CONFIRMED news regarding the professional line

[904VT]

Perhaps it's just time for Syloxi to be added to many professional models just like the Parachrom was in its time, hence the slowing.

Wouldn't be surprised if we see a new chronograph movement. Cellini Annual Calendar as well

[JacksonStone]

I'm reading more of the WUS thread. The OP is using conspiracy-theory logic and has lost the plot. People are trying to talk sense into him, but he's holding to his premise like it matters to him personally. Move along...nothing to see there, unless you like watching the OP make himself look silly.

[Craigdwh]

i noticed there hadn't been a post in about an hour so i figured i would simply keep this thread alive and breathing. oh and i haven't done my part without throwing in my two cents.

[GerardoG]

Originally Posted by Craigdwh

i noticed there hadn't been a post in about an hour so i figured i would simply keep this thread alive and breathing. oh and i haven't done my part without throwing in my two cents.

[gliderpilot]

Professional + mechanical + SS + luxury is not a very logical combination in 21 century (think dive computers, smart watches, etc.).

Shift towards PM to increase exclusivity sounds like a reasonable marketing move, luxury in SS is difficult to justify.

Of course I hope I am wrong...

[stainlesssteve]

Originally Posted by gliderpilot

Professional + mechanical + SS + luxury is not a very logical combination in 21 century (think dive computers, smart watches, etc.).

Shift towards PM to increase exclusivity sounds like a reasonable marketing move, luxury in SS is difficult to justify.

Of course I hope I am wrong...

Exactly. And just like I wrote 20+ pages ago... Millennials (as a group) are not buying mechanical watches. Ten years from now, who is going to buy these watches? The secondary market is approaching $20k for a SS Daytona. I'm seeing Green subs priced at almost $12k. PM prices may need to increase just to stay far enough ahead of the SS models. And then at some point the price of PMs could be too high and demand may erode for PMs. Maybe that's happening now? Rolex may be unable to move PMs, and unwilling to supply SS. One solution would be to drop the SS line. I'd hate to see this happen, but it seems like a reality given the shrinking pie. My 2 cents.

[JacksonStone]

Originally Posted by gliderpilot

Shift towards PM to increase exclusivity sounds like a reasonable marketing move, luxury in SS is difficult to justify.

Originally Posted by stainlesssteve

One solution would be to drop the SS line. I'd hate to see this happen, but it seems like a reality given the shrinking pie. My 2 cents.

Easy, guys. One guy on WUS posts about a poolside chat, and now the sky is falling? Let's step back and take a deep breath.

[STEELINOX]

"Butter," I need butter!

[STEELINOX]

Someone call Dr. Phil pronto!

[STEELINOX]

[belutak]

Originally Posted by JacksonStone

I'm reading more of the WUS thread. The OP is using conspiracy-theory logic and has lost the plot. People are trying to talk sense into him, but he's holding to his premise like it matters to him personally. Move along...nothing to see there, unless you like watching the OP make himself look silly.

Fully agree, sensationalism and not much sense :)

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by gegarrenton

Grey market clampdown

By reducing supply?

I think not. Rolex could kill the grey market in a matter of weeks. Just flood the demand to AD's.

[Andad]

Originally Posted by bayerische

By reducing supply?

I think not. Rolex could kill the grey market in a matter of weeks. Just flood the demand to AD's.

Or the AD's could use an increase in supply of the sought after models to increase their sales to greys of slow selling items.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by directioneng

Or the AD's could use an increase in supply of the sought after models to increase their sales to greys of slow selling items.

Maybe, but if you properly meet demand, I'm mean eliminating waiting lists, and having an actual inventory of "hard to find models" as the Daytona, there is no need to shop at a Grey selling at 50% or more premiums.

The whole concept of year long waiting lists are silly IMHO. Maybe Rolex is trying to convince us "it takes a year to make a Rolex"...? Damn slow robots!

[bayerische]

Generally hard to get items in high demand (be it whatever item) tend to create a grey/black market.

Sometimes increased demand (be it superficial) make an item more desirable, but as we can see from this thread, it also upsets a lot of people. I for example won't support these kind of businesses.

[kilyung]

Originally Posted by bayerische

Maybe, but if you properly meet demand, I'm mean eliminating waiting lists, and having an actual inventory of "hard to find models" as the Daytona, there is no need to shop at a Grey selling at 50% or more premiums.

The whole concept of year long waiting lists are silly IMHO. Maybe Rolex is trying to convince us "it takes a year to make a Rolex"...? Damn slow robots!

Well robots need to take vacations too (even if most of the work is done by people). Equal rights to automatons!

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by kilyung

Well robots need to take vacations too (even if most of the work is done by people). Equal rights to automatons!

You're just trying to get on the good foot with SkyNet!

[VicLeChic]

Wondering if talking robots like Sophia will ever "feel like" wearing mechanical watches. Probably no point since it's connected to the web. As a backup maybe in case of an outage? Or pehaps to try and feel human?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zarasto.../#5c190f0246fa

Well Sophia, if you want a professional Rolex, be prepared to go PM or go home.

[Hramez]

I am mainly in Patek & rolex , patek for its complications & history, rolex as real sport durable watches , I think now both brands are making big mistake by raising price & limiting supply , they are pushing new generation who can be interested in mechanical watches away , & benefiting other brands , as there are other high end v well made brands , personally I will not join this hype created by rolex & patek ..




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mystro]

Originally Posted by VicLeChic

There's a thread in WUS (114060 Rumour) mentioning this thread.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url...e_pid=45171637


Christmas holiday shutdown?<br />
<br />
New movement?<br />
<br />
https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=583078<b......

The.following statement from Rocko53 scares me :

quote
In 3 years time if you want a ND SubC you WILL be buying it in WG.
I didn't make this stuff up, I was told by a Rolex employee at the poolside bar in Noumea, New Caledonia.
unquote

What do you guys make of that? Is this the end of professional models in SS? Is Rolex going PM only? Does that even make economical sense for Rolex? Not wanting to sound apocalyptical here, but are we all "condemned " to buy DJs and OPs if we want to stick to SS from now on?

I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to like the SS DJ41 even more :-p.

Sounds like pure rubbish. Some of the least knowledgeable talk about Rolex I hear comes from Rolex “associates”. They are not WIS or eat and breath the culture.

SS Rolex is history and a institution. Rolex 904L has been developed into a very desirable look/material. It’s practically a semi precious metal. SS is what people want from AP, Rolex, etc... SS isn’t going anywhere. You can take that to the bank.

[nishant786]

Originally Posted by Mystro

Sounds like pure rubbish. Some of the least knowledgeable talk about Rolex I hear comes from Rolex “associates”. They are not WIS or eat and breath the culture.

SS Rolex is history and a institution. Rolex 904L has been developed into a very desirable look/material. It’s practically a semi precious metal. SS is what people want from AP, Rolex, etc... SS isn’t going anywhere. You can take that to the bank.

This. Patek and AP created the "High end sports watch" during the greatest crisis the Swiss watch industry has ever seen, and now when watches (smart or otherwise) have been rising in popularity, people predicting the end of SS for Rolex's 'professional' line? Ridiculous.

[SamP]

I received a SD43 a few days back in the UK.
So who knows...
Regards

[Quicksilver]

Originally Posted by nishant786

This. Patek and AP created the "High end sports watch" during the greatest crisis the Swiss watch industry has ever seen, and now when watches (smart or otherwise) have been rising in popularity, people predicting the end of SS for Rolex's 'professional' line? Ridiculous.

I don't think the OP is predicting the end of the professional line but a restriction in supply. I don't know the truth of the situation so I'm keeping an open mind.

[Randy]

Originally Posted by bayerische

By reducing supply?

I think not. Rolex could kill the grey market in a matter of weeks. Just flood the demand to AD's.

True. Will be interesting to see no price increase and restocked ADs if that is Rolex strategy. Grays are holding and well stocked with Rolex watches. Rolex knows what’s happening.

[REALROLEXAD]

One of my staff brought this to my attention.
Lots of speculation here, with no facts to support it.
As of today, we have not received any letter from RolexUSA.
Recent orders were placed and no mention of any ‘letter’.

[AK797]

Originally Posted by TickTockChuck

Well, this is certainly an Uber-thread which has taken on a life all of its own! I thought it had faded away a few days ago and now stronger than ever. Next stop is 100,000 views or 1000 posts, whichever comes first. Seems to have drifted off topic and more of a catch-all now. Will check back in a few days. Cheers!

If we get to 100K views, then that is 10-15% of the entire number of watches Rolex makes a year, so who says this forum is an insignificant, small player? No, we shape Rolex's social media, and now more than ever.

As for Rolex moving up the horological ladder, yes I've said I think this is happening and they want to position themselves clearly above Omega and Breitling to buttress themselves from this shrinking mid lux market, but they are more moving up on the likes of Hublot than AP and PP, and so they will not abandon their bread and butter SS range, they will just reposition it more upscale.

[amh]

Originally Posted by REALROLEXAD

One of my staff brought this to my attention.
Lots of speculation here, with no facts to support it.
As of today, we have not received any letter from RolexUSA.
Recent orders were placed and no mention of any ‘letter’.

You're about to ruin a perfectly good rumor!

[RolexPete]

If true, it is good for sellers...not so much for buyers.

[Mousehunter]

I have a few hours of reading before I get to end of the thread, but wanted to point out an accounting issue. If you expect future sales of x units, you probably will design your production to be most efficient at that production level. Depending on many variables, that could influence many decisions on space, machinery, work scheduling etc.

Now you can produces more or less than that ammount, but that might involve inefficient use of equipment (machines sitting unused), building not being utilized... all the while you are paying the mortgage/interest on this. You might even have issues with reducing workforce which looks bad. On the other hand, ramping up production by overtime, extra shifts, and burning up equipment all makes the cost per unit increase

I have seen business hurt themselves by being too successful. They ramped up production with overtime only to burn out and loose valued employees. Perhaps Rolex has a crystal ball that shows that over the next 20 years they are better off with a smaller leaner company. It might help them from flooding future production, reducing current cost per unit, and if it creates a continued scarcity allows them to inflate the price to match the demand-all creating higher continued profits with a better working environment (oh, and that saves money by reducing employee turnover)
—-
That said, this thread depresses me. All I really see is a larger reliance on the secondary market for impulse purchases. Of course there is no MSRP for these-supply will always meet demand. As a current shopper, I can still find watches in the jewelers case-certified preowned at premiums. I suspect that perhaps Rolex is warning AD’s so the AD’s increase there secondary market focus. Nothing helps brand image more than when used sells for more.

FWIW, I have heard Ferri also attempts to control their used channels. One case was a threat by dealers to a glued customer that if they trade out of channel they will be blacklisted-that really hurts the gray market

[semi-ambivalent]

Originally Posted by Randy

True. Will be interesting to see no price increase and restocked ADs if that is Rolex strategy. Grays are holding and well stocked with Rolex watches. Rolex knows what’s happening.

Not true.

Once an AD has paid for the inventory it is theirs to do with as they please. It's probably law to boot. There might be stipulations to receiving inventory from Rolex but I can't speak to that because I do not know. The only way Rolex could really affect the grays is to mandate inventory buy-backs/returns from the ADs of non-performing watches, keeping those watches out of resellers' hands. A new Rolex watch then belongs either to Rolex or to an AD or to a purchaser. But that's the end of any control. Once Joe Blow buys a watch it's his to do with as he pleases; like selling it to a reseller.

In any case this thread directly involves only a few of Rolex's offerings. Don't want a see-'em-everywhere-Sub or GMT? You'll probably be fine. Go out and buy a watch. In the meantime it's fun to speculate wildly about that black box that is Rolex and what are they up to anyway. But it's refreshing to step out of the bubble once in a while. Take a walk. Wait for March.