The evolution of Rolex’s idolatry.

[rkny]

As I peruse this board and other boards/sites, it’s fascinating to me to see what Rolex has become.

As a kid in the 1970s, I grew up pouring over magazines, instead of reading the web. Their pages were rife with Rolex ads, selling not just a watch, but the idea of a jetting setting, mountain climbing, scuba diving lifestyle. I paid attention!

(Side note. My first “Rolex” was a fake gold Datejust, purchased for $35 during an 11th grade school field trip to NYC. I was so dumb and naive that I briefly wondered if it was real and perhaps stolen. It turned my wrist green.)

In the ‘80s I moved to New York and got into the watch dealer/collector scene. Back then, everything was about vintage American watches. Hamilton was king. Elgin, Illinois, Waltham. If you had a Howard pocket watch, you were a true playa.

There was a brief Rolex Bubbleback bubble from around 1990-95 as I recall.

This went on into the mid ‘90s, until people started noticing that the Italians and Japanese were curiously and furiously, buying up all the vintage sport Rolex. Giorgio Armani insisted that every one of his runway models wear a steel Rolex down the catwalk.

Suddenly, vintage sport Rolex was a hot commodity. Bolstering the interest was this new internet thing, with easily sharable photos and lore, of icons like Steve McQueen, Robert Redford, Jacques Cousteau and Sean Connery, all sporting steel sport Rolexes, in front of, and behind the camera.

Between the magazine ads we’d been programmed with as kids, FOMO from Italy and Japan, and the lanes forming on the information superhighway, the fever for vintage sport Rolex in America, and online globally, was born.

There are no doubt more granular moments and key players than I’m privy to, and those with infinitely more knowledge as to the ingredients that helped cook up the post-millennium sport Rolex feeding frenzy.

But as a casual observer, in the early oughts, I started noticing a shift, not only in which watches people were buying, but who was buying them, and why.

When I first started collecting/buying/selling, a jewel encrusted gold anything watch took a major back seat to the steel staples; the Sub/SD, the 1655 Explorer, the Milgauss, and the 1016 Explorer. All the Daytonas were already overseas.

No one cared about Presidents beyond their pennyweight. A bombe Datejust? That was so 1997! An Oyster Perpetual? Aww, how adorable, your first Rolex!

And certainly no one could care less about your new sapphire crystal Rolex, purchased at list. Authorized dealers were lousy with them. Gray market dealers gladly sold them for 10% off list. Posting every detail of the purchase of your brand new 14060? Unheard of.

I distinctly remember a watch show in the World Trade Center in 2000. There was a buzz on the floor because one dealer had a new old stock 1655 Explorer II, box and papers. The other dealers were all laughing because this guy wanted $6000 for it.

Now of course, everything’s changed. A 1680 Sub that traded at $1800 in 2000 is now $18000, easily surpassing inflation. The pool of people who can afford to play the vintage game grows smaller each year. So they turn to modern Rolex. And they’re younger than their collector ancestors. And comparatively wealthier.

Now the hunt isn’t as much about that perfect single red Sea Dweller, the hunt is for that elusive friendly AD who happens to have a blingy gold Sky Dweller if you call back in the next 15 minutes.

The icons and lifestyle promises of early Rolex marketing have given birth to a metaverse, whereby the watch itself, and the buying experience, are the icons and lifestyle promises, respectively.

People have gone from buying a Rolex because a cool guy wore one in a movie, to buying one because they can.

/random thoughts

[StillTrying]

Great abstract! Thanks for writing. Distilled the major shifts perfectly.


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[George58]

nice write up

[Little machines]

I enjoyed the read ! Thank you for the post !

[Moondoggy]

Nicely done. Oh I remember the bubble back phase well.

[Zyfon]

Great insights. I still wonder why newer nick names such as hulk or batman bother so many while fat lady or double red never did.

[Slow Lane]

The older I get (57 now) the more I observe the impact of demographics, for example there were periods where lots of people were promoted and then fallow periods where few opportunities seemed available. As a tail-end baby boomer I didn't have the easiest time earlier in my career but starting about 10 years ago the bulge baby boomers started retiring and all of a sudden greater opportunities arose. All of this is a round-about way to pose the question, how have demographics affected the Rolex scarcity phenomenon? I bought my first out of the case in 2004 and had my choice of Sub, GMT, Explorer etc. In fact I handled a Hulk out of the case about 7/8 years ago and could have walked out with it, figured it or something similar would always be there for me and passed.

[SaintMickey]

Correct.

[JayHantz]

Really enjoyed reading that, OP. Thank you for sharing!

[SeaDuba]

I enjoyed reading your perspective. Nice change of pace from some of the repetitive content on here. Thanks!


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[inadeje]

Originally Posted by rkny

As I peruse this board and other boards/sites, it’s fascinating to me to see what Rolex has become.

As a kid in the 1970s, I grew up pouring over magazines, instead of reading the web. Their pages were rife with Rolex ads, selling not just a watch, but the idea of a jetting setting, mountain climbing, scuba diving lifestyle. I paid attention!

(Side note. My first “Rolex” was a fake gold Datejust, purchased for $35 during an 11th grade school field trip to NYC. I was so dumb and naive that I briefly wondered if it was real and perhaps stolen. It turned my wrist green.)

In the ‘80s I moved to New York and got into the watch dealer/collector scene. Back then, everything was about vintage American watches. Hamilton was king. Elgin, Illinois, Waltham. If you had a Howard pocket watch, you were a true playa.

There was a brief Rolex Bubbleback bubble from around 1990-95 as I recall.

This went on into the mid ‘90s, until people started noticing that the Italians and Japanese were curiously and furiously, buying up all the vintage sport Rolex. Giorgio Armani insisted that every one of his runway models wear a steel Rolex down the catwalk.

Suddenly, vintage sport Rolex was a hot commodity. Bolstering the interest was this new internet thing, with easily sharable photos and lore, of icons like Steve McQueen, Robert Redford, Jacques Cousteau and Sean Connery, all sporting steel sport Rolexes, in front of, and behind the camera.

Between the magazine ads we’d been programmed with as kids, FOMO from Italy and Japan, and the lanes forming on the information superhighway, the fever for vintage sport Rolex in America, and online globally, was born.

There are no doubt more granular moments and key players than I’m privy to, and those with infinitely more knowledge as to the ingredients that helped cook up the post-millennium sport Rolex feeding frenzy.

But as a casual observer, in the early oughts, I started noticing a shift, not only in which watches people were buying, but who was buying them, and why.

When I first started collecting/buying/selling, a jewel encrusted gold anything watch took a major back seat to the steel staples; the Sub/SD, the 1655 Explorer, the Milgauss, and the 1016 Explorer. All the Daytonas were already overseas.

No one cared about Presidents beyond their pennyweight. A bombe Datejust? That was so 1997! An Oyster Perpetual? Aww, how adorable, your first Rolex!

And certainly no one could care less about your new sapphire crystal Rolex, purchased at list. Authorized dealers were lousy with them. Gray market dealers gladly sold them for 10% off list. Posting every detail of the purchase of your brand new 14060? Unheard of.

I distinctly remember a watch show in the World Trade Center in 2000. There was a buzz on the floor because one dealer had a new old stock 1655 Explorer II, box and papers. The other dealers were all laughing because this guy wanted $6000 for it.

Now of course, everything’s changed. A 1680 Sub that traded at $1800 in 2000 is now $18000, easily surpassing inflation. The pool of people who can afford to play the vintage game grows smaller each year. So they turn to modern Rolex. And they’re younger than their collector ancestors. And comparatively wealthier.

Now the hunt isn’t as much about that perfect single red Sea Dweller, the hunt is for that elusive friendly AD who happens to have a blingy gold Sky Dweller if you call back in the next 15 minutes.

The icons and lifestyle promises of early Rolex marketing have given birth to a metaverse, whereby the watch itself, and the buying experience, are the icons and lifestyle promises, respectively.

People have gone from buying a Rolex because a cool guy wore one in a movie, to buying one because they can.

/random thoughts

Well written and perfectly accurate synopsis of where we’ve been and the contemporary buzz around our hobby and the Rolex brand.

I personally appreciate how you have walked us through time, while providing your sentiment during that period. It certainly helps to frame the scenario better. I can relate to almost everything you have stated, however, my viewpoint emanates from across the pond, which was mainly where I lived during the 80s and 90s era. The whole gamut has changed, as you so eloquently stated. The motivation to buy has penetrated tranches of society that Rolex marketing could only have dreamed of a few decades back. Notwithstanding, I still think that this outcome wasn’t Rolex’s doing, at least I don’t think that this was a masterplan, rather the subtle outcome of a 24/7 connected world. Even back in the 40s and 50s there were idols, people the general public looked up to and tried to emulate, albeit because their styles and habits were seen less frequently, on movie screens or in print media. The phenomenon we are living today is one in which the human need for an idol or figurehead is rammed down everyone’s throat 24/7, thus creating a more intense outcome, a reality that is portrayed in today’s watch market, since watches are one of the trinkets society considers as a sign of success.

[Joearch]

OP, nicely crafted post. Thx for sharing.

[nachopc]

Thank you for the post, beautifully put it.


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[HorologicallyHappy]

Excellent personal synopsis of our modern horological morass -- I think you've nailed the transitions perfectly. I too, adored the era of the Smithsonian and Nat'l Geographic (etc) tool watch ads and the now quaint "write for a brochure" bit at the bottom of the advertisements, and it was there that my fascination with the Rolex brand started and grew.

Despite my annoyance with the modern scene, it's still that nostalgia of days gone by that keeps my affection for Rolex lit.


Cheers,

HH

[rkny]

Originally Posted by inadeje

Well written and perfectly accurate synopsis of where we’ve been and the contemporary buzz around our hobby and the Rolex brand.

I personally appreciate how you have walked us through time, while providing your sentiment during that period. It certainly helps to frame the scenario better. I can relate to almost everything you have stated, however, my viewpoint emanates from across the pond, which was mainly where I lived during the 80s and 90s era. The whole gamut has changed, as you so eloquently stated. The motivation to buy has penetrated tranches of society that Rolex marketing could only have dreamed of a few decades back. Notwithstanding, I still think that this outcome wasn’t Rolex’s doing, at least I don’t think that this was a masterplan, rather the subtle outcome of a 24/7 connected world. Even back in the 40s and 50s there were idols, people the general public looked up to and tried to emulate, albeit because their styles and habits were seen less frequently, on movie screens or in print media. The phenomenon we are living today is one in which the human need for an idol or figurehead is rammed down everyone’s throat 24/7, thus creating a more intense outcome, a reality that is portrayed in today’s watch market, since watches are one of the trinkets society considers as a sign of success.

Thanks.

It’s like people lining up to see a movie only playing at a single theater, for a block, then many blocks, then a mile, then many miles. The movie becomes so popular it veers into the abstract. Even if the film becomes degraded to the point of unwatchable or the projector breaks down, the line continues to grow, and for the rabid crowds, the point is no longer seeing the movie, but merely getting inside the cinema.

The cinema didn’t plan it. But they’re certainly happy to reap the box office rewards.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by inadeje

Well written and perfectly accurate synopsis of where we’ve been and the contemporary buzz around our hobby and the Rolex brand.

I personally appreciate how you have walked us through time, while providing your sentiment during that period. It certainly helps to frame the scenario better. I can relate to almost everything you have stated, however, my viewpoint emanates from across the pond, which was mainly where I lived during the 80s and 90s era. The whole gamut has changed, as you so eloquently stated. The motivation to buy has penetrated tranches of society that Rolex marketing could only have dreamed of a few decades back. Notwithstanding, I still think that this outcome wasn’t Rolex’s doing, at least I don’t think that this was a masterplan, rather the subtle outcome of a 24/7 connected world. Even back in the 40s and 50s there were idols, people the general public looked up to and tried to emulate, albeit because their styles and habits were seen less frequently, on movie screens or in print media. The phenomenon we are living today is one in which the human need for an idol or figurehead is rammed down everyone’s throat 24/7, thus creating a more intense outcome, a reality that is portrayed in today’s watch market, since watches are one of the trinkets society considers as a sign of success.

Agreed.
There was a period where a Rolex morphed from being an item where one could park some money and generally get it back after enjoying it, transitioning to an asset class where one could get rich quick with the right purchase.
Social media drove this transformation with these forums also playing their part.
Now, I have seen two articles published on the internet in the last few weeks more or less pushing the fast buck concept one way or another.

[climblaw25]

Well put!!


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[cjhurni]

Very good perspective for all enthusiasts. As someone who is entering the space now I can only imagine how it'll be in 35 years.

[jlovda]

One part of your story about American watches really hit home with me. In high school in the mid-sixties the space age watch that I adored was the Bulova Accutron. It had to be either the Astronaut or Space View. Some guy in my school had one and I lusted over it. Fast forward to 1970. I graduated from college and was taking a trip to Europe including Switzerland, the watch capital of the world. As soon as I crossed the border I started looking for an Accutron. Store after store nothing. On my last day in Zürich I started down the Bahnhofstrasse and stopped at most of the stores including Bucherers. The last store at the far end of the street was Chronometrie Beyer. My last stop. No Accutron but there two very pretty and almost identical watches in the case; a Rolex Submariner and its twin brother, a Tudor Submariner. The Rolex was $135 and the Tudor was $90. Money was tight and I was close to buying the Tudor but I could not stand the "Snowflake" hour hand. I took the Rolex. It wasn't until much later that I realized the Bulova was made in New York. Used Accutrons are now about $250-$400, my 5513 a little more. A very lucky decision. PS. I still can't stand the snowflake hands.

[rkny]

Originally Posted by jlovda

One part of your story about American watches really hit home with me. In high school in the mid-sixties the space age watch that I adored was the Bulova Accutron. It had to be either the Astronaut or Space View. Some guy in my school had one and I lusted over it. Fast forward to 1970. I graduated from college and was taking a trip to Europe including Switzerland, the watch capital of the world. As soon as I crossed the border I started looking for an Accutron. Store after store nothing. On my last day in Zürich I started down the Bahnhofstrasse and stopped at most of the stores including Bucherers. The last store at the far end of the street was Chronometrie Beyer. My last stop. No Accutron but there two very pretty and almost identical watches in the case; a Rolex Submariner and its twin brother, a Tudor Submariner. The Rolex was $135 and the Tudor was $90. Money was tight and I was close to buying the Tudor but I could not stand the "Snowflake" hour hand. I took the Rolex. It wasn't until much later that I realized the Bulova was made in New York. Used Accutrons are now about $250-$400, my 5513 a little more. A very lucky decision. PS. I still can't stand the snowflake hands.

Love this story.

[subtona]

Thanks for sharing. You reminded me of the short lived bubble back interest…I imagine because as you said the desirable sports models were in Europe.

[rolex_DateJust]

I enjoyed this read, OP. Thank you for this. I, too, miss the old days when one can just go to their AD and try on whichever model they wanted. Once they saw the one that met their criteria they would just purchase right on the spot. Rolex at the time, a few years ago, was an experience one couldn’t even fathom and now with the whole craze, the game is definitely changing and for the worse. I’ve had a lot of younger people ask me if my watch is real and staying its a nice Rolex. Back then, barely anyone noticed and I loved it like that. I would wear my watches super under the radar without caring if someone would notice or not. With the newer, younger people knowing about “Rolex”, all you see is that “Rolex Rolex Rolex Rolex” craze.

God how times have changed.

[arcampado]

Originally Posted by jlovda

One part of your story about American watches really hit home with me. In high school in the mid-sixties the space age watch that I adored was the Bulova Accutron. It had to be either the Astronaut or Space View. Some guy in my school had one and I lusted over it. Fast forward to 1970. I graduated from college and was taking a trip to Europe including Switzerland, the watch capital of the world. As soon as I crossed the border I started looking for an Accutron. Store after store nothing. On my last day in Zürich I started down the Bahnhofstrasse and stopped at most of the stores including Bucherers. The last store at the far end of the street was Chronometrie Beyer. My last stop. No Accutron but there two very pretty and almost identical watches in the case; a Rolex Submariner and its twin brother, a Tudor Submariner. The Rolex was $135 and the Tudor was $90. Money was tight and I was close to buying the Tudor but I could not stand the "Snowflake" hour hand. I took the Rolex. It wasn't until much later that I realized the Bulova was made in New York. Used Accutrons are now about $250-$400, my 5513 a little more. A very lucky decision. PS. I still can't stand the snowflake hands.

Awesome post, thanks for sharing.

[Pw92676]

Valuable perspective. Thanks for sharing.

[kieselguhr]

Thanks for the good read

That being said. Maybe it would be best for the individual to focus on the reason they enjoy this hobby as opposed to why the rest of the masses are buying up Rolex

[subprimero]

Thanks for the post!

[tpool]

Enjoyed this thread


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[TimepieceRPP]

Great info and awesome post.

[B2 Stealth]

Very enjoyable read! Thx for your insights!

[WBaileyii]

Interesting read. Thanks for posting.