Newbie - apologies in advance - where best sell watches

^^ Very good advice. I'd imagine given the near frenzy for Subs at the moment it would sell as is very quickly?

Taken on face value it's a more interesting watch, but the market wants what the market wants I suppose.

fat bloke wrote: »

Fack me. Are we looking at the same picture??? I understand the Rolex is worth a lot of money in the current (bizarre-oh-world) market but "nice" ?? I'm looking at a reasonably presentable Tag next to a raggedya$$ p.o.s.

Actually I like it as is, though I'd get it serviced by an independent, swap out the hands for 70's Omega diver hands, slap it on a admiralty grey nato strap and be done with it. Rock the ratrod look.

Apart from fact that there's a few quid to be made on it I see absolutely nothing appealing about it. I've scratched my head raw at the Rolex bandwagon but Mother of God, this takes the biscuit. :eek:

The underlined part is the thing. The market has decided over the last decade that Rolex is a substitute for cash and the best watch evah, the interwebs has helped make it a meme and a gold rush so it is what it is. They've become a "luxury" item, outside of solid gold or platinum examples intrinsic value is minimal and horologically they're pretty dull. Then again there's a lot more going on with that than there is in a 30,000 quid handbag that's made from a couple of 100 quids worth of materials and in the case of fakes with them, sometimes the fake can be spotted because they're slightly better finished. :eek::D

The handy thing is that it's all down to personal choice. TAG are currently deeply unfashionable, because that is what it is too and will cost significantly less and has more functionality if that appeals. So you get the watch you want for less. And the world turns. 10-20 years back TAG were very fash, as were IWC, both of which have gone off the radar since. In 10 years time, who knows? It could go the way of "ohh Rolex are soooo obvious, tsk" and "[insert brand here] are so much classier *sniff*". You pays your money...

Fitz II wrote: »

Is Rolex desirable cause there is profit in it...or is there profit in it cause it's desirable. The end result is the same but the reason to have one is different. Haters Gona hate.

Dunno where the hater stuff comes in. They're desirable because Rolex advertising particularly in the US market(a market where they were pretty much unknown until the mid 60's) in the 60's through the 70's was extremely good and that increased their market share and profile. They never had the nouveau used car salesman rep in that market either. Like all the other Swiss they were hammered by the "quartz crisis", but with the resurgence of the Swiss mechanical they came back with the rest. Since around the turn of the century they plotted a steady course to move up a tier from mid, Omega ditto, but not quite as successfully. Jimmy Bond and the most cringeworthy marketing lines ever; "Rolex?"... "No, Omega".

Btw Iwc still desirable...

Not even close to where they were a few years ago though. There was a time when it was hard to avoid a youtuber, industry hack, influencer or article that wasn't mentioning a Big Pilot and they were a staple of the "right" collections. Funny enough the vintage B-Uhr's from various brands also had their values soften, though at the more reasonably priced end of things the various B-Uhr models from Stowa and the like remain popular. The Portugieser save for a brief time was always a niche model. Though I 100% agree with you, they're both very nice watches indeed.

C0N0R wrote: »

What happened the desirability of Tag? Probably if if I wasn’t such a lurker here I wouldn’t be aware of it, but why did they fall from where they were? I guess I grew up wanting a Tag (late 80’s kid)

Same for 90's kids and not so kids. They had very good marketing for a time, made solid well built watches and had very fashionable 90's designs that appealed and they were very popular as a "good watch" well into the 00's. I remember when Boards beers were a thing and just after this forum was set up, I was asked a few times at said events which TAG Whooer I'd recommend.

I reckon two things hit them; their marketing machine ran over a few bumps and their designs were too of the moment, when the market was looking more and more to consistent vintage design elements. Again this is were Rolex had an in. Their design language hasn't changed since the 1970's, they have almost never gone too fashionable and when they do it gets about as radical as the exact same watch with a different coloured dial or bezel. Being fashionable is great when you're in fashion, like TAG, no so great when you're not, like TAG. Though Omega deserve a shout out here, because their range does change and a modern Seamaster doesn't look like one from 1970, unlike the Rolex sports models that pretty much do. Even their icon watch the Speedy can get a bit wild at times. Though Omega play the special edition like mad, something Rolex don't.