Interesting system at Japanese dept store Rolex

[JonaG]

Out of the current GMT line-up, I prefer the BLNR, it really stands out in the evolution of the GMT. Now how to get one I wonder. There are dozens of them in the greys of Nakano all for around 13k - not a price I would pay.

I could try the AD route. I have no history with an AD in Japan or anywhere for that matter. But I recall my mother-in-law is a 'special customer' at one of the department stores here. There is an employee who deals with many of her transactions and stuff at the store. They also are a Rolex AD and service centre. This particular person helped me to get a credit card in Japan, which a decade ago was quite tricky for a foreigner. That store had refused my first application, then he stepped in and there it was, in the post.

I asked my mother-in-law if she could contact him and find out about a BLNR. She called him right there and he said it's a popular piece so the ones that come in go to special customers. They basically draw names from a hat...a "kuji" as the Japanese would say. A common practice here, my apartment guest room uses the same system when more than one resident wants it on the same dates. He said it all depends how many other special customers want it. He reckoned it shouldn't be too long as that store has priority and quite a few models come in.

I think it's a good system for a new person on the list, but I guess if you have been waiting around a couple of years and your chances are the same each time it must get frustrating. We'll see, I'll give a few months