Rolex Authorised Dealership - How Many?

[Greg 59]

Can anybody throw some light on how many AD's there are around the world. I'd really be very interested in knowing.
If the figure can be broken down into regions that would be even better.
Cheers.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[Old Expat Beast]

There were more than 60 in Hong Kong last time I checked a few months ago.

[PepsiBezel]

You can just count those listed on Rolex.com... 1834 ADs worldwide, and 378 in the US.

(Thanks, @JaguarShark)

[Quamby]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

There were more than 60 in Hong Kong last time I checked a few months ago.

I can count three Chow Tai Fook's (two in Causeway Bay, one on Nathan Rd Mongkok), two Chow Sang Sang, and one independent AD also on Nathan Rd Mongkok, that are no longer AD's in the past 6 months.

The impressively decorated Dickson-owned Rolex AD at the air-side of HK airport is still in operation. Chanel must have pulled out of the deal in the last minute.

[Greg 59]

Okay. Well the reason for asking is that there should be some sort of correlation between the number of AD's and the number of watches manufactured annually that would give an insight into how many watches each AD is receiving compared with how many they allege to get. We are hearing about display cabinets being empty but that doesn't tell the whole story.
If there are approximately 2000 dealers receiving nearly 1 million watches annually that's an average of 10 watches each week they are getting. Now I realise some dealers will get more, others less but even so, I don't believe those empty cabinets need to be as empty as they are. It's just one big game these days and everyone is playing their part.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[Crazy Lugs]

Originally Posted by Greg 59

Okay. Well the reason for asking is that there should be some sort of correlation between the number of AD's and the number of watches manufactured annually that would give an insight into how many watches each AD is receiving compared with how many they allege to get. We are hearing about display cabinets being empty but that doesn't tell the whole story.
If there are approximately 2000 dealers receiving nearly 1 million watches annually that's an average of 10 watches each week they are getting. Now I realise some dealers will get more, others less but even so, I don't believe those empty cabinets need to be as empty as they are. It's just one big game these days and everyone is playing their part.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

There’s no actual evidence Rolex is producing one million watches a years. It’s an often quoted figure, but many seem to agree it’s a lower amount.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by Greg 59

I don't believe those empty cabinets need to be as empty as they are. It's just one big game these days and everyone is playing their part.

So you want to tell a dealer how to run their business?

[Zakalwe]

Originally Posted by Crazy Lugs

There’s no actual evidence Rolex is producing one million watches a years. It’s an often quoted figure, but many seem to agree it’s a lower amount.

I think when people quote a million it’s a bit of Chinese Whispers like you say but also a bit of rounding for the sake of convenience.

The actual number, as of 2015 is 800k watches (well, movements technically). This figure is known because COSC used to publish how many chronometer certificates they issued per brand. For some reason they stopped publishing this information, but the latest available figures are here:

https://www.cosc.swiss/sites/default...t/RANN2015.pdf

[ArtNouveau]

Dealers are not created equal. Mine claims to have the third highest sales in the US and they're getting plenty of watches. Many of those are presold though so the cases are pretty spartan. Just this week I dropped into another local non-chain dealer, he said his sales are up 20% this year.
If a dealer tells you they're not getting any inventory that mostly means you're not getting one from them.

[Greg 59]

Originally Posted by beshannon

So you want to tell a dealer how to run their business?

I'm not entirely sure what I might have said to prompt that response. I'm just trying to get my head around all these daily comments about dealers saying that they have no stock.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[notchview]

I've asked a few AD's about this topic and learned a few things:

- Rolex has stated to several AD's that they prefer to work with "family-owned" AD's vs. corporate ones over the long-term because they find that the service level is better.
- Rolex is actively trimming the number of AD's globally. In Houston where I live, the number of AD's has gone from 8 to 5 over the past few years.

Overall, Rolex is pursuing a similar strategy to Patek - this Hodinkee article does a great job articulating this strategy: https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/th...tches-nautilus

From the article in regard to the Patek's AD strategy:

"Asked about the jarring sight of empty Patek Philippe cases in dealers' stores (because every steel watch is pre-sold, deliveries don't make it to the showcases), Stern says he is troubled by it. "That's not good, that's for sure."

It's one of the reasons he recently trimmed Patek Philippe's dealer network by about a third. "I could not supply enough, and I had no choice. I didn't want to increase the production. The only thing I could do was to decrease the number of retailers, so that the others could have enough stock." In the U.S., the dealer network shrank from 160 ADs to around 100."

[Vivalas]

Rolex are clearly reducing AD’s in different ways. Retiring AD’s looking to sell their business with a Rolex AD are losing out as Rolex use this as an opportunity to remove the agency. In the U.K. they are reducing ones in towns and in cities are looking at boutiques. I wouldn’t be surprised if worldwide 10% or more go over a couple of years.

[Luap1976]

Originally Posted by Greg 59

Can anybody throw some light on how many AD's there are around the world. I'd really be very interested in knowing.
If the figure can be broken down into regions that would be even better.
Cheers.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Well I've been to around 70 in uk trying to get on lists

[RJRJRJ]

Originally Posted by HarryFlashman

You can just count those listed on Rolex.com... 1834 ADs worldwide, and 378 in the US.

(Thanks, @JaguarShark)

That's interesting if it's current info. I counted them a couple of years ago and it was around 500 IIRC. That would mean that they are cutting ADs even faster than I thought.

Originally Posted by Zakalwe

I think when people quote a million it’s a bit of Chinese Whispers like you say but also a bit of rounding for the sake of convenience.

The actual number, as of 2015 is 800k watches (well, movements technically). This figure is known because COSC used to publish how many chronometer certificates they issued per brand. For some reason they stopped publishing this information, but the latest available figures are here:

https://www.cosc.swiss/sites/default...t/RANN2015.pdf

Their clients lobbied for them to stop publishing the numbers, which I basically read as Rolex forcing them to stop.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by Crazy Lugs

There’s no actual evidence Rolex is producing one million watches a years. It’s an often quoted figure, but many seem to agree it’s a lower amount.

when CSOC still released certifications by brand it was close to a million. Rolex certify all their watches not just some like other brands.

therefore you could deduce a lot. Unless they were certifying watches and throwing them away. if you had 800k or 900k watches certified every year, where are they going then if thats not pretty close to a yearly production figure?

i tend to think production is higher or static in the few years since brand specific certifications stopped being released. Not down as demand was nowhere near where it is now and the shortage would be even worse with lower volume.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by HarryFlashman

You can just count those listed on Rolex.com... 1834 ADs worldwide, and 378 in the US.

(Thanks, @JaguarShark)

That actually doesn’t sound like all that many, but they have been cutting back I suppose.

[42itus]

Originally Posted by Greg 59

I'm not entirely sure what I might have said to prompt that response. I'm just trying to get my head around all these daily comments about dealers saying that they have no stock.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Just my opinion, but I think that when they say they have no stock, I think they mean that they have nothing available. Not having something and not being available for sale are different things. My guy (if you want to believe what some ADs say) tells me that they get lists of what is coming in the week's shipment and at that point it's a free for all for anything that isn't in high demand. SS models will be decided by the manager who is allowed to purchase it. Apparently demand is so high that the only thing that will make it to the case will be lady DJ, TT DJ, etc...