Rolex Platinum - The Ultimate Profit Margin?

[powerfunk]

Originally Posted by amh

Incredible how over priced it is.

Example, bought a ring for my wife in platinum and it was $500 - the WG version would have been $150. I figured the cost of labor to be the same for both, they were otherwise the same.

Went to upgrade some years later and figured we could "trade it in" for roughly the price difference. Guess what the 'trade in value' was? $50 That was the melt value of the platinum.

Platinum is far harder to work with. Probably why you almost never see platinum bullion smaller than an ounce.

[locutus49]

If the Silver Surfer were made of platinum, he would fall out of the sky.

Originally Posted by powerfunk

Platinum is far harder to work with. Probably why you almost never see platinum bullion smaller than an ounce.

[Tyl3r]

Originally Posted by powerfunk

Platinum is far harder to work with. Probably why you almost never see platinum bullion smaller than an ounce.

http://www.apmex.com/product/67344/1...uisse-in-assay
It exists. Although platinum "is far harder to work with", it is not the reason the platinum Rolex watches or any jewelry are priced significantly higher than gold models. Platinum models are more than 100% more expensive than gold models. The reason any jewelry with platinum verse even 24K gold is more expensive is because of perceived value, not labor.

[powerfunk]

Originally Posted by Tyl3r

http://www.apmex.com/product/67344/1...uisse-in-assay
It exists. Although platinum "is far harder to work with", it is not the reason the platinum Rolex watches or any jewelry are priced significantly higher than gold models. Platinum models are more than 100% more expensive than gold models. The reason any jewelry with platinum verse even 24K gold is more expensive is because of perceived value, not labor.

I wouldn't say it's entirely perceived value. You can get gold grams for about 52. That's a 13 dollar premium just for working it into a gram. Plus you need about 32% more platinum than you need gold in an 18k piece of the same size.

Edit: just saw the volume price there is much closer to gold gram price. Thanks for the link btw.

[Tyl3r]

Originally Posted by powerfunk

I wouldn't say it's entirely perceived value. You can get gold grams for about 52. That's a 13 dollar premium just for working it into a gram. Plus you need about 32% more platinum than you need gold in an 18k piece of the same size.

Do you believe it actually costs PAMP $13 more to produce the platinum 1 gram bar than the gold? There is definitely more value in the raw materials for platinum jewelery than in 18K gold jewelery. However, that doesn't justify the $30K price difference in many Rolex models. I don't believe the members on this forum were willing to pay significantly more for platinum models because of the value of the raw materials and the increased cost of working with it. There is definitely a value of exclusivity.

[tomchicago]

The global precious metals market disagrees! It's saying platinum is worth less than gold. Pretty wild stuff despite all the rhetoric.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[sparky]

they should charge more for stainless, because it's harder than than gold or platinum...........

[locutus49]

All the platinum EVER mined on earth will fit into a room the size of a living room. That is how rare it is. Rarity matters.

Originally Posted by sparky

they should charge more for stainless, because it's harder than than gold or platinum...........

[tomchicago]

But, for some reason, gold is now more expensive than platinum!

Originally Posted by locutus49

All the platinum EVER mined on earth will fit into a room the size of a living room. That is how rare it is. Rarity matters.

[tkerrmd]

I bought this Platinum watch and here is the real deal, to ME it is worth every penny I spent, just sayn. people will say it was a waste of money etc, but it isn't because to me I feel it was worth it for the pleasure I get from it and it will stay in my family and last a long long time. so really doesn't matter what platinum cost vs gold cost blah blah blah

it comes down to does an individual feel it is "worth it" or not

those that do pay those that don't don't.

[toneafficianado]

Originally Posted by HL65

Doesn't matter fact is there is MUCH less supply of platinum in the world than gold. It is a far rarer metal and much harder to work with thus much higher price for platinum va gold watches for every brand not just Rolex. Also much more expensive jewelry i. e rings, bracelets, etc. for same reason. Read article in link and you will understand why: http://www.gold-eagle.com/article/pl...rich-mans-gold

Fascinating article! Makes me want a Platona even more.

[MitchSteel]

If I had a choice between WG and PT, it's PT hands down.

Is it worth the money? Well, that's up to the buyer to determine.But guess what, Rolex makes a number of watches in Platinum, and they sell every single one of them.......so I guess,PT is worth it.

It's about exclusivity.I bought a RoseGold DayDate, because they're quite rare, not because it matches my eye colour
Platinum, same thing, only waaaaay cooler.If I had the coin, it'd be PT.

[locutus49]

Mitch, off topic, but I love your screen photo. I'm a vintage sci-fi fan.

Originally Posted by MitchSteel

If I had a choice between WG and PT, it's PT hands down.

Is it worth the money? Well, that's up to the buyer to determine.But guess what, Rolex makes a number of watches in Platinum, and they sell every single one of them.......so I guess,PT is worth it.

It's about exclusivity.I bought a RoseGold DayDate, because they're quite rare, not because it matches my eye colour
Platinum, same thing, only waaaaay cooler.If I had the coin, it'd be PT.

[el1125]

Originally Posted by tkerrmd

I bought this Platinum watch and here is the real deal, to ME it is worth every penny I spent, just sayn. people will say it was a waste of money etc, but it isn't because to me I feel it was worth it for the pleasure I get from it and it will stay in my family and last a long long time. so really doesn't matter what platinum cost vs gold cost blah blah blah

it comes down to does an individual feel it is "worth it" or not

those that do pay those that don't don't.

Without a doubt.

[707soldier]

Platinum=yummy

[4srolex]

If Platnuim is the ultimate metal for jewelry whether it be a ring or a watch, I think a used Yachtmater would be on everyone's list because they are so undervalued used. Yet, the YM does not get that much respect with watch afficandos and a normal person would just see it as a Rolex watch. Used YM<$6k. I just don't get it.

[engin33r]

Originally Posted by tkerrmd

I bought this Platinum watch and here is the real deal, to ME it is worth every penny I spent, just sayn. people will say it was a waste of money etc, but it isn't because to me I feel it was worth it for the pleasure I get from it and it will stay in my family and last a long long time. so really doesn't matter what platinum cost vs gold cost blah blah blah

it comes down to does an individual feel it is "worth it" or not

those that do pay those that don't don't.

Well said Tom, and could you please stop posting your platona... it's making me drool all the time..

Back to the topic, in fact I think the ultimate profit margin for Rolex is their SS models. If you take into account the actual costs of raw material, production costs, vs the sales volume - Rolex sold much much more SS or TT models than PM models. In short Rolex is making the most money by selling SS/TT models compared to all PM models altogether.

Some ppl would say but platinum bars is cheaper than gold (only very very slightly and even then I think platinum price will rebound much higher with small nudge in the demand side). That doesn't alter the fact that platinum is rarer than gold. CMIIW, platinum production is probably less than one tenth than gold.

Finally and most importantly, Rolex uses much more platinum than gold in the same model. Platinum rolex is of 95% purity, whereas gold is 75%. Furthermore, platinum is much denser than gold. Let's say a gold daytona weighs about 200grm as opposed to 280gr for platinum. That's 40% more weight. So raw material alone, you need... 40% more platinum that is 20% more pure than gold to make the same watch. Considering movement + crystal weight is about 50grm (cmiiw) you will need 230gr of 95% platinum = 218 gr of pure platinum. As opposed to 150gr of 75% gold = 112 gr of pure gold. As you can see it takes almost twice the amount of platinum to make one watch than gold. And fittingly the price of Platinum rolex is about twice than that of gold.

[engin33r]

Originally Posted by 4srolex

If Platnuim is the ultimate metal for jewelry whether it be a ring or a watch, I think a used Yachtmater would be on everyone's list because they are so undervalued used. Yet, the YM does not get that much respect with watch afficandos and a normal person would just see it as a Rolex watch. Used YM<$6k. I just don't get it.

The platinum part is only the bezel, which is like 10grms or less. Sub-C also has platinum fillings for bezel markers (cmiiw) - so it's about the same.

The attraction for platinum rolex is (for me) mainly the weight. Secondly, it has different shine than wg or ss. Third it flies under the radar, only fellow watch / Rolex enthusiasts would recognize it.