What is the Longest You’ve Waited for “The Call?”

N/A

If a "call" was involved then I wasn't.

Are you just against waiting for watches as a principle?

If only more luxury watch customers thought the same way.

I waited 16 years for my now wife to agree to marry me.  That was a call worth waiting for, thank goodness.

But, otherwise, at this point in my life, I refuse to wait for anything - mostly because I'm old, and I don't have much time left on this earth.  Given that, if I want something, I'll pay whatever the market price is for that thing, rather than wait to try to get that thing at a lower MSRP.  

9 months for a Rolex Explorer. Love the watch. Not sure I’d ever get another new (non vintage) Rolex again after the process. Not transparent. Condescending. Frustrating. And not a luxury experience compared to buying an Omega or many other watches that are of comparable quality. 

It could be that the negative experience was based on your salesperson/AD.  My AD shoots me straight and gives me realistic expectations.

On the waitlist for this now. Having just bought a speedy I’m in no rush for the call though 😅 

Also feel as though I’ll be done after that so I’ll savor this moment 

Why do you think that waiting for something you want is a bad thing?

Or me👍

Ive been waiting 12 months for a watch (so far - its due next month) BUT that's waiting for a craftsman to make my watch, that I specced and is being made for my order.  It has been delayed because the finishing on the hands wasn't at the standard the company was happy with and new hands had to be made, blued etc.  At every step of the the way the company has kept me informed of progress and made it clear that I matter to them.

I will wait for that.

But put my name on a list for a mass-produced item awaiting an AD to deem me worthy? Lifes too short for that crap.

What brand is the watch you’re waiting on?

dornbluth and sohn

About 5 months for the Serica 5303 as I ordered it and just missed the first batch.

I refuse to participate willingly in Rolex waiting games especially if a timeframe can't even be set. I generally tell friends not to 'feed the beast' also if they can help it. 

Personally, I'd rather get joy from other brands, or discovering something new. Just like @Omeganut , life is too short. Best to enjoy what you can afford. 

Your mileage will probably vary.

I don't mind waiting for a watch to be delivered once it ships. I do mind buying a watch a watch that doesn't yet exist (kickstarter/preorders) or that the seller doesn't even have in stock yet (Jomashop) and waiting  in that manner.

45 years so far.  I don't know what my grail watch would even be, so there's not much chance that I'll get it anytime soon.  Sometimes I see things and buy them, other times I don't.  

That said, to each their own, and if you get pleasure from the journey, that's great!

Longest wait was 2.5 months for a Tudor Black Bay 58, unfortunately followed by another 5 weeks for the watch to be shipped back to Switzerland workshops, as the time keeping was well off COSC standards.

Now works like a charm.

I don’t know how I knew, but I knew that’s what you were going to say…they make excellent watches, I’m sure it will be worth the wait!

Whoa!!!  You win the Internets today, sir!

Can't wait to see photos and your review when that comes in!!!

14 months for a explorer. got a totally unexpected call last wednesday from the AD. “Are you still interested?” Yes, of course! Great, there is a watch coming in the next days for you. I will pick up my explorer in two weeks.

As much as I appreciated the AD from other brands, the availability of my other recently purchased watches, hate the whole rolex waiting list situation and will probably never buy another rolex in my life, I have to admit that “the call” gave me a rush of adrenaline and a smile on my face for the entire day. I wasn’t expecting to get an explorer now, and having already other grail watches from other brands, I was not in a hurry. I would advice to just be patient, put your name on a waiting list and consider the purchase of a rolex as an option and look for other brands as there are so many good watches out there.

Put my name down on the Rolex GMT pepsi the day it was released & got the call last week! So nearly 4 years. 

About 3 months for a blue Tudor Black Bay 58.  Currently, I am waiting for a Rolex Datejust which I will decide whether to purchase later if I get the call.  If I got the call today, I would buy it but who knows if I will feel the same way later. Other watches under consideration are the Speedmaster SS and a Grand Seiko, which can be found at MSRP fairly easily. It's a supply and demand issue and not just a Rolex phenomenon.  For example, try to buy a Halios, which is a sub $1,000 watch with Sellita movement-cool watches that sell out quickly. Same with Porsche and other highly engineered, quality items. I don't mind waiting for that. There's a reason why there's a wait-list and it's up to us to decide if we want our own names on it or not.

Because it's a consumer product I paid for like everything else. I wanna hunt down the house I wanna live in, pay for it, and move in. Research the car I want, pay for it, drive it. I don't feel the need to be jerked around by some hoity toity company that thinks their gonna reeducate me on the basics of capitalism. It's a watch, not an invitation to Mt. Olympus. You're not gonna convince me that rawleks actually makes anything better than it's competitors.

They wanna sell you desirability. They wanna sell you luxury. They wanna sell you all their ideas of grandeur. But what do you get at the end? A watch. And face the facts, it's no more special than the next overpriced over hyped piece of metal jewelry one could buy without being cuckolded. You may want to swallow their lies, but don't try to tell me to do the same.

I'll wait for shipping, I'll wait for lead times, but they're not gonna tell me to wait on their privileged wait-list because they want to play their games with grey market dealers in the back alley.

Last summer, Tudor opened a boutique in New York (at the time the first and only in the United States). I stopped in to see if I could have a look at the boutique only Black Bay 58 bronze. Not surprisingly, I couldn't. I put down my name (to look, not to buy), not thinking that anything would come of it. To my shock and surprise, I got "the call" two weeks later. I could have bought it, but I had just bought an expensive watch, so I wasn't ready. And I wanted to see the BB58 silver too, so I put myself down again, but I haven't heard from them since. I wonder what the wait would be if I put got on a list to buy it now?

I have been on waitlists for two watches: Rolex BLNR in 2018 and 31mm Candy Pink Rolex Oyster Perpetual in 2021. The BLNR was about a 5 month wait, as a new customer to the AD in the UK. For the OP it was with the same AD, but a different branch (as I had moved cities, but I was treated as an existing customer which was nice), and that was about a 7 month wait. 

Still waiting ⏰⏱🕚🕐