Are Rolex watches more hype than substance

Exactly, mostly hype, but I still wanted one and that’s all I need from that brand.

They are excellent watches at MSRP. Hype vs. reality? Rarely is anything worth hype.

Rolex = overpriced hype

Sorry fans of the brand...50% of what you are paying for is the advertising

Rolex is a middle tier watch brand priced above its manufacture

Desirable for many? Yes. Absolutely.

Solid watch? Yes.

Ultimate Luxury? Nope.

For me? Yes, much more hype than substance. For someone else? No, as evidenced by all the demand.

On TGV's latest video about watch snobs with Marc of Islander Watches, Marc asked if a Rolex was 24 times the watch of a microbrands and said that of course it wasn't.

Luxury goods is a very strange pool to be hoping for cost & value to meet in a product or a brand. Take the tote bag from Balenciaga late last year. Was basically a trash bag, but because it has the label, it cost 100's (1000's? I don't recall). It obviously was not worth the price in materials or workmanship, but because one rich brat wanted to signal that they were so wealthy they could afford to spend money on essentially nothing, it was a hot item in "luxury" circles.

The collective "we" all pay a premium for luxury goods as status - whether it's a Montclair jacket, a Luis Vuitton luggage set, a Mercedes G Wagon, or a Rolex. I am not here to justify this, just point out that market value very much is what we are willing to pay for it. The outrageous prices on the 2nd hand market certainly justify Rolex pushing retail upwards. It's smart business if a person will pay $20k for a used watch, it make sense to raise prices on the new

In my opinion, yes.

If you can buy it from an AD at ten am and sell it for an extra few grand or more at ten thirty am then it will always be a good buy. Doesn’t matter if it’s hype. Hate or don’t hate but how many other brands that a mere mortal could aspire to own (and not even many at that) can you say this about? They are the king if you like them or you don’t. I know a lot of people on the crunch love to tear Rolex down and some even claim they wouldn’t accept a free one but I think deep down in their watch collecting heart, they know they would 🌈

Also I truly beleive there is no way possible you could charge Rolex prices for as LONG as they have if your watches weren’t amazing. Hashtag stop Rolex hate 🌈

At retail Rolex is a solid buy. Rolex isn't the best watch brand. Rolex is the best marketed watch brand. Why we should all be grateful for Rolex marketing is that they have pushed the entire industry to be much better. Would Omega have embraced Coaxial Movements & Metas Certification? Would Grand Seiko pushed Spring Drive technology? Would countless microbrands have evolved to offer "homage" Submariner, OP, Daytona, GMT or Datejust models? My God, look little Tudor got sick of being punked by it's bloated big bro! Go BB58, 54 Pelegos and Ranger! Even brands that don't build pieces remotely close to Rolex style have raised their game to offer something in better quality that stands out against Rolex models: think Cartier and JLC. We owe Rolex so many great watches that I'd much rather spend my money on. For this reason Rolex watches are worth every penny someone spends their money on. Been there. Done that. Kept one for myself. Loving all the other watches I've purchased since the Rolex AD game became to douchie to deal with. Staring at my Longines Spirit 40mm Titanium piece right now knowing Rolex has nothing like it in their lineup. At MSRP the Explorer is a good value. The Longines Spirit Titaniumn is an amazing value: COSC certification, ETA proprietary Longines movement and Grade 5 Titanium. Way to go Longines working hard to swim upstream and get some Rolex marketshare while lazy Rolex buys their ADs and keeps on advertising. Golf clap for Rolex and their unobtainable Titanium YachtMaster: that's ah nap waiting to happen 😴

I honestly don't know if they're overpriced or overhyped as I'm far too poor to own one. However I think you bought at exactly the right time just before they made the sub ugly as hell with the fat lugs from 2008. Nice watch but they cost more than my car.

I paid £7k for my DJ and I don’t regret a penny. So i wouldn’t say overpriced for me. Everyone’s opinion will vary but until you’ve bought and owned one, I don’t think it’s fair to judge.

New Rolex at retail= amazing

New Rolex at anything over retail= stupid

I watched a video on YouTube last night about fake Rolex’s. Taking them apart and comparing to the real deal. My huge takeaway was the shear amount of research, development, innovation and design Rolex do that I never realised. Their inovative and ingenuous engineering solutions and build quality are absolutely worth the price of admission… at retail.

I think the whole Rolex saga is a sad reflection on modern society. The huge amount of people with no passion or appreciation for watches that feel the need for a luxury status symbol to flex with and make them feel that they are better than everyone else or just fit in with their “in crowd”.

One day the market will reach saturation. The Instagram crowd will move on to something else. The scalping quick flip buck makers will loose their margin and move on to the next big thing. Rolex will be returned to us watch geeks… eventually.

After owning 3 of their iconic watches I can honestly say HELL YEAH! over hyped, over priced and most of all over loved by the watch community. There’s better choices out there better priced IMPO !!!

I’ve wanted one since I was a teenager. Over the years, as I’ve researched & more about different brands and styles, I realized that I was more mesmerized by the name Rolex and the social status it represented.

I still think it’s a nice timepiece & is highly desirable, but just not for me.

I really like the Explorer, not because it’s a Rolex, but because it’s so versatile. I still think it’s overpriced, even at retail. The rest of the models I could care less about. The OP looks like a million other watches and the Sub has so many homages it’s almost become cliche.