took it it to for repair is not very good, but if it's a legitimate Rolex and still under warranty, Rolex will repair it without charge if it's gaining or losing more than 2 SPD.

Most popular watch brand in the world.

Meh. I prefer Omega.

Some of these comments 😂, I love it when people tell me the type of person I am because of what’s in my collection 🤣.

I’ve owned several “mid-tier” brands (historically owned more Omegas than any other brand — two Speedmasters, an Aqua Terra, a Seamaster Diver 300, two Planet Oceans, and a DeVille) and also a “higher tier” watch (a JLC Reverso Tribute); I was never anti-Rolex but I was an Omega fanboy through and through. The PO 39 is still my favorite diver. The primary reason I never really got into the brand in the beginning was nonsense like “they’re overpriced” “they’re just mid-tier” “X-brand is better …” and a few poorly researched videos on Watchfinder. But then you get to speaking with actual owners in real life and admire their passion for the one or two pieces they own and realize that the online noise is all a farce, and that hype without substance will not sustain itself. Picked up my first Rolex and they not only make a good watch, they make a great watch that’s extremely robust and accurate, now I own four and each is a favorite. The quality is there in spades. The reliability is there. The legendary robustness and durability is there. The accuracy is there. And the heritage is there. I’m currently on the hunt for either a GO Seventies Chrono or a Chopard Alpine Eagle, and I can say with certainty that ifi had to keep just one watch of every I’ve owned/own it would be either my Milgauss or Batman. I couldn’t care less what anyone thinks of any brand in my collection; at the end of the day, be authentic and wear what makes you happy — they’re all just pieces of metal, not the second coming.

And to those saying the average Omega is more accurate and has better specs than the average Rolex, it’s splitting hairs, but the numbers will disagree with you; they’re largely on par day to day, but with Rolexes having slightly better accuracy on paper, a higher beat rate, a much longer power reserve, and a much (much) longer service interval.

Rolex owners know they have the best watches made, Rolex haters just can't get one so they come up with every reason why they aren't that great, the company doesn't care about the "community", they are over rated, over priced, why they are better off with 20 cheap watches...

But the truth is Rolex is the king of watches, the other high horology holy trinity stuff is cool, but that's just for super rich guys with disposable money that already have all the Rolexes they could want or need

Yeahhhhhhh theres so many things id like to say about your post ..but ill stop here, I don't want to be rude or get banned. Have a great.. whatever

I hope no one is buying a luxury mechanical watch to be accurate because we all know any cheap quartz watch will destroy it in accuracy. The reason you buy a luxury watch is for the heritage and

Appreciation for the detailed work that went into producing it. That said wear what makes you feel good and don’t worry about what others think or say

I am a Rolex fanboy. I do own other brands as well, but Rolex is Rolex

No one is comparing traditional mechanical accuracy to quartz accuracy — that’s an apples to oranges comparison — but in mechanical watchmaking it still does matter, especially when you’re dropping north of 3K on a watch. It also matters to watchmakers, hence bragging rights for several mechanical accuracy and timing awards. I’ll tell you this: being able to put away a mechanical watch for the weekend and then grabbing and going on Monday morning with the confidence it’s still keeping near-perfect time sure beats having to reset my Miyota-based Junkers Bauhaus every few days because it’s running a few minutes slow. If a watch isn’t at a minimum running within COSC, I’m rarely interested. Your mileage may vary, and that’s subjective, but in a hobby centered around keeping time, yes, accuracy matters.