Air King

[RolexDan82]

How long have you guys being waiting for an Air King?

I am on my 10th month at my local AD (no purchase history) in Milwaukee. My local AD has never offered me any Rolex and I have gone in there a few times. Several months ago in Vegas I inquired about the Air King and ended up buying my wife a two-tone date just everose with a chocolate dial. It is a beautiful watch and I thought that would established a purchase history with me. The sales associate said that if I was willing to fly down within two days of her getting an Air King, she would let me know. I said absolutely I would, plus my wife already had a preplanned trip to Vegas several months later (which is this weekend). She stopped in and nothing.

I am going back to my AD today…instead of buying this watch in Las Vegas, I should have bought jewelry from he local AD. Milwaukee is not a big city and I work at a well known investment firm, what else do I need to do? They do sell Tudor and GS, but those are not my favorite watches, and I am gun shy about spending more money with no guarantees. And quite frankly, I could get the watch for.a $2k markup on the gray market from Bob’s watches. But I just hate to do that out of principle.

Meanwhile I have a friend that goes to the other AD in the Milwaukee suburbs and get can a Rolex once in a while because he is a “good customer with a purchase history” and he flips them to make money. I buy a watch to hold for the rest of my life. It is just frustrating because I am looking to buy something on the lower end of the Rolex offering, it’s not that I am trying to get a Batman, Batgirl, Daytona, etc. The Air King is a mixed bag with Rolex collectors and cost wise not that far off from the plain oyster perpetual.

[Gearjockey]

This isn’t another “I’m a CEO, but I don’t want to spend +$2k on grey”
Post, is it?
😂

[996marty]

Originally Posted by Gearjockey

This isn’t another “I’m a CEO, but I don’t want to spend +$2k on grey”
Post, is it?
😂

I’m hoping not that was painful

[brandrea]

Welcome to the forum Dan.

I understand your frustration, but these are the times we are in

If you have the means and want to circumvent all the BS, just go gray. It’s not like you’ll be paying significantly over retail for that model. Principals be damned, life’s too short IMO.

[Law52]

It’s unfortunate that we live in a time where one doesn’t know how long it may take to get a certain Rolex watch. Some get them within a very short period and others wait and wait and never get what they desire from the AD. Myself, I buy from the secondary market, thus I get what I want when I want. Note that your not going to get any good deals from Bob’s watches, plus if your state has a sales tax they’ll collect that from you. At least that’s what they told me when I spoke with them.
Instead of buying overpriced jewelry at these AD’s to get noticed, if at all, I’d check out some of the reputable secondary market dealers. There are many and a large majority don’t charge sells taxes for out of state purchases.
By the way, I personally like the Air King and believe it’s one of the overlooked pieces in the Rolex lineup.

[jaychief]

I got one the other month after waiting over 12months....

[43Airking]

I waited 8 months. It’s a great watch - the green and yellow on the dial really pops!!

[HotAirKing]

I only waited a couple of weeks last Feb but it may have just been luck of the draw. It's fantastic, wear it pretty much every day. Worth the wait, if there is one!

[Tortoise99]

There are people on this forum who claim they walked in to an AD and immediately got offered an AK. That certainly isn’t my experience, hence I went grey - they aren’t much more than retail nowadays and it saves you having to grovel to a shop assistant to be allowed to spend thousands of pounds or dollars of your hard earned money.

Maybe things will change now Rolex own Bucherer, though I guess it will take a few years.

[eonbluemantra]

I waited 3 weeks. Just picked mine up the other day from Ben Bridge.

[Lex_Ordo]

FWIW, I called my AD, back in '19 inquiring about an AirKing. At that time it was the original Bloodhound Dial/ 40mm case. He told me that If I could find it secondary I would have a better chance than waiting for him.
I went to David SW, which I had purchased from in the past, and sure enough after a phone call to David, he told me that yes, he had one. It was $200 over retail, so I jumped on it.

Obviously that doesn't help you in today's inflated market, but, if you want the watch, and don't want to wait, call David SW. Unless you have an "IN" at your AD, I suspect that you will be waiting a while.

[baamvino]

My AD told me 1 year

[MarioB83]

I got it in 4 months