Rolex Purchase.

Beef or Salmon

Afternoon All,

Milestone birthday this year the big 50, looking to purchase new Rolex for the 50th, any advice or where to start? Know not readily available, thanks for any help received.

Iguarantee

I’d advise calling in to your nearest authorised dealer to see what you’d like to buy and gauge the availability.

Fitz II

Very exciting.....best to start with figuring out the watch you want, maybe two options. From there contact the AD and see if they have availability although do not consider promises as certain to turn into an actual watch. If that is no good then the grey market (not AD's) will sell you any watch you wish tomorrow for a markup,, although this is not as large as it used to be on many models.

Get back to us with the one you want and we can advise better.

mailforkev

Excellent decision. Have you decided what model you’d like to buy? That will help to figure out your best route to purchase as some models are much trickier to get new than others.

Beef or Salmon

Have 10K to 15K to spend, nothing concrete yet mind. Thanks for above so far lads.

Fitz II

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121705812#Comment_121705812

That is a very healthy budget, not much you wont get with that money.

Beef or Salmon

Sub-mariner? Hard decide.

Fitz II

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121706304#Comment_121706304

In my humble opinion, you cannot go wrong with a sub. Nice ceramic bezel one. BBlack is the classic, but you might push to a hulk or a new green bezel one. GMT is also an option, certainly a black one and likely a Batman or Batgirl. No date subs are the cheapest and a very classic look. You would also get a very tasty Datejust one with the fancy dial but its far more dressy than the sub.

3DataModem

Couple of things;

1. You can't just walk in and pick what you want. Some (all) dealers have waiting lists which can be skipped if you are a big buyer (spending 100k maybe). This is especially true for the very popular models.
2. The best watch dealer on the Island IMO is Keane's in Cork.
3. If you cannot wait (I couldn't) you can look at Chrono24 and buy "aftermarket" watches... these are new watches purchased by someone from their friendly dealer and immediately resold at markup. Lots of the dealers advertising here are reliable and trustworthy, but do your own research.

I work with a huge watch collector and he was unable to get a Milgauss through his "watch guy" and I went aftermarket, got it from a German dealer on Chrono24 and never regretted it for a moment. Just got Weirs in Dublin to add a link a few weeks later.

893bet

“After market” as a word is one I associate with Franken/fake Rolex personally.

mik_da_man

Best thing to do is go to an AD and try on a few pieces to see what you like most, but realistically it's very doubtful that you'll get a SS Submariner within the year.

You should be able to get a Datejust or something like an explorer. Also the two tones are not as in demand so you could be lucky

Having that amount of cash in the current market is in your favour IMO just be very up front and let them know you have the cash to spend by X date, what is realistic to get and if they can't help you'll go elsewhere. (Gray Market)

scwazrh

I would say a new customer looking for a submariner from weirs for a big birthday would get the watch very quickly but make sure to tell them why you want it.No harm mentioning the other half will want one next as well.

Black sub date or Datejust fluted bezel and dial to your preference would be my suggestion.

scwazrh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121707268#Comment_121707268

A nice aftermarket iced out Hublot would go well with your collection

Deep Thought

I would start by… not buying a Rolex..🤪

893bet

Hard to look past the versatility of a submariner for the average person for a milestone birthday.

Shocking price for what you get but the investment is 90 percent protected from a bailie retention in the short term and will grow worth inflation of the RRP. Jesus I almost have myself convinced to buy one.

Wibbs

I'd be another plus one on the Submariner. A true classic, with a deep history that looks the part in a suit or jeans and is built like a tank.

ULEZ23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121705812#Comment_121705812

Unless you are already on good terms with the jeweller you need to accept that you will probably need to spend 20%+ of that budget with the jeweller on other products to get on good terms with them.

Shop internationally, you could purchase it in Dubai and pay for the trip / holiday over to collect with the same budget

Beef or Salmon

Thanks for replies. Get cracking on this.

Cienciano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121709540#Comment_121709540

Yeah, but the downside is a short holiday in Dubai

banie01

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121707268#Comment_121707268

2nd'd there is a world of difference between buying a grey market watch from a dealer and an "after market" watch.

The latter is IMO always indicative of modification or non OEM work.

Fitz II

One here from a reputable Irish dealer, no date, 2017 his watches are always in as new condition. 2k over list price, probably the cheapest way in the long run. https://www.adverts.ie/sports/rolex-sub-ceramic-2017-no-date-mint/31802198

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121709540#Comment_121709540

I've never been one to be interested in a Rolex, but is this whole plámásing jewellers thing before you can buy one actually real?

Are jewellers really short on friends and need to use their watch leverage to not feel lonely?

Sorry I always just found this such a bizarre type of comment, particularly as it relates to people looking to spend a large chunk of change on a luxury item. Having to prove you 'deserve' to be sold one is fairly ridiculous. Sounds like a massive con.

mik_da_man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121711704#Comment_121711704

It's down to supply and demand.

Most desirable Rolex can be sold above RRP easily, so the AD don't want to be just handing out watches to people who intend to flip them, They are looking to make a few quid from the customer before handing over potential few grand profit .

C0N0R

It’s not just watches, it’s ladies handbags, it’s exotic cars, as said it’s supply and demand.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121711827#Comment_121711827

So are they trying to make sure they're selling to people who won't flip immediately or are they trying to use the demand to make extra money by selling people things they don't want to 'let' them but a Rolex?

Not sure why the AD cares if someone resells their product, they're operating a business selling things. Someone walking in and buying the product for the advertised value is the end game. What happens to the product after shouldn't really matter.

Erring more towards ADs just taking advantage of people due to the demand.

scwazrh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712624#Comment_121712624

So are they trying to make sure they're selling to people who won't flip immediately or are they trying to use the demand to make extra money by selling people things they don't want to 'let' them but a Rolex?

A bit of both.

What happens to the product after shouldn't really matter.

Agree should be nothing to do with them once they are paid and allocate on a genuine 1st person interest gets 1st watch and so on.

Erring more towards ADs just taking advantage of people due to the demand.

100% but most businesses do the same , Irish Hotels are worse.

scwazrh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121711939#Comment_121711939

Only experienced this myself over the last few months .Designer handbag market makes Rolex ADs look professional .

C0N0R

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712790#Comment_121712790

Thankfully I haven’t first hand experience of that side, but I would imagine Hermes etc are very facilitating of allowing a customer to build up plenty of previous purchase history prior to allocating a Birken etc.

mik_da_man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712624#Comment_121712624

Yeah, it's a bit of both sides as said above. They are running a business, a repeat customer is worth much more to them than a once off, so they can use Rolex to build that customer relationship with both sides knowing they will get what they want in the long run.

Conversely, if an AD just sells hard to get items on a first come basis then they won't retain the repeat business.

Rolex have built a very recognised brand, they control the supply and therefore demand.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712624#Comment_121712624

Trying to make people buy shite they can’t sell otherwise for its RRP.

And they don’t want quick public flips as it makes them look bad in the eyes of Rolex.

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712790#Comment_121712790

it's awful, luckily my mrs isn't into hermes (bags at least) and has all the chanels you could possibly need (as far as I can see 😁) but one of her friends is playing the hermes game, she wouldn't have the stomach for it!