Grail Arrived & Remarkably Quickly

[Vince KSA]

Just picked up my SS Daytona 116500 LN, and over the moon! it is a definite keeper and in my opinion one of the all time iconic Rolexes.

I'm in Saudi Arabia and have an excellent relationship with my dealer Deepsea blue and the new DJ41 (Blue) purchased within the last 14 months. To cut a long story short it arrived at the 12 month point. My dealer says their policy is maximum of 1-3 years for any watch.

First impressions, much smaller than I thought, I knew it was a 40 mm, but it feels way smaller than my DJ 41, it wears small and neat. That's fine as my wrists are average to small. For example the red lettering "Daytona", on the photo is virtually impossible to read for anyone unless you have perfect eyesight or reading glasses on. I'm 50 but cannot see it without my +1.50 reading glasses. The bezel obviously doesn't move, something I just took for granted, but being briefed on its function I now fully understand, likewise as it has no date I will probably still wear my DJ 41 Blue for daily wear.

Finally the price! In the UK this is a sub GBP10k watch. The AD (Not Grey), the AD price here is 68,250 Saudi Riyals, GBP 14,000 or indeed USD 18,200. thats just the price here in Saudi. Any other owners had to pay a similar price in different countries have a similar high price from their AD?

Let me know your thoughts.

[Odie-r]

Beauty. Congrats!

[Chloe&Harley]

Congrats

[lenfried29]

Originally Posted by Vince KSA

Finally the price! In the UK this is a sub GBP10k watch. The AD (Not Grey), the AD price here is 68,250 Saudi Riyals, GBP 14,000 or indeed USD 18,200. thats just the price here in Saudi. Any other owners had to pay a similar price in different countries have a similar high price from their AD?

Congrats on your purchase!
The price in US from AD (MSRP) is $12,400.00 without tax. Your price bit high.

[Pw92676]

Congrats.

[strafer_kid]

Very nice indeed!

[YachtMaster22]

The reason it feels smaller than 40mm is because it is... For advertisement purposes Rolex will say it's 40mm. In reality it's 38.7mm.
I'm also shocked that you paid that much at an AD. ~18,000USD? That's just shy of grey market prices. Unless you paid extra to get the watch early, I don't think Rolex would be happy to hear that your AD decided to basically charge you 1.5 times the MSRP when you were expecting to get the watch as normally planned (not paying to get it early). The USD price is either $12,400 or $12,800, but I can't remember right now.

[Chiboy]

Originally Posted by YachtMaster22

The reason it feels smaller than 40mm is because it is... For advertisement purposes Rolex will say it's 40mm. In reality it's 38.7mm.
I'm also shocked that you paid that much at an AD. ~18,000USD? That's just shy of grey market prices. Unless you paid extra to get the watch early, I don't think Rolex would be happy to hear that your AD decided to basically charge you 1.5 times the MSRP when you were expecting to get the watch as normally planned (not paying to get it early). The USD price is either $12,400 or $12,800, but I can't remember right now.

It’s $12,400 in the U.S. but OP seems to be saying MSRP in Saudi Arabia is around $18k. Yes, not that different from gray prices. Kind of adds validity (on a sample size of 1, lol) to my theory that people would be happy to pay much closer to gray prices if that was the official Rolex MSRP.

[Vince KSA]

Originally Posted by Chiboy

It’s $12,400 in the U.S. but OP seems to be saying MSRP in Saudi Arabia is around $18k. Yes, not that different from gray prices. Kind of adds validity (on a sample size of 1, lol) to my theory that people would be happy to pay much closer to gray prices if that was the official Rolex MSRP.

Thanks for all the comments I genuinely appreciate them all.

To answer the question; no I did not pay over the odds in order to get any quicker, that (SAR68,250 - USD 18,200 - GBP14,000) is just the fixed price here in Saudi. I believe that there is only one official (AD) importer in KSA, "Saddik & mohamed Attar & Co".

I believe that the waiting list is shorter as the Saudis and Arabs in particular just like gold and bling watches more than SS. Check out the photo below of official blingy watches at around GBP100,000 at the AD, something that I do not believe that I would ever see in the UK. Likewise look at the second photo of the 3 sports watches, which have been sat there for at least 2-3 months that I know about.

Regarding the comment that people would be prepared to pay this price if it meant stopping people buying to flip, I agree. The more watches that stay in the hands of genuine Rolex aficionados the better. Personally I think that the 1165 500LN has reached its peak. If Rolex did raise the price of this model it might just squeeze the grey dealers (a good thing) as there is only so much people are willing to pay for a SS Rolex, its not a PP.

[antbkny]

Congrats! They’re definitely small but pack a punch!

[travisb]

Congrats!

[Mr.WorldTimer]

One of the best watches in the line up. Beautiful! Regarding the price, while you still bought it under what some UK dealers would offer, the price in Saudi is inflated by the ADs there and not official Rolex pricing. In fact, the whole AD pricing situation is abysmal across the gulf. Especially Oman, KSA and BH. A lot of particularly shoddy practices happening but Rolex only seems to care about the UK market at this point. Wish they were as stringent all over the world.

[FTX I]

Beautiful watch. Well done.

[hodie9]

Very nice indeed. Congrats on a beautiful watch.

[Burlington]

Congratulations on the acquisition!

[R!$]

Congrats on a great watch
Yes it may be a high price but so long as you keep it for your whole life

[ssbb]

Congrats

[RichM]

Congratulations

[Vinyasa]

Fantastic reference/model, congratulations!

[Navarino]

Congrats on the white Daytona! It's an amazing SS watch. Enjoy it in the best of health!

[T01]

Congrats!

[JayHantz]

Awesome to see more of these on the incomings and going to Rolex lovers. It is a wonderful piece and I hope you enjoy it for many years.

[watchwatcher]

Congrats...awesome watch!

[DtownRRS]

Congrats! Enjoy it.

[Old Geezer]

Congrats. Wear it in good health.

[oldman2005]

Congrats!

[freshness]

Wow. Congratulations

[subprimero]

Congratulations!

[imgook]

If you had just brought from a grey dealer 12 months ago, you probably would have picked the watch up for cheaper and without the wait. From memory it was hovering around the $16-$17k USD mark this time last year.

[Vince KSA]

Originally Posted by imgook

If you had just brought from a grey dealer 12 months ago, you probably would have picked the watch up for cheaper and without the wait. From memory it was hovering around the $16-$17k USD mark this time last year.

Good point, but I do not support the grey dealer market, as it's getting to be a beast out of control.

As this is a once in a lifetime watch I'm more than happy to get from an AD with cards in my name.

I'm an UK Expat in KSA and was just over the moon to get it in 12 months. I enquired at several UK ADs and was told 4-5 years and even then most waiting lists were not adding anymore names. I might have paid a high price at my local Saudi AD, but I still feel privileged and it's not going to sit in a box, I will genuinely wear it as often as I can.