Daytona C availability, is Rolex changing strategy?

[TheVTCGuy]

I have another thread here on my "C" story, so won't go in to that, but yesterday at the AD Larry, (BNALION) and I had an interesting conversation with my rep. Remember back with the old Daytona, how the SS version was so scarce and hard to get? It seems like they were going for well over MSRP on the gray market, and getting one from an AD was akin to finding the city of Atlantis. Even years after it's release, it was still extremely hard to come by.

It doesn't seem to be the case with the C. Here we are only a few months after Basel, and I see several incoming and arrived threads on the forum. My AD had three of them come in! (Don't ask, I got one and the other two are already gone ). But Larry and I found it interesting about the apparent abundance (relatively speaking, compared to the last model Daytona) of available Cs. A couple reps at the AD said they believe it is due to the new President of Rolex, what's his face, and a new strategy of "giving the people what they want." They said there was such a negative backlash from the scarcity of the old Daytona that customers were frustrated and instead purchased a competitor's model; Rolex took note of the lost business and they were not going to make that mistake again. This is, of course, just a theory, but it kind of made sense(?).

Do you agree that there APPEARS to be more availability with the new model? And could it really signal a change in Rolex and that (FINALLY) they are listening to customer's complaints?

[simongpaez]

Makes a lot of sense, specially with all the incoming threads we have seen lately, and you are correct in prevois years it took a while before the release of a model after Basel, not the case this year, another good point of giving what peple want it's the watch itself, how many years did we waited for a C Daytona? I hope it is the "new" strategy of Rolex.

[Slippy Chips]

I know a lot of people who are waiting on purchasing a watch because they are waiting on the Daytona C. If they aren't planning on buying it they at least want to see one in person to decide. So the inaccessibility of the Daytona could be slowing down sales of other models to a degree.

[Daytona88]

Hard to tell this early on but looking optimistic!

[cffluntouch]

It certainly appears that way with both speed to market and availability. This forum may only amplify and make it appear that way, though, since we are all lunatics and the rest of the world isn't even aware it's out. But, I hope you're right since I'm early on my ADs waiting list!

[Danny83]

I agree Paul maybe its a Rolex marketing ploy ......seems like they are readily available

[viper]

I agree they do seem more abundant.

They'll sell every one they make so why impede sales. I do agree if they make it too hard to get its the grey market making all the margins and frustrated customers go elsewhere to a different brand.

[Beauregard]

Rolex is extremely diligent in controlling the market, whatever they do it's based on perpetuating their share of it. I think the BLNR and D-Blue are two perfect examples, and I doubt very much they'll not do the exact thing with the Daytona C.

[bbhewee]

im sure they're trying to find the perfect balance of scarcity (which means desirability) and lost business. I remember Ferrari making 999 (or whatever the number was) of the F50 as it was one less than what they esteemed global demand to be. Make 990 and that's 9 more you have lost a sale on.

[sensui]

Seems too early to tell.. If more available it's a win win for consumers and Rolex.

[peterskinner]

I think this approach is back-to-front. Rolex exists for one reason...to maximise profits. It will have well-developed spreadsheets which outline which combination of production models achieves the best profits. If making more Daytonas is more profitable than making something else, that's what they will do.
The idea that they deliberately hold back some models and not others doesn't make any sense at all. That whole idea comes from many years back when the Daytona had the Zenith movement, supplied in limited numbers. But now Rolex makes it all, and the limit is simply their production capacity. So people assuming big profits on the Daytonas might get a rude shock. If it's worthwhile, Rolex can churn them out by the many thousand. The only result of creating scarcity is that grey dealers can sell above retail, while ADs cannot. That's not in the interest of Rolex, it doesn't help their profits one bit.
One result of the whole Daytona 'thing' is that people don't grasp that many Rolex watches are slow the get hold of. I know someone who wants a specific Day-Date and has been told that none exist at the moment...he must wait until they manufacture some more.
Or to put it another way; Rolex has never sought to create scarcity. The shortages are created because making other models is more profitable at the time.

[HogwldFLTR]

As Adam has said; there hasn't been such a string of incomings since the BBN was intro'd. I'm curious now as to how many there have actually been to date. Seems like an awfully high number. Anyone keeping tabs?

[Louis (Toronto)]

I think it's too early to tell. This is the first wave of deliveries.

[jon_jon]

Instead of a completely new movement as was with the Rolex Daytona in 2000, I would imagine a new ceramic bezel is fairly easy to make in large quantities, especially since so many other Rolex watch models have a ceramic bezel now.

[watchwatcher]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Do you agree that there APPEARS to be more availability with the new model? And could it really signal a change in Rolex and that (FINALLY) they are listening to customer's complaints?

I agree that there does appear to be more availability. As to the rest, time will tell.

[GradyPhilpott]

I believe it was Peter who pointed out that the only differences are the bezel and the dials and that is likely what helped Rolex to hit the ground running on these.

[DJExplorer]

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

As Adam has said; there hasn't been such a string of incomings since the BBN was intro'd. I'm curious now as to how many there have actually been to date. Seems like an awfully high number. Anyone keeping tabs?

i put up a poll to see how many are on here and the spread of black vs white, but think its a flop.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

I have another thread here on my "C" story, so won't go in to that, but yesterday at the AD Larry, (BNALION) and I had an interesting conversation with my rep. Remember back with the old Daytona, how the SS version was so scarce and hard to get? It seems like they were going for well over MSRP on the gray market, and getting one from an AD was akin to finding the city of Atlantis. Even years after it's release, it was still extremely hard to come by.

It doesn't seem to be the case with the C. Here we are only a few months after Basel, and I see several incoming and arrived threads on the forum. My AD had three of them come in! (Don't ask, I got one and the other two are already gone ). But Larry and I found it interesting about the apparent abundance (relatively speaking, compared to the last model Daytona) of available Cs. A couple reps at the AD said they believe it is due to the new President of Rolex, what's his face, and a new strategy of "giving the people what they want." They said there was such a negative backlash from the scarcity of the old Daytona that customers were frustrated and instead purchased a competitor's model; Rolex took note of the lost business and they were not going to make that mistake again. This is, of course, just a theory, but it kind of made sense(?).

Do you agree that there APPEARS to be more availability with the new model? And could it really signal a change in Rolex and that (FINALLY) they are listening to customer's complaints?

Well Paul in the real world its just a tarted up old Daytona so they should be around in abundance, they can make the dials and bezels in there hundreds at a time.Although they did state once it takes 40 hours to make a ceramic insert, but they never said how many they make at a time, much like it takes 12 months to make a Rolex oyster.

[yannis]

They have probably made a shipment of the first batch to the US (it is raining Daytonas Hallelujah).
it remains to be seen how soon the second shipment will be Paul.
They will probably play the scarcity game like with the Deep Blue and BLNR.

[AK797]

I remember the SDc coming out mostly in June so this may be being rolled out at an even quicker rate. With this Daytona in SS before TT and WG and YG, and the T-Rex Exp and the DD40 Rolex seem to be listening and riding the populist wave. If only the Chinese economy had tanked a couple of years earlier we might have had an SS BLRO...

[Speed]

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

As Adam has said; there hasn't been such a string of incomings since the BBN was intro'd. I'm curious now as to how many there have actually been to date. Seems like an awfully high number. Anyone keeping tabs?

I still say we cannot judge these threads as indicative of normal market dynamics.

Members here (apparently including BC ) have been in 1st position on lists since Basel...The watch was so highly anticipated. I am not at all surprised at the # of these threads.

[japenney]

Originally Posted by peterskinner

I think this approach is back-to-front. Rolex exists for one reason...to maximise profits. It will have well-developed spreadsheets which outline which combination of production models achieves the best profits. If making more Daytonas is more profitable than making something else, that's what they will do.
The idea that they deliberately hold back some models and not others doesn't make any sense at all. That whole idea comes from many years back when the Daytona had the Zenith movement, supplied in limited numbers. But now Rolex makes it all, and the limit is simply their production capacity. So people assuming big profits on the Daytonas might get a rude shock. If it's worthwhile, Rolex can churn them out by the many thousand. The only result of creating scarcity is that grey dealers can sell above retail, while ADs cannot. That's not in the interest of Rolex, it doesn't help their profits one bit.
One result of the whole Daytona 'thing' is that people don't grasp that many Rolex watches are slow the get hold of. I know someone who wants a specific Day-Date and has been told that none exist at the moment...he must wait until they manufacture some more.
Or to put it another way; Rolex has never sought to create scarcity. The shortages are created because making other models is more profitable at the time.

No offense but i have to disagree with this completely. Perceived scarcity is a huge part of the Rolex business model. It is a big part of their brand and why they are so popular.

You are not going to convince me that a company as rich as Rolex cant slap a ceramic bezel and new dial on old Daytona cases faster and in higher production than what they are currently doing. They could ship 20 ceramic daytonas to each AD and they would sell (i bet they have enough made). But they release them slowly to increase perceived exclusivity. How can you even type "Rolex has never sought to create scarcity". Its such a huge part of their sucessful brand image! Lots of people want a hulk or blnr and cant get one because for every 5 or so black divers only 1 blnr/hulk is made.

[HL65]

Originally Posted by Speed

I still say we cannot judge these threads as indicative of normal market dynamics.

Members here (apparently including BC ) have been in 1st position on lists since Basel...The watch was so highly anticipated. I am not at all surprised at the # of these threads.

Agree with this. Only thing different is we now see Basel watches earlier each year. Last year June and this year mid to end of May. My guess is they will slow down and be no different than DSSD Blue, BLNR and old Daytona. Time will tell but that is my hunch.

[FTX I]

They need to sell more watches, apparently, and fast. Otherwise we wouldn't have what 'we' always wanted so early, and I mean not only hitting the market but released as a whole. That's the way I see it and In my humble opinion of course.

[sensui]

Pretty safe bet that the beginning wave might be bigger to build the hype and advertise virally .... Then dwindle supplies to maintain exclusivity. They'll be selling watches just having people walk into ads looking /asking for the new Daytona.

[Oyster Al]

Originally Posted by japenney

No offense but i have to disagree with this completely. Perceived scarcity is a huge part of the Rolex business model. It is a big part of their brand and why they are so popular.

You are not going to convince me that a company as rich as Rolex cant slap a ceramic bezel and new dial on old Daytona cases faster and in higher production than what they are currently doing. They could ship 20 ceramic daytonas to each AD and they would sell (i bet they have enough made). But they release them slowly to increase perceived exclusivity. How can you even type "Rolex has never sought to create scarcity". Its such a huge part of their sucessful brand image! Lots of people want a hulk or blnr and cant get one because for every 5 or so black divers only 1 blnr/hulk is made.

Exactly. Rolex knows what its doing and how to build a long term desire for the Daytona. Always remember Rolex is a privately owned company that does not have to answer to shareholders. And for generations have done things methodically, ever building the brand, and not necessarily sucking every last dime out of customers. There are plenty of examples that show this.

[evlkoala]

Originally Posted by Oyster Al

Exactly. Rolex knows what its doing and how to build a long term desire for the Daytona. Always remember Rolex is a privately owned company that does not have to answer to shareholders. And for generations have done things methodically, ever building the brand, and not necessarily sucking every last dime out of customers. There are plenty of examples that show this.

Agreed! no pressure from shareholders to make the monthly/quarterly/yearly Sales numbers.
Hope Rolex doesn't go IPO one day like Ferrari did.

[gtnator]

I too get the feeling there are more Daytona C's being released quicker than the older Daytona. In fact, when I was chatting with my AD a few days ago he said that if you start measuring from two weeks ago, a DSSD D-Blue is more rare and harder to come by than the DaytonaC. Now, this of course is just two weeks and two corresponding shipments from Rolex that he is measuring. But it is interesting none the less.

[strafer_kid]

Originally Posted by Oyster Al

Exactly. Rolex knows what its doing and how to build a long term desire for the Daytona. Always remember Rolex is a privately owned company that does not have to answer to shareholders. And for generations have done things methodically, ever building the brand, and not necessarily sucking every last dime out of customers. There are plenty of examples that show this.

But surely building a long term desire only works if you then release the product? Desire alone won't make Rolex money. Hopefully in any event, the positive trend to date will continue and they will increase the roll out!

[dera]

Originally Posted by japenney

No offense but i have to disagree with this completely. Perceived scarcity is a huge part of the Rolex business model. It is a big part of their brand and why they are so popular.

You are not going to convince me that a company as rich as Rolex cant slap a ceramic bezel and new dial on old Daytona cases faster and in higher production than what they are currently doing. They could ship 20 ceramic daytonas to each AD and they would sell (i bet they have enough made). But they release them slowly to increase perceived exclusivity. How can you even type "Rolex has never sought to create scarcity". Its such a huge part of their sucessful brand image! Lots of people want a hulk or blnr and cant get one because for every 5 or so black divers only 1 blnr/hulk is made.

They use their production capability for their best selling models = Datejusts. They are in much higher demand by absolute numbers than Daytonas.