We could discuss the virtues and vices of Capitalism until the cows come home, but as I've never desired a Daytona, it doesn't bother me in this case
M
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Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Most Rolexes aren't very rare, not even the vintage ones.Originally Posted by JPE
Tbh., they are horribly overpriced and I don't get the brand image, they are mid level. Not bad, but definitely not up there with AP, VC, PP, or even JLC. There are a number of other small brands out there with a minimal output who have great offerings at this price..m
If someone wants to buy a Daytona at £26k , their money , their choice , they only have to justify it to themselves.
Good luck to them.
Looks like watchfinder agree with me - they just took £3k off the price of 3 white ceramic daytonas in their sale.Plenty of other rolex gmt's and subs in the sale as well.
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Last edited by amcneill; 26th December 2019 at 11:33.
Fully agree, but this is a watch forum so a debate on the market price of one of the most famous watches around doesn't need a justification. I just wouldn't have framed it as "is it stupid.....".
Personally I don't think it's stupid to buy a £26k watch that you could sell for the same price the next day if you wanted, however, my opinion of the modern Daytona is that the design is a bit of a dogs dinner and doesn't justify the hype.
Personally if I had £26k to spend on watches I'd go vintage and get a Stiffert Autavia, GMT Autavia and a McQueen Monaco. All are vastly superior designs than a modern Daytona in my opinion. Their quality won't be near to a Daytona of course but neither would almost all 40-50 year old watches I suspect. And their rarity isn't due to an artificial supply policy for marketing purposes.
Other opinions are available of course.
The brand image is easy to understand, Rolex is perhaps the most well oiled and overworked marketing machine the world has ever seen. They are everywhere and they are the first to jump on any new trend to make sure the stars that the impressionable youth look up to are seen to he wearing a Rolex. From rappers in the nineties to social media influencers now, all will be seen wearing a Rolex and I doubt that many of them actually paid for the watches themselves. Both of my daughters are heavily into the morons that post game playing videos on youtube and the eldest has already decided that she wants a Rolex because dragongirl72, or some other such stupid name, wears one so they must be the best watches in the world. Of course I have no evidence that dragongirl is paid to wear a Rolex but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least.
I’ve often thought that you could go out on the street with one hundred Datejusts and one hundred Nautilus and offer the first hundred people you meet a free watch. You would then be able to return home with a hundred Nautilus in a case. Most people would just look at the name and think the Rolex was the better watch, snatch it off you and think they’d won the lottery.
Nothing wrong with that, it’s how marketing works and Rolex spend more than any other maker to keep it that way. What I find surprising is that a forum such as this, with all the information it contains, has become so Rolex centric over the last couple of years. Unless, of course, profit and value retention are the only things that matter.
Daytona is a fine and an iconic watch but not everybody needs to love it.
I find criticism like dog’s dinner a little disingenuous though and silly.
And nothing wrong with buying it for whatever money someone feels it is worth to get it on the wrist today.
People who call that stupid need to get a life.
Patrick Philippe spends 1/4 of Rolex on marketing with 1/10th sales
Last edited by RAJEN; 26th December 2019 at 14:28.
with Rolex it all comes down to money and re sale, even if I was as rich as some on here I wouldn't buy that watch.
Some people also see it as a status symbol I dont In fact I see it as a flash symbol with most (but not all wearers).
some off my favorite watches are the time factors and in particular the smiths military.
Of course I like my IWC and Zenith even more but I bought them for the history behind them and the simplicity of design.
I would never mention the price unless asked,I have told people of the history and reasoning behind them though.
are we talking love of watches or love of money and status here?
I said dogs dinner because to me it's a flawed, unattractive and dated design. The essay below Rolex on the dial, the pushers, crown guards and crown look "squashed" together on the case, the very dated 90s style tachmeter bezel, the thick rings around the chronograph dials, etc. To me it's ill proportioned and frankly the core design is ugly in many respects.
Vintage Daytonas are stunningly beautiful, to me the modern version in comparison is a dogs dinner. I'd have a big block Tudor any day over a modern Daytona.
To be fair certain Daytona versions are better, the white gold / platinum models seem to have better proportioned dials and the latest Ceramic bezel version is a significant improvement but I still don't understand why the core design is held in such high regard.
Like I said other opinions are available and I wouldn't criticise anyone for buying a Daytona if they genuinely like it.
Last edited by watchcollector1; 26th December 2019 at 15:04.
Other figures are of course available. Rolex numbers are notoriously secret, especially since, as most suspect, they forced the COSC to stop publishing the numbers of certificates issued by brand. And 1/10th of of Rolex sales in numbers of units would be, at least, double that of Patek’s total annual output.
All major brands spend a lot after marketing. It would be suicidal not to.
There is no evidence that Rolex spend more relative to its revenues than other major Swiss brands on marketing.
It is just that they do it with far better results.
Repeatedly trying to put down Rolex by invoking tropes like mass produced, marketing,mid level, good but not great, status symbol etc
are a sign of a loser mentality, IMO.
There is something about Rolex that turns sensible, grown men into a bunch of whining girls trying to detract from a supremely successful brand with great products.
Sorry but no other opinions available:-)
Last edited by RAJEN; 26th December 2019 at 15:57.
What you call loser mentality I call objectivity. Which one of those is not true?
I own two Rolex, they are good watches and sit roughly in the middle of my collection quality wise. If I had to liquidate they would be the first to go because they would be the easiest to sell. But that doesn’t make them the best watches, far from it, and I include some, like the Tudor GMT, that cost considerably less.
It’s a growing trend on this forum for anyone that says anything about Rolex, except to sing their praises, to be labelled as a jealous wannabe. A bit worrying for a forum that is supposed to be about watches and watchmaking in general rather than just one brand.
This ^^^
Rolex marketing with the golf, tennis, F1 etc is highly successful.
Weird how there’s as many posters knocking Rolex as there is posting about them. If I don’t like a brand I just don’t waste my time and energy constantly going on about it. Don’t like them, their marketing, quality or lack of availability, move on and do something useful like list a single flip flop in SC :-)
Re: A bit worrying for a forum that is supposed to be about watches and watchmaking in general rather than just one brand.
Says the man whose 80% of last twenty posts are some kind of Rolex criticism on a bunch of different threads.
A sign of somewhat unhealthy obsession, perhaps.
Rather more of a growing trend to try to run down Rolex in terms of quality and value for money I would say. Kind of a reverse snobbery.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Wow, thanks for taking the time to check out my posting history. You are, as it seems is often the case, wrong. In fairness a few of those posts are on this thread so, of course, they follow the subject. My thread about how other brands should follow the Rolex price rise was not, and was never intended to be, a Rolex bashing thread. It was a thread wondering if other brands should be raising their prices also in an attempt to maintain their current places in the perceived hierarchy of brands. I believe, without looking, that I may have also commented on Rolex a few other times recently. I clearly remember saying that there is nothing wrong with someone buying a Bamford Rolex if they like it, but to be careful with residuals. I also believe that I may have criticised them for taking legal action against a US customiser, and I may have suggested that the person that challenged in court, and won, the retention of warranty cards may have difficulty securing a Rolex in future. Again, hardly a major bashing of the brand or their models.
I have posted on other subjects as well. I attempted to help someone who was after some info on Armand Nicolet. And, of course, there was my GP incoming post yesterday which, predictably, met with not much response, although I remain thankful for your negative comment on said post.
Last edited by Danstone; 26th December 2019 at 17:31.
Apparently your experience of Rolex owners is based on “years of experience working in the city”, which is all well and good but probably means you also think Rolex owners all wear red braces and drive a Porsche! Perhaps those working in that small cross section of the U.K. do indeed like to show them off in a loadsamoney fashion but I don’t think it applies across the whole country by any means. At least not among people I meet anyway.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Which just goes to prove that the man in the street does, occasionally, get it right!
Indeed, if you were to repeat the process with a £5 Casio and the Nautilus, I'd like to believe that the result would be the same.
Well, I own two Rolex and one Porsche. I did, about twenty years ago, also own a pair of red braces. Other than that I’m not sure exactly what your point is. Red braces died out many years ago, probably the precise day that I bought a pair. And the current car of choice for those that wish to make a statement seems to be the Range Rover Sport.
It may be a very narrow view that I have due to the environment I inhabit, but I can only call it as I see it. Of course there are a great many people that buy a Rolex for its quality and history, or simply just because they like it. But even the biggest fanboy in the world would have to concede that a great many, if not the majority, buy a Rolex, any Rolex, as a fashion statement. I’ve had conversations with AD’s that back up that view. I keep coming back to the idea of wanting an AirKing (because I hate the brand so much) and last time I enquired I was told that it would take a few weeks to get in as even they don’t make it to the windows. The AD told me that they get so many people in each day that just ask for a Rolex, they don’t care what it is so long as it says Rolex on the dial. It’s not that these people are buying to build a relationship and get the hard to get pieces, they are buying just because it is now fashionable to have any Rolex on the wrist. I’m sure that’s not just a southeast thing.
Apart from “Rolex are popular” I’m not sure what point you are making. Do people have to buy niche products to be “real”? Why do we have to try to question people’s motives for buying as though our motives are purer? Unless of course they are simply flipping them for a profit.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Red braces and Porsches were early 1980s. Not 1999.
I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here, but this endless Rolex value obsession is really getting me down. I own five, my collection built up over the past 20 years. The cheapest (OP 39) is actually my favourite watch for daily wear. The others are a platinum DD, and three Subs of varying ages.
I also drive a 981 GTS, not because it's a Porsche, but because it's the least imperfect sports car ever created.
Are people stupid to buy a Daytona at £26k? Yes, but it's their money, so - so what?
Agreed, well said.
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