How much does it really cost to make a ROLEX watch???

[cody p]

no weapons of mass destruction allowed, just watches and the odd babe photo please.

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by Armand

Outstanding!

The only remark I would like to make is, that Rolex´s marketing, while impressive, is not the cheapest one ... ( CC comes to mind )

May I enclose a pic, for your eyes only?



;-)

Hermann

Love Guns! Knives! And Rolex's. What photo could be better?

Violence and time!

You must time your violence or your violence will be out of timing.

[Al1969]

Originally Posted by BigHat

Is that your picture or are you a basset hound and that's your master? How different is the taste?

Hilarious!!!

[rescue7]

Originally Posted by bodybump

I saw a guy here posting a pic of a submariner and another bezel and ask him.."where did you get that extra bezel?? and he said in my AD they called rolex and send him one for $350 and he said its authentic..I was like "Rolex will never send a bezel and be bought by somebody more so the bezel alone

Hey bodybump that guy was me and by the tone of your post sounds like you DON'T believe me, well it did happen.

Actually I paid $275 for the bezel, insert and click spring and it's 100% authentic. I've also purchased bezel inserts for posters here, they cost around $90 Canadian. It's not an e-bay or aftermarket fake.

Rolex Canada DID send one to my AD so stop thinking and look at the pic.

I simply went in asked and a week later received it. Maybe Rolex USA says NO to these type of purchases but it was a positive outcome here in Toronto.

[LamboSPDR]

Originally Posted by Nigel Tufnel

$39.99 with the balance for marketing and distribution.

With you on that

[DSJ]

I would say (absent marketing, R&D, etc.), actual COST (materials, energy, labor, overhead) is a few hundred bucks for a SS model. WITH marketing, R&D, etc., I still say well under $1K USD.

[bananabender]

Originally Posted by bodybump

Hi guys ive been thinking on my way home to ask this question...How much does it really cost to make a Rolex watch??? We are all crazy paying a huge amount of money..crazy money but how much does it really cost?? Example a Daytona..we are all paying for $9925 on our ad's...minus AD's com how much do you really think the watch cost??? $2,000?? $3,000??..please share some info if you guys have one...

Back in the mid 90s I was studying technology management. One of our case studies was the Swiss watch industry. Swiss watches are typically sold at at somewhere between TEN to TWENTY times the cost of manufacture.

Around 75% of the cost is the retail margin of the AD [The standard retail mark-up for all major Swiss watch rands is 300%. ] That means ou are paying the AD roughly $7500 for the high rent location, fancy display cases, snooty sales staff and thick carpet when you buy a $10,000 Daytona.

The overwhelming costs (90+%) of a Rolex watch are for the marketing, distribution and taxes.

The other major component is wages (~5%)

The costs of raw materials is absolutely trivial - probably only $50 to $100.

Contrary to the marketing hype there is NO expensive materials in a steel Rolex watch:

For example:

- 904L stainless steel is CHEAP @ $5/kg (enough to make five Submariners)

- Sapphire crystals cost less than $2 TWO DOLLARS) each wholesale (the cyclops is glued on)

[Sapphire crystals and ceramic bezels can be found on Japanese watches that cost less than $150.]

It actually costs far more to service a Rolex movement than it costs to make the movement in the first place. Rolex probably makes far more money from selling outrageously expensive spare parts than it does from selling watches. Servicing is a major revenue source for ADs.

[bananabender]

Originally Posted by The Mole

P.S. It costs Rolex more on the outlay to make a steel watch than a gold one. When 904L was first proposed inside the company, the technology for the massive 250 ton press used to stamp out the Oyster cases did not even exist and needed to be made from scratch! This is why most manufactures do not use 904L.

904L is actually much SOFTER than 316L.

250+ tonne presses are commonplace. They are used to stamp all types of steel parts from spanners to car components.

[bananabender]

Originally Posted by The Mole

As quoted from the Rolex USA product training manual;

"All Rolex movements are completely manufactured in-house and have an average value of several thousand dollars. Rolex continually compares each part produced with a "perfect" computer generated image of that part. Each movement takes 14 months to produce. Over 200 technicians will work on the movement effectively combining "High Tech" with "High Touch"."

Pretty much what Seiko and Citizen d for their $150 watches.

Chroncentric actually dismantled and photographed a genuine Rolex submariner movement. It is extremely poorly finished and quite crude. It is obviously mass produced.

[bananabender]

Originally Posted by RossInIllinois

Lets take it one more step. You can buy an automatic Fake Rolex for $350 with a Swiss ETA movement, same size same SS just thats its a fake. Think about that one!


click here edit: We Don't Link To Fake Sites Here........

I've seen ETA models for $150 with ceramic bezels and sapphire crystals. The Seagull automatic models sell for as little as $20 and are often just as accurate as a real sub.