A tale of four Rolex AD's, over three countries.

[Eric-London]

I was in Amsterdam last week, popped into Gassons, very large AD selling most high end brands. Zero steel professional models, zero TT or precious metal pro models in fact.

Very nice friendly bunch over there.

Ended up buying my first Panerai in some 4-5 years. A nice Mare Nostrum 42mm SE.

Wanted to pay market price, not retail so asked for a big discount and got one. Happy with my purchase. Got my watch fix on the cheap lol



The size is not too dissimilar to a GMT, as seen here in my hotel room pic.
Very wearable chrono.



Same story at Gassons Rolex boutique at Schiphol airport. Lovely Asian lady was the manager there. She said their deliveries of Rolex professional models were very scarce and patchy. Rolex just not delivering.

Heathrow terminal 3. Same story at Watches of Switzerland where i know the manager. Zilch, nothing, nada.

Next up, Hamiltons Gardens Mall branch in West Palm beach.
The only professional model they had was the full gold root beer. Since I walked in wearing one, I didn't see the need for another.

I've been down for a 5711/12 at Hamiltons for around 18 months and since I've bought a few pieces in the past apparently I'm fairly high up on the list whatever that means. Turns out it means nothing since they've not had one Nautilus delivered in the last 9-10 months apparently.

Rolex, Patek and now AP with steel Royal Oaks are all playing the same game