What's new
What's new
By:
Advanced search…

OT Ever wonder why a Rolex is so expensive?

Rolex has artificially slowed down production or limited release volume of all stainless datejusts , GMT, and Daytona watches to increase prices and weed out grey market resellers. So far has worked exactly like they planned. Most are selling for over retail.
 
I wore a SS submariner every day for about 15 years. When I had to sell it, I got more than I paid for it. I did everything with that watch- rock climbing, scuba diving, fishing, working in the machine shop. Alaska to Costa Rica, it never once skipped a beat.

Best damn watch I've ever owned, hands down. They just run and run. I've always regretted selling it. Been looking for another one for some time, but just can't bring myself to drop the 8K on a new one. One of these days...
 
They work great while they work, they have brand recognition tied right up.

They won't sell parts to a non-Rolex Certified watchmaker, and they rape you on parts even if you are one. If you thought buying car parts at the dealership was a rip, you got a thing or two to learn, about being overcharged!

Ad campaigns cost a lot of money. Of course, no business ever got anywhere without marketing, but the sales pitch doesn't really match what you get as actual substance.

40-50 years back, a working class dude could afford a basic Rolex, and they were a decent watch. These days, there are a LOT of decent quality, and good looking watches around, for far more reasonable money.

If I had a box of Rolexes, I would be selling them to those that feel the 'need', and buying something nice.

That video really shows nothing of what it takes to make a Rolex, just another watch being stripped down for clean and service.

Dig arount youtube and you can watch videos of Patek Philipe minute repeating wristwatch parts being made and hand finished. Well worth the time! So to speak! :)
 
Wow. 8k for a bottom end watch? You know how many fucking swatches I could destroy for that? It's a watch. I can't drive through town without every fast food joint bank telling me the time.

Every vehicle I own has a clock. So does almost every establishment I set foot in, including my shop.

Hey, do you. If your dick is so small you need to rock a 8k watch, sorry to hear that.

I could trade any single one toy for that garbage, but, let me think.... Um, Nope.

To each their own. I don't fucking care what you think of me, and no fucking way would I piss away 8 grand on a pissant watch. Maybe I should.... I'd be able to fuck up all the broke ass bitches that try to steal it.

To me, it's just plain stupid.
 
I wore a Rolex for 25 or so years, stopped wearing it because the band needs to be rebuilt. After I stopped wearing it I realized my phone was my default "watch" Today I would hesitate to wear a nice watch in a lot of places. I have also gotten used to having nothing on my wrist, I don't miss wearing a watch.

Steve
 
For years I never wore a watch. When asked why not, I'd reply, "If my wife thinks I need to know what time it is, she'll tell me what time it is." I guess maybe she heard that one time too many, so for my 40th birthday she gave me a Movado, and then for my 45th a bigger Movado with a diamond bezel, which we refer to as my Pimp Watch. Movados don't have numbers, but with the time staring at me from screens at work and in the car all day long, who needs to look at it anyway? Today a watch is mostly jewelry.
 
I'm fine with the 'craftsmanship' of a Rolex but really....what better example is there of an anachronism? There are far more accurate and reliable and cheaper ways to keep track of time. In 2018, a Rolex wearer is more concerned with the 'wrong' things than the 'right' things.
 
Oldwrench said:
For years I never wore a watch. When asked why not, I'd reply, "If my wife thinks I need to know what time it is, she'll tell me what time it is." I guess maybe she heard that one time too many, so for my 40th birthday she gave me a Movado, and then for my 45th a bigger Movado with a diamond bezel, which we refer to as my Pimp Watch. Movados don't have numbers, but with the time staring at me from screens at work and in the car all day long, who needs to look at it anyway? Today a watch is mostly jewelry.
Click to expand...

was thinking the same thing.....51 years old....never wore a watch for more than a week or 2 at a time. Seems as useful as a ring or a necklace today
 
Sure, you can buy 200 swatches for the price of a submariner. You will lose money on every one of them.

My submariner was the cheapest watch I've ever owned. I got to wear and enjoy it for 15 years, didn't put a dime into it. It never needed service, never needed a battery, always kept great time and I sold it for double what I paid. If I still owned it today, it would be worth triple.

I don't wear jewelry, I don't drive flashy cars. I ride a Harley not because I need it, but because I like it. That watch is one of the one few things I have ever owned where the longer I owned it, the more I liked it. I didn't baby it- it went through shit that would kill a lot of other watches. It was bulletproof.

Lots of people bash them, but I everyone I have known that owned one- never heard a complaint.

A couple times I took it in to the local Ben Bridge have some of the stretch taken out of the bracelet. They always cleaned and polished it, and never charged me for it.
 
I used to joke it was the most reliably inaccurate watch I 've ever owned. But recently after 40 yrs of various supposedly (great) rolex technicians, I found a guy that really knows his stuff and my GMT runs dead accurate. I guess like any complex mechical device, be it Ferrari's or whatever, finding a great mechanic is key.
 
Ever wonder why a Rolex is so expensive?

Cadmium, Aluminum, melted soup cans mixed with melted Volkswagens??

Shitty packaging, No service availability, regular Watch guys don't want to touch them. Poor delivery, and God awfully Klunky. I'm not Jam master J or the guy with the Clock around his neck. I wear a Casio.
 
woodsrider845 said:
Wow. 8k for a bottom end watch? You know how many fucking swatches I could destroy for that? It's a watch. I can't drive through town without every fast food joint bank telling me the time.

Every vehicle I own has a clock. So does almost every establishment I set foot in, including my shop.

Hey, do you. If your dick is so small you need to rock a 8k watch, sorry to hear that.

I could trade any single one toy for that garbage, but, let me think.... Um, Nope.

To each their own. I don't fucking care what you think of me, and no fucking way would I piss away 8 grand on a pissant watch. Maybe I should.... I'd be able to fuck up all the broke ass bitches that try to steal it.

To me, it's just plain stupid.
Click to expand...

Dis your wife leave you for a man(or woman) with a rolex. You got some serious hate there.
 
daryl bane said:
...I guess like any complex mechical device, be it Ferrari's or whatever, finding a great mechanic is key.
Click to expand...
You will probably never have to address it again. Once they are regulated, they stay regulated. It's a tiny, tiny tweak, and you have to put it in a winder and wait, then tweak again until it's right. It takes a few days. The most common error is to make too large an adjustment, you chase it back and forth.

Mine gained about 10 seconds a month, I never adjusted it. Pretty damn good for a mechanical watch.

People look at them as luxury items, I guess it's the only thing I ever bought for myself that you could call a luxury item. I looked at is as purely utilitarian- it was just a rock solid watch that I wasn't afraid if it got dunked in the solvent or coolant, or I went scuba diving with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

rimcanyon
why are laser cleaning machines so expensive?
2
Replies
30
Views
1K
Superbowl
Superbowl
A
Don't use shell mill half way on & half way off material
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
eKretz
eKretz
Mr Pugsley
Advice for lapping a linear shaft
Replies
7
Views
523
Mr Pugsley
Mr Pugsley
D
How to plate stainless steel to look bronze
Replies
1
Views
273
memphisjed
M
M
Why do some lathe chucks have lots of screws and some very few?
Replies
14
Views
908
4GSR
4GSR








 

ABOUT PRACTICAL MACHINIST

With more than 10.6 million unique visitors over the last year, Practical Machinist is the most visited site for metalworking professionals. Practical Machinist is the easiest way to learn new techniques, get answers quickly and discuss common challenges with your peers. Register for the world’s largest manufacturing technology forum for free today to stay in the know.

Learn more about us.

STAY CONNECTED

Facebook Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Pinterest Twitter Tiktok

Register Become a forum member. Register today.

Sign Up Sign up for our e-newsletter.

© 2024 Copyright Practicalmachinist.com. All Rights reserved.

Back
Top