one year to make a Rolex...

[NoobSubmarinerOwner]

this is my first new thread -- been posting here and there. proud owner of 114060 for a month and very happy with it.

the topic i haven't found a dedicated thread although i must admit i didn't really exhaustively searched for it on TRF.

i have heard it from the rolex website and a few posts talking about the time it take to make a rolex watch. one year. however they make it - whether by hand or by machine -- their video makes it look like every single one movement and the assembly is from one dedicated watchmaker who see's the assembly from start to finish.

one year is alot of time to build a watch - it would seem difficult to fathom how it would take one year to make a rolex watch.

although rolex never explains how they come to the one year conclusion - i am about to attempt to explain the one year.

the one year watch making process, IMHO, is exactly from start to finish... not just assembling the watch components together. i'm talking about mining the iron ore, processing the ore to attain the correct alloy mixture to make the 904L stainless steel. all the other manufacturing processes of the jewels the gears , cogs etc (whatever they call it in the watch making business). the manufacturing of the sapphire crystal - the machining of all the parts. .. while they could happen simultaneously - it still took time.

can those processes, although it may be simultaneous, accumulate collectively into 1 years time? that's 8,760 hours - from the very beginning to the very end.

one year to make a rolex watch.

just something on my mind.

[77T]

It is the time invested in the various processes Rolex performs in-house. Not the linear time from raw materials into the supply chain to finished product in the showroom.

The concept comes from accounting for a "man-year" valuation of labor costs. It is the amount of work performed by an average worker during one year - although it varies by country. For example, 1389 hours (Netherlands) to a maximum of 2316 hours (South Korea).

So somewhere near 2000 hours' worth of human effort goes into each Rolex.

[Thatguy]

Only about 1$/hr for a sub. No wonder they are a profitable company.
It was posted at the same time but I don't buy 2000 man hrs either.

[NoobSubmarinerOwner]

Originally Posted by 77T

It is the time invested in the various processes Rolex performs in-house. Not the linear time from raw materials into the supply chain to finished product in the showroom.

The concept comes from accounting for a "man-year" valuation of labor costs. It is the amount of work performed by an average worker during one year - although it varies by country. For example, 1389 hours (Netherlands) to a maximum of 2316 hours (South Korea).

So somewhere near 2000 hours' worth of human effort goes into each Rolex.

thanks - interesting.. i hadn't thought about the human effort...

[NoobSubmarinerOwner]

Originally Posted by Thatguy

Only about 1$/hr for a sub. No wonder they are a profitable company.
It was posted at the same time but I don't buy 2000 man hrs either.

seriously? a buck an hour?

[Thatguy]

Originally Posted by NoobSubmarinerOwner

seriously? a buck an hour?

You said 8760 hrs. List of a sub is 8500. Hence they are charging 1$/hr. does not make sense. Not including materials.

[NoobSubmarinerOwner]

Originally Posted by Thatguy

You said 8760 hrs. List of a sub is 8500. Hence they are charging 1$/hr. does not make sense. Not including materials.

oh.. haha...

[seabreeze]

I know I am likely to get excoriated here but Rolex is a well crafted story. It is a highly mechanized machine manufactured product. I am certain there is some handwork in fit and finish and some assembly. But It likely takes no more than 20 hrs to produce a watch.

If they are selling 1,000,000 unit yearly, Fred flinstome would have needed to have been working on the 1970s models just to keep up


You can also reverse engineer it from the retail cost.

[seabreeze]

Adam smith had it right 250 ears ago when he wrote about the division of labor. Consider something small like a safety pin. You can buy 100 for $1.00 but think about how long it would take one man to try and make one, smelting ore, making metal, turning it into steel, fashioning the steel, etc


Sorry I'm sitting here with a bit of wine....rambling

[NoobSubmarinerOwner]

Originally Posted by seabreeze

I know I am likely to get excoriated here but Rolex is a well crafted story. It is a highly mechanized machine manufactured product. I am certain there is some handwork in fit and finish and some assembly. But It likely takes no more than 20 hrs to produce a watch.

If they are selling 1,000,000 unit yearly, Fred flinstome would have needed to have been working on the 1970s models just to keep up


You can also reverse engineer it from the retail cost.

everybody loves a good story...

[seabreeze]

It's a great story and a great product. But the image of well worn handtools, leather aprons, wood benches. No.

What's interesting, albeit unrelated is if you look at the median income for the average wage earner globally It likely takes about a years worth of work or more depending on the model just to pay for one

[NoobSubmarinerOwner]

Originally Posted by seabreeze

It's a great story and a great product. But the image of well worn handtools, leather aprons, wood benches. No.

What's interesting, albeit unrelated is if you look at the median income for the average wage earner globally It likely takes about a years worth of work or more depending on the model just to pay for one

it is relatively accessible luxury watch.