What do the general public think a Rolex cost?

[The moose]

First of all. Sorry for a long story but I want to share some recent experiences that I have had. Can't find any better place then here to share it...so bare with me....

I recently came across an interesting encounter. Our CEO's assistant approached me at work.
She somehow knew that I was the "go to guy" if you are interested in purchasing a Swiss high end watch.
Anyway her boyfriend was interested in getting a Tag Heuer, I told her that I highly recommend a Rolex watch over Omega and Tag. Her response was "-Oohh, but Rolex is soooo expensive...don't they cost 80000 kronor (about 11500 usd).
I was stunned by her response, she is a pretty refined lady in her thirties, she must know that Rolex has several models in different price ranges, not to mention the used market.

Fast forward a couple of weeks. Me and my buddy was out drinking and my friend started talking to a bunch of girls in their twenties. I am married myself and 38 years old so I didn't have any interest in them, besides that I wanted to know what they think a Rolex costs. I decided to bluntly just ask them.
They all responded the same amount as the CEO's assistant thought a Rolex costs!
Lastly I decided to ask my wife, who is colored by me going on about ref.number, bezels, dials etc., what she thought a Rolex costed prior to meeting me? She said 80-90000 kronor which is even more then what the other girls said.
I asked her why? She said, that's what you see when you look at a Rolex watch that is being displayed at an AD.
They always put the expensive ones up front.

Here at the forum we know in detail what a Rolex costs. We know that there are different models and different prices...

What do you think the general public think about Rolex prices? Is this just coincidences that I have encountered or has Rolex really made such an major impact on peoples understanding on how exclusive and expensive a Rolex is?

Have you guys discussed this matter with people that are clueless about watches?

In my opinion, a quite interesting subject...

(Sorry for any bad grammar in this post :) ) I am Austrian-swede...

[iWally]

$50,000! hahah :D - im not even joking! :O

[RolexPrince]

I definitely agree that the stigma with Rolex is that they are REALLY expensive. Before I started becoming a watch aficionado I thought that the general price for a Rolex would start somewhere around $8000 USD. It's an interesting question for sure, and I'd like to see more takes on it.

[samson66]

Originally Posted by RolexPrince

I definitely agree that the stigma with Rolex is that they are REALLY expensive.

Well to most people, the idea of spending $5,000+ for a watch made of steel is REALLY expensive. My step-father, who owns one of those gold coin, solid gold watches, things I'm insane to spend what I did on a steel watch.

Now I think his watch is gawdy as hell and most likely isn't worth more than the value of the gold it's made out of, but he does have a point. Rolex watches cost what they do because WE are willing to pay that price - not because they are really "worth" that much in terms of materials or cost to build

[CWIN]

Rolex spends a lot on advertising so I'm not surprised some people would think that they are priced extremely high. It's all relative though. To some a $8000 watch isn't much but to many that's an insane amount to spend on a wrist watch. Anyways, in my personal experience, 99% of people don't even care or notice what kind of watch you're wearing. It would be my guess though that most would consider Rolex being one of the most expensive.

[kilyung]

Ha! When I think Rolex, my mind is automatically in the USD$22k+ range. Granted, I'm addicted to gold.

[AK797]

Originally Posted by kilyung

Ha! When I think Rolex, my mind is automatically in the USD$22k+ range. Granted, I'm addicted to gold.

Yup and good value compared to gold AP and PPs.

[thomaspp]

Originally Posted by AK797

Yup and good value compared to gold AP and PPs.

Agreed - rolex offers great value in general as compared to many other brands.

[Micha]

Originally Posted by kilyung

Ha! When I think Rolex, my mind is automatically in the USD$22k+ range. Granted, I'm addicted to gold.

[theloxmyth]

My buddy asked and said, "$500?"

[threemonkeys]

Originally Posted by kilyung

Ha! When I think Rolex, my mind is automatically in the USD$22k+ range. Granted, I'm addicted to gold.

Ignore Mike. He's not, shall we say, 'right'?

I can't think of a specific price point. But most people are clueless about Rolex. I think they would be surprised that many people could eventually save and afford Rolex if they chose to. But often they see more value in a new car or a vacation.

[this guy]

Originally Posted by threemonkeys

Ignore Mike. He's not, shall we say, 'right'?

I can't think of a specific price point. But most people are clueless about Rolex. I think they would be surprised that many people could eventually save and afford Rolex if they chose to. But often they see more value in a new car or a vacation.

This^.

One of my coworkers saw my 114060, said, "Oh is that a Rolex?"

"Yeah"

"Man, there's no way I'd spend that much on a watch."

As he goes on about the jet skis and fishing boat he just dropped 20k on, which will sit at the dock 8 months out of the year, and require more expensive and more frequent maintenence

[bayerische]

Over here most people seem to think a sub is a "couple of thousand".

Wish it was so.

[tkerrmd]

honestly they were pretty good guesses.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by tkerrmd

honestly they were pretty good guesses.

I think so too.

Honestly most people here think a Rolex is a few thousand euro. And 99,9% of those think 2000 euro is too much to spend on a watch.

[RTea]

I think the general public thinks it costs a few thousand dollars or a little more since for most people, anything near or over $500 for a watch is pretty ludicrous.

I've lied to people when asked what my watch costs since I don't like answering these kinds of questions. I always tell them an amount of roughly half what my watch really costs and was never questioned.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by RTea

I think the general public thinks it costs a few thousand dollars or a little more since for most people, anything near or over $500 for a watch is pretty ludicrous.

I've lied to people when asked what my watch costs since I don't like answering these kinds of questions. I always tell them an amount of roughly half what my watch really costs and was never questioned.

Aha!

So that's where the delirium comes from!

If someone asks what my Rolex's cost, I normally tell them (usually it's employees of mine) if they ask what my AP's cost, I always reply "money". I'm sure they wouldn't understand, and I'm sure a pay rise would be next on their mind.

[RTea]

Originally Posted by bayerische

Aha!

So that's where the delirium comes from!

If someone asks what my Rolex's cost, I normally tell them (usually it's employees of mine) if they ask what my AP's cost, I always reply "money". I'm sure they wouldn't understand, and I'm sure a pay rise would be next on their mind.

Haha nicely answered on the AP front. So I guess we're making things full circle, the public thinks Rolexes don't cost as much as they do because Rolex owners never say how much they really cost

[rainbowmax]

Who cares?

[FTX I]

Originally Posted by rainbowmax

Who cares?

The OP.

[Davey11]

Originally Posted by rainbowmax

Who cares?

Well said

[fullcourt]

Originally Posted by rainbowmax

Who cares?

^^^^this

[The moose]

What stunned me the most was that the girls being asked had no understanding what so ever that Rolex had a huge used marked with prices from about a grand and upwards...they were just focused on Rolex being crazy high end with prices at 11500 and above.
When I told the CEO's assistant her boyfriend could get a nice Rolex Datejust with WG bezel for 2500 usd she was shocked...

[crowncollection]

A few grand IMHO

[CCI24]

Ha! This thread is hilarious.

I'm the only one out of my group of friends with a Rolex and they all think it costs an arm and a leg.

Before I got into watches I never thought I could afford a Rolex till I was in my 30s then I got my first job as a developer and started making good money then I stumbled into the grey market and man was that the best day of my life my dream was attainable before I turned 25. I owe this forum for the guidance.

[AAP8]

Most of my co-workers think my SS Sub costs "over $500" and the gold one "over $1,000"

[HickoryStick]

Before I actually started looking into them a year ago, I never even wondered exactly how much they cost...I just figured they were too expensive for me to even consider. Similar to the way that I don't know how much a Rolls Royce costs...it doesn't matter because I'll never be able to afford one anyway.

Then one day, I saw a co-worker wearing a sub date and thought if he could afford one, then maybe it wasn't so far out of reach for me.

[jhcam8]

A year or so ago, a buddy of mine expressed interest in a two tone sub - he currently wears a cheap quartz that he calls a Rolex knock-off, but it's far from that. The only resemblance is that it's has two colors of metal and a blue dial.

So, we went to an AD and he embarrassed himself by babbling about raiding his 401k when he was quoted a price of around 10k.

I finally dragged him away and told him about some good resellers here but he's nervous about authenticity.

This is a guy who drives a Mercedes E class and his wife also has a Mercedes and he has a new truck, boat, etc etc. So, no piker or cheapskate for some things - but watches?

To him, a grand or so would be an extravagant watch purchase - like most people.

[tedscott3]

Interesting. I would have guessed that people thought they cost less than they did. To most people $1,000 watch is extravagant. A $10,000 watch is just downright crazy. I would guess people thought about in the $3-5,000 range.

[Syed117]

I've had this conversation a few times. Wildly different thoughts that are all over the place.

Most recently was with my cousin who is thinking of getting a nice watch. I recommended a Rolex and he immediately said he didn't want to spend more than 10k on a watch. Not sure why he thought all Rolexes were over 10k.

Most other I've spoken to about watches tend to think they are extremely expensive and only the super rich can afford them. This is obviously not the case, but people have their misconceptions for whatever reason.

As far as the general public goes. Most don't know and don't care. They probably know the name because it's Rolex, the most heavily marketed watch brand in the world. Put a Rolex next to any truly high end brand and the average person will almost always assume the Rolex is more expensive because they've never heard of other brands.