When did Rolex AD MSRP availability issues start?

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by afmars

Wow! Those were the days.

They absolutely were for the tiny niche of nerds buying them. Ignore price because honestly back then they almost seemed more expensive because we took losses on everything…

I lost 3k on my first 5711, 4K on my 5167, 3k on my first 15400 etc

The real part I miss is being able to walk into any store while on vacation and receiving excellent service and having the option to buy anything released that year at SIHH or Basel. We debated the watches for their merits, availability was almost never a conversation except for a 5131 etc.

[TswaneNguni]

Originally Posted by cvo

What triggered it 2018? Basically, what changed then?

Instagram /Youtube/ Facebook and other primary school metaverse members .

When it became a commodity .Instant money making tool.Investment .Share .

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by cvo

What triggered it 2018? Basically, what changed then?

Social media predominantly Instagram

Rappers began advertising brands that were formerly not mainstream

High profile auctions fueled by brands themselves no doubt.

Borderline institutional money entering the fold on the secondary market

[TswaneNguni]

Originally Posted by GB-man

They absolutely were for the tiny niche of nerds buying them. Ignore price because honestly back then they almost seemed more expensive because we took losses on everything…

I lost 3k on my first 5711, 4K on my 5167, 3k on my first 15400 etc

The real part I miss is being able to walk into any store while on vacation and receiving excellent service and having the option to buy anything released that year at SIHH or Basel. We debated the watches for their merits, availability was almost never a conversation except for a 5131 etc.

I miss the part when I was not afraid of scratching little precious on the wrist ..

When Rolex just retained value was the fun era .

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by TswaneNguni

I miss the part when I was not afraid of scratching little precious on the wrist ..

When Rolex just retained value was the fun era .

We use to have endless threads about wrist awareness lol

Back when scratching your genta was a matter of ocd not cpa

[TswaneNguni]

Originally Posted by GB-man

We use to have endless threads about wrist awareness lol

Back when scratching your genta was a matter of ocd not cpa

...cpr.

[ArtNouveau]

Originally Posted by Tqmb79

Late 2017 / early 2018

I would agree with this. I was able to get a BLNR in November 2017 by calling my longtime SA and asking for one. Only thing was it was in the safe, not the case. I had seen and tried one on in Geary’s Beverly Hills in February of that year. By the Basel Pepsi introduction in March 2018, things were palpably different.
SS Daytonas have been hard to get since the late 80’s, tutone and PM ones were in dealer’s cases for another year or more after that.

[noshake]

Originally Posted by Tqmb79

Late 2017 / early 2018

yep

[goodolejr]

Fall 2017

[MILGAUSS88]

Daytona 1980's.
All Rolex watches, 2016 in England.
The pound dropped dramatically after the Brexit vote, which made the purchase price of Rolex cheaper, in foreign money.
The watch inventory was quickly bought up.
It then trickled out and created a run on watches in other markets. Making difficult to get watches impossible to get watches. Then Covid hit and readily accessible watches became difficult to get as well.

[Bizcut1]

Late 2017 and really picked up steam through 2018 and on to today...

[Vetracer]

your perspective depends on the country you live in. I remember when the "drought" was widespread in the UK, reading on TRF of US incomings. Then suddenly people in the US were complaining of no availability.

I suspect Asia was the first continent to experience the Rolex drought.

[travisb]

Originally Posted by Tqmb79

Late 2017 / early 2018

And has only gotten tougher since.

[enjoythemusic]

[Jacobson]

For Europe it all began post Basel 2016.

I remember wanting to buy a BLNR at the start of the year, they were in the windows and available then. Thought I would wait for Basel to see what else may be out.
By late April 2016 there were no BLNRs @ ADs in my local area, ended up going grey for £300 over RRP (MSRP).

[karleone]

Originally Posted by Ichiran

This, but Daytona is already unavailable before then.

The 116520 was much easier to get than the 116500 and the price in grey market was only slightly above retail price. I was offered a 116520 at an AD I didn’t know and was available for sale maybe in 2012 or so. I had no money for a Daytona at the time so passed 😭

[Krash]

When I bought my Submariner 114060 in January of 2018, I waited approximately 6 weeks. The day I picked it up, there was a brand new Hulk in the display case waiting to be bought.

At that time, people on TRF kept posting how hard it is to get one, but yet there was one readily available for me to buy if I wanted it.

Also, at that point, a Batman and Daytona were already virtually impossible to get (especially the Daytona).

Datejusts of all sorts were still the display case; so was the Exp 1 and OP 39s…the Bluesy was often seen in display cases too…

Shortly after that, things quickly went down hill in terms of availability as the economy and stock market took off…


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[JSolution]

Originally Posted by afmars

Late 1990s - everything but Daytonas readily available, Daytonas can be had with some effort.
2017 - ceramic Daytona impossible to get, BLNRs hard too.
2018 - forget about any steel GMT, subs also scarce
2019 - explorers start disappearing. Pretty much no professional models in steel except the odd ball YM or explorer, Milgauss
2020 - steel DJ41s starting to disappear. PM/TT sub, Daytona, etc can still be seen in display cases
2021 - PM sports models gone, but still some OPs, DD 36, dateJusts in display cases
2022 - exhibition only watches in display cases, and perhaps a diamond encrusted lady datejust or two.

This is well summed up.

[Soultime]

Ignoring certain models (Daytona).

As others have said....
UK Brexit vote 2016.
GBP tanked and foreign buyers came and bought everything they could get there hands on at effectively 'sale price'.

They could then sell back home at a profit and the Rolex at retail = instant profit was born

It then spread globally over the next year or two.

Here is a thread from 2018.
https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=647040
My post about this is no 14.

[mattidk]

i still remember 2012, went to AD - AD pull the drawer - 3 sub both date and no-date, old 40mm Seadweller, Explorer. GMT can be order with few months waiting, same for Hulk. Daytona might be 10 years as the list was very long as usual. YM/DJ can always get and plenty in windows.

[PureCoconut]

Originally Posted by tqmb79

late 2017 / early 2018

+1

[Jsol]

Originally Posted by afmars

Late 1990s - everything but Daytonas readily available, Daytonas can be had with some effort.
2017 - ceramic Daytona impossible to get, BLNRs hard too.
2018 - forget about any steel GMT, subs also scarce
2019 - explorers start disappearing. Pretty much no professional models in steel except the odd ball YM or explorer, Milgauss
2020 - steel DJ41s starting to disappear. PM/TT sub, Daytona, etc can still be seen in display cases
2021 - PM sports models gone, but still some OPs, DD 36, dateJusts in display cases
2022 - exhibition only watches in display cases, and perhaps a diamond encrusted lady datejust or two.

Amazingly accurate!


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[rmwill]

In 2017 I waited 6 months for a Z Blue Milgauss. Waits are not a new thing.

[Robf52]

Originally Posted by Tqmb79

Late 2017 / early 2018

This.

[One Team]

When I bought my current watch in 2013 my local AD had just about every Rolex model available apart from the Daytona. I tried on a bluesey Submariner in store at the time and didn't like it that much. How I wish I'd bought it now!

[101031-28]

Originally Posted by Tqmb79

Late 2017 / early 2018

This

[twalt77]

Originally Posted by seabreeze60

Does anyone remember the history of when Rolex ADs started running out of popular models?

Surely it has to do with COVID and the spare cash people have lying about because they couldn’t go on holiday? Demand greater than supply etc. Same thing has happened with second hand luxury cars. Either that or someone is far more clever than I am.

[Vetracer]

Originally Posted by twalt77

Surely it has to do with COVID and the spare cash people have lying about because they couldn’t go on holiday? Demand greater than supply etc. Same thing has happened with second hand luxury cars. Either that or someone is far more clever than I am.

If you were into watches before COVID then you'd know they were extremely difficult to get prior to 2020.

[JoseR]

Originally Posted by travisb

And has only gotten tougher since.

Guess I was a little lucky. Got my AK in April 2019 and in October 2019 got my DJ41, right after that, things got really crazy.

[apinault]

In 2016 a friend of mine purchased a Batman out of the case. The next day realized he didn’t like it, returned it for a Sub Date from the case. Unreal, imagine that today!