Rolex Corporate Direction (A Friendly Discussion)

[boogiebot]

you guys think that the releases this year were bad? you should see what Breitling has done in the last 3 years.

[Cru Jones]

Or........they are making products that the majority of Rolex buyers want, and this is the period of time that wants these watches.

There are plenty of watches for the luxury tool watch crowd, and, increasingly, watches for those that want a Rolex because it's jewelry.

But, lets look at the watches....a new black and blue GMT? Normally, a good thing! And a bi-color bezel? Cool. Okay, I don't like the colors, but that's personal taste.

SS YMII? If anything, this disproves the theory of this thread! It's making a great movement more accessible in a package that looks better than the WG model.

Day-Date colors? One, it harkens back to the stellas. Two, they are pretty classy and cool, IMO. You can like or dislike the color choices, but, they are all Day Dates and pretty timeless.

Look at the root beer GMT....today, everyone thinks it's "classic". But, truth be told, it's a pretty extreme color combo, and my guess is, if it had come out yesterday, everyone would have been upset. To be clear, I do like it. ;-)

The diamond models? Who cares? They make some people happy, and Rolex has been making them for decades. Nothing new here.

Now, the new Daytona? Personally, I think it rocks. Platinum, glacier dial, new unique ceramic color? Nice! And I think in real lighting, not the harsh display lighting, it will look good. Worth the price? No. If I had the money? No. But, I'm certain some people will like it, and that's what it's all about.

[Solo118]

I fully understand their need for satisfying the bling buyers.

But what about the guys that want tool watches? Thank god they did a great job with the Explorer II but they do very little to let you know it's there.

They just need to balance the way they do business. Bling customers will be happy and so will the tool customers. I for one would love something fresh and innovative on the tool end that nobody has seen before.

[STEELINOX]

Great idea for a thread Larry !

If I were to walk into Basel, I would prolly not head directly towards ROLEX, cuz, I just know they can be "left for later".

I know there will be little "wow factor" at ROLEX cuz they just dont do that anymore...

It would prolly be safe to say that OMEGA has more wow presence as a dynamic innovative company than ROLEX is now.

Omega has more daring - more examples - bigger examples ~ just plain got some different ideas about how to capture market share...

Who is ROLEX targeting = nobody !
ROLEX has the crown and the HUMAN race with any sort of marketing luxury sense will stop by ROLEX to buy something when they are ready for their very own "crown."

And ROLEX will sell everything they stamp out. Thats a given, so they culd really care about BASEL, its just something they have to do is all...

EDIT: criminy, I forgot about TUDOR, them boys at TUDOR got something goin on thats for sure, they ought to break away from ROLEX and head out on their own !

[snowpea]

I don't understand all the wining after Basel every year, to later on everybody love the new releases. Rolex will release whatever they think will sell, if you loved it buy if you don't wait till next year or buy other brands. Just because I don't like a design it will appeal to many others, so why sweat it, MHO.

[AK797]

Originally Posted by snowpea

I don't understand all the wining after Basel every year, to later on everybody love the new releases.

This is an internet forum.

[snowpea]

Originally Posted by boogiebot

you guys think that the releases this year were bad? you should see what Breitling has done in the last 3 years.

X2
I agree, but somebody will like it

[snowpea]

Originally Posted by AK797

This is an internet forum.

I understand Neil, but some people think just because they don't like a watch it's a fail. All I'm saying is for all the people that don't like it, there are people who do. So how can you say Rolex fail

[winston]

Rolex is moving much more up market and leaving many loyal followers behind... A £50K Daytona is for the uber wealthy not those who would like to get an anniversary edition in steel that is affordable for them.

Many an AD has bitten the dust as they cannot cope with the stocking pressure piled on them by Rolex HQ. My AD who has stocked rolex for 50yrs says they have released one saleable watch.... The GMT....

All they have to do is reduce supply of steel units to dealers and you will see the AD vanish overnight.

The direction is something that is puzzling....!

[submariner66]

I really don't know about all this guys I think your expecting too much or just over thinking things a bit. I'm coming at this Rolex affair from a a different angle. Im an old admirer but a brand new owner.

I have had a crush on them since I was in the back seat of our 1970 station wagon seeing my dads 1957 oyster from there admiring it's simplicity and ruggedness. Having almost bought one in the late eighties- most likely an air king or simple date just SS, white dial would have been my choice at the time. I was thrilled to finally acquire my first real watch, a Rolex, a no date sub ceramic last August. To think that you could pick a BNIB watch from the same company, same great oyster bracelet and case that I fell in love with, years ago and hardly skip a beat, to me it's amazing, and is why Rolex is a Rolex. Try doing that with just about any consumer good today, there are only a few hundred that you could honestly say that about. Most brands or manufactured goods like this are ghosts of themselves, dead, or dying.

You have to look at the big picture and realize that shopping vintage is shopping through decades of design, good bad and ugly -you get to choose. When buying new, Rolex still has an amazingly diverse collection to suit a rainbow of tastes and pocketbooks, but is limited to the time it's in. Just my thoughts, but I think this is totally in keeping with the pace and shows what we all really love about the watch.

[LA_LEC]

Originally Posted by JP Chestnut

That is true. There were signs in 2003, and I'm sure before then even.

I rather doubt that a man like Steve McQueen would really be wearing any of these...



Yep, and the trend seems to be going in a very "tacky" direction totally into jewelry and appealing to a very different consumer demographic.

[skippy1]

I think we need to think about one thing here. No offense to anyone who owns the following watches but the 36mm DD and to a large extent the Daytona (especially in precious metal) are quickly becoming women’s watches. (Just look at what the Hollywood types are wearing.) With this in mind, Rolex went in the girly direction with these models. Now I've never seen a picture of a woman wearing a GMT-C, (there might be some out there I've just can't ever remember seeing one.) So, Rolex clearly went with a more masculine combination for what is the man’s watch. I don't particularly like the combination but that is what I think they went with. I am also not convinced Rolex believes the big watch thing will be here forever. Because of this big watch skepticism I think they kept their bread and butter watches (Sub, GMT) at 40mm and just gave them fatter lugs to give them the illusion of being bigger. If things head back toward more traditionally sized watches it is probably a simple fix to just take a bit of size off those lugs without redesigning a whole new watch. If tastes do go back toward smaller watches and more men start looking at the 36mm and precious metal watches again they will just start making those more masculine again.

Just one opinion

[floater156]

I have my wonderful DJII and ExpII. I think the next thing I will save up for is a Martin D-18GE guitar :)

[shnxx]

I am young and Asian.

I am not interested in any of these new offerings from Rolex nor are any of my Asian friends who are looking at watches above $10K range.

Asians do not disproportionately prefer tacky crap watches any more than non-Asians do.

In fact, the global trend toward bigger dials is not at all driven by growing Asian demands.

[melons]

Rolex seems to have succumbed to the wants of "ballers". I understand the need to expand their market share, but IMHO, they've left a narrow slice for folks like myself who appreciate the long history of the Rolex sport watch line. Thankfully there's millions of the previous generation of watches for us to pursue and enjoy. YMMV...

[TimeOnHand]

I am a fan of both the old and the new. But for me personally if I had to have just one it would be the newer Rolex watches. In my opinion they have done great advancements. Just look at the new style of bracelets, they are a perfect fit. The new bezels are beautifully engineered. The play with design to make a 40mm watch give the appearance and feel of a larger watch which every one seems to always ask for. I think the new direction has been fantastic and I feel very lucky to own both the old and the new!

[Psmith]

The only disappointment for me was the Daytona. A 'proper' anniversary model, or even a new model (unlikely I know) would have been preferable. I love the GMT IIbc and the SS YMII. I'm happy overall with what Rolex are doing. The professional watches now actually feel like they are worth (sort of!) the asking price. I love the vintage-era watches and the current models. It's the 'in between' models I am unimpressed with - an unconvincing mix of old and new imho

[lhanddds]

I'm really not embarrassed to say that I don't think like the masses do. Just tune in to most TV these days. There are plenty of nice Rolexes to yearn for but probably not at Basel.


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[wohlfecc]

Originally Posted by boogiebot

you guys think that the releases this year were bad? you should see what Breitling has done in the last 3 years.

Good point. And IWC is no angel, either.

[shnxx]

Originally Posted by wohlfecc

Good point. And IWC is no angel, either.

Lol probably true.

But most of us care more about Rolex... Unless I'm in the wrong forum again on my tapatalk.

[Speed]

Rolex has moved on. Their tool watch origins make for a nice history...but they are trying to evolve. Nothing new as companies age..

Look at Levi's. I'd say their target market is no longer gold prospectors who need canvas jeans held together by copper rivets... Save for the semi-classic shrink-to-fit 501 Jeans, they are trying with limited success to be a fashion leader while retaining a small fraction of their heritage trademarks.

[Boothroyd]

I haven't read all the posts yet, but in my simplistic view, Rolex is simply trying to maximize revenues/profitability, no less and no more. Unfortunately, looking for a bit more than that from a company with their heritage in horology.

[Ravager135]

Originally Posted by Tools

Attachment 382161

The past couple of years have been eye-opening at Basel and elsewhere.. Rolex seems to be on a course that I'm just not sure I can get on board with..

I do think that they have released some spectacular watches.. The new Explorer II is an example - but they almost didn't release it and have not done much to market it..

Other watches that I think could be winners for Rolex, like the Sky Dweller, the new ceramic Daytonas, the new bracelets; they are making only in precious metals and attach stratospheric price-tags on or will not sell modern bracelets and clasps for upgrading early models.. Not a way to keep the faithful who line their corporate coffers..

But this year... the colors the choices (or lack of).. What the heck !!!!

They're trotting out 70's Beach Daytona colors (we know how well those sold) with green, salmon (when did a fish become a color) hot pinks, and all manner of gold inlaid gem encrusted dials.

There is no innovation in simply proclaiming "Seven new colored dials for the Day-Date" !!! Hardly earth-shaking or even interesting at a major Watch Fair like Basel. Even proclaiming a "new anniversary" Daytona that is nothing more than last years model in platinum wrapping.. Oh, and the ever increasing base prices.. They're now more than double what they were only a short decade ago..

Who is their target customer.. I will have to say that I just don't know any more.. It isn't me and I've been wearing Rolex for more than 30 years..

Spot on. You basically summarized my feelings that I have posted on numerous Basel threads over the past two days. I think the Explorer II update was done perfectly (forget increasing the size, which I could care less about). I saw it as a success because it was clearly an update and yet the watch was still clearly an Explorer II.

With the exception of the YMII in SS, I think the color combinations that were released were ridiculous because although the models retain the Rolex skeleton, they have lost something in the aesthetic. This is more a blow to die hard fans on this forum because the public is going to buy these watches if they want a Rolex. Most people don't know or could care less about Pepsi/Coke bezels or Paul Newman panda dials.

What these "updates" should open our eyes too is that Rolex is not going towards the things we want and is doing whatever they like (which is obviously their right to do). I think people are very naive to think in three years time there's going to be four different GMT bezels and that this bicolor is a move towards releasing new combinations. If it was going to happen, it would have happened yesterday. I think I might go to the vintage market for my next piece or in the very least stick with the 116710 LN over the BLNR.

[Tudor Fan]

I think one should not forget that Roles IS also Tudor. And some other threads here on this forum regarding Tudor v. Rolex have shown to me that the people who swear only on Rolex are hung up on the name and crown-image rather than the watches themselves while the one who particularly love the tool-watch aspect (which includes me) appreciate Tudor just as much.

So "Roles" makes more models that scream image, connecting colors that can be recognized a mile away with precious metals that cost obscene money to serve the crowd that wants to buy image, while "Tudor" goes back to their roots with their heritage line for the tool-watch crowd. Consequently (and one really has to appreciate that) Tudor is also more sensibly priced. Plus they are updating a bringing out modern versions as well: Pelagos is a really cool example. That's 21 Century tool.

Do I miss classic color combinations on the new Rolexes (Coke, Pepsi, red detail and writing, Panda faces on Daytonas etc)? Sure. But what can you do. In the meantime I stick with Tudor and vintage.

[Cabaiguan]

I really do think that Western markets are no longer in Rolex' crosshairs. Asia and their appetite for luxury goods has usurped the traditional markets. There must be some focus groups that make them think this stuff sells in Asia.

As long as that trend remains, we'll be seeing much more of these designs from Rolex.

[Israguard]

Refreshing to read this thread. I call Rolexe's behavior "contempt". I was at AD today and walked right by their massive Rolex display and headed to the ASL offerings. Let them sell red/yellow/green watches.. They will make a mockery of their name. Just my rant and opinion.

[landroverking]

Some of the new good, some bad. At heart I'M a vintage guy so I don't really care.
As far as the Daytona being a ladies watch, it's a trend nothing more, nothing less.

[Tudor Fan]

Originally Posted by Cabaiguan

I really do think that Western markets are no longer in Rolex' crosshairs. Asia and their appetite for luxury goods has usurped the traditional markets. There must be some focus groups that make them think this stuff sells in Asia.

As long as that trend remains, we'll be seeing much more of these designs from Rolex.

Yeah that was my other thought: So over here in the States where the tool watch aspect is probably more alive then in Asia, Tudor returns....

[JimSnyder]

The new Rolex just make the old Rolex look better

[zhiunit]

Im asian, but I live in the usa....if ur asking who the target market for those new DD, its probably for the 12 year old children of billionaires/rappers. TT watches are popular in asia, i done know why, but a two toned 36 datejust is legit the go to watch for every asian father LOL, my dad has one and everyone i call "uncle" has one.

And Larry, you bring up a VERY good point, i kinda of do wish rolex would offer the new bracelets for older peices, I dislike my datejust at times because of the old jubilee bracelet, but admire its durability despite being so light.