New from Toronto, Canada! Bought my first Rolex!

[Kris]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum.

I was directed here by one of your member after a visit to their web-page and a couple email exchanges.

I've been aware of the ROLEX brand since I was 6 years old. I remember in grade 1 a fellow classmate came back from a trip to NYC and his parents bought him a Rolex knockoff. I think, back then there was only 1 main Rolex knock-off and the name "Rolex" on the dial was actually spelt "ROLlEX". Hilarious. It didn't last him long though. Looking back now I believe the watch braclet was held by pins and they snapped by weeks end and that was the end of his watch.

In September of 2006, I started making plans to purchase my first authentic Rolex. I knew that in purchasing a Rolex, CASH would be KING! If I wanted a good discount, I'd have to pay using cash. I found out later that VISA will charge the AD up to 4% of the final sale price in some cases. I'd rather some of that 4% come back to me in the form of a discount and that the other few percent going to the AD's as an incentive to give me a better deal.

My yearend bonus was coming up in December, so I planned on buying my first Rolex in the New Year.

The first thing I did was contact Rolex Canada (which lucky for me is in Toronto also) and had them send me a catalog with the pricing list. I received the catalog within a couple days and was really impressed! This is one fine catalog! Thick with beautiful glossy pictures of their top sellers.

As I went through the catalog and matched price with picture, I came to a decision of how much I wanted to spend. I was looking at the $6000-$6500 MSRP range in the catalog. The models I was looking at were the Explorer II, the GMT Master II, and of course the Submariner. All within what I could easily afford to pay out in cash. At the time I had settled on the GMT Master II with the black-red dial. As the Christmas season was approaching, I figured it'd be too late to buy in November (much less December) and expect to get a good discount, so I decided to start looking in January.

2 weeks ago I started going to some of the local Downtown Toronto Rolex Dealers. There are 3 of them within 15km of each other, 2 of which are no more than 100 yards from each other in a posh neighbourhood. I walked into the first AD "RDV" and talked to the lady there for an hour about the styles I liked. First was the Explorer II. Once I found out that the bezel could not be rotated, I lost interest in the watch immediately. Next was the GMT Master II in red-black. This one I liked. It looked better in person than in the catalog. She was all out of Submariners with the cyclop-date. She told me that the Christmas season was fantastic for the 16610 and she could keep enough of these things in stock. The next shipment from Geneva wasn't expected until February 5th! She only had the 14060M in stock. She had 2 SD's which I didn't look at. I only looked at them through the display case. She did have one 50th Anniversary Submariner LV. It looked awesome! The 16610 LV would officially be my first Rolex I ever tried on. I then tried on the GMT, and for kicks, tried on a Daytona with the gold center links.

I then asked her for a pricing breakdown for each of these watches. Their MSRP matched those inside the catalog on all the watches. She asked if I was buying today. I told her maybe. On the 16710, and the 16610 she said she could give me a 19% discount off the price, however, on the 16610 LV as it was a "special" watch, she couldn't give me anything! As a stalling tactic, I gave her my business card and asked her to call me when the 16610 came in and I'd make my decision then.

I called another AD in Etobicoke (suburb of Toronto) and asked if they had either the 16610 or the 16710 in stock. They had both, however, did not want to discuss price over the phone. I told the AD that I've been offered 19% by another and if they couldn't beat that, I'd be wasting my time coming in. The AD said he'd give me 21% if I paid by cash.

Last Thursday I walked into a watch store selling the likes of TAG, Tissot, ESQ, Omega, etc etc. I asked myself that if I didn't get a Rolex, what would be the next brand that I'd be interested in. I decided to check out the Omega's. I talked to the AD about the Omega line. They had a very good selection, however, I didn't like any of the styles. I wanted an automatic watch and in his display-case there were only 5 or 6 Omega's that were automatic. I was impressed by none of them. I saw the "007 Bond" watch also. The price tag on that watch was $5282 CAD. All the other's I looked at were priced between $3600-$4200. I walked out unimpressed. I was now determined more than ever to get a Rolex!

Last Sunday night I decided to make Monday my "cash-deposit" day on the GMT Master II at the first AD I went to. At the last minute, I decided to go on-line and do a search of Rolex collectors to see differing opinions on the Rolex line. Boy was I surprised with what I read. After reading JHII Rolex Reference page, I made a split second decision to inquire about the SD 16600!!!

Monday morning I withdrew $500 during my coffee break and headed up to the first AD I visited, however, before visiting that store, I made a last second detour to another AD 100 yards down the sidewalk. It was a small little store. So small, they didn't have much of a selection of Rolex's. I asked about the SD. They said they could get it in by the next morning and would give me 21% if I paid cash on it. I took her business card and headed over to my first AD. The AD was very happy to see me. I told her I wanted to look at the SD as I didn't get a chance to see it the last time I was in. She pulled it out of the diplay and I tried it on. The feel of the weight of the watch was incredible!!!!! Is was nice and heavy and bulky (What I'd thought a Rolex should feel like). Everything about the watch was a bonus. It beat the 16610 hands-down in every single catagory including that fact it didn't have the cyclop. I found the cyclop to be a bit of a distraction on the GMT II and figured likewise on the Submariner. It was at that point I told her I wanted the SD. I asked her what could she give me as a discount. She surprised me when she said only 14% on this model! I told her that the AD down the street offered up 21% on cash and that if she could match that, I had $500 cash on me that I'd offer up as a deposit right that minute if she'd give me the 21%. She went to ask the owner and quickly came back and told me it was a done deal. I came in the next afternoon and gave a bankdraft for the balance of the watch.

In all, I paid $5800 CAD cash ALL-IN (including taxes). To my new American friends, on an exchange rate of $1.15 CAD for $1.00 USD, that means I bought the SD 16600 for $5,043 USD.

I love the watch! No buyer's remorse here! I'm just glad I read JHII Rolex reference page before I slapped my money down on that GMT II. Being that this watch is pretty much "air-tight" it being good for 4000ft, I know this watch will outlast even me!

I showed the watch to friends and collegues at work. They congradulated me as if I just had a baby or something! One of the collegues I go for coffee breaks with always smiles at me when he sees me and his eyes always drop to my wrist. When I first brought it in Tuesday after picking it up, I let him hold the watch. He was amazed at the weight of the watch. I had to tell him twice to hand it back to me! The bugger wouldn't let it go!

I've got more to tell about my adventures getting this watch, but that's for another day.