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You can try on a Hermes or Rolex, but you can't buy one. You have to do everything right to get that call.
You can just straight up buy almost all Rolex watches and almost all items at Hermes too (excepting stuff like Kelly bags but even then you can buy them post retail for a markup).
Plus Rolex is the poor man's idea of a high end watch brand. Their stuff is overpriced and honestly, somewhat declassé among those who are actually interested in horology.
Vicious propaganda spread by AP, Patek, and RM fans. It is perhaps more correct to say Rolex is a rich man's idea of a "blue collar" brand. In horology circles, Rolex is the Toyota Camry: economical, ubiquitous, not particularly flashy (compared to other options) or complicated (in the horological sense), and the high end models are mostly a silly joke and a waste of money. But your basic-bitch Submariners, Explorers, and GMT masters remain about the single most accurate, reliable, and abuse-tolerant mechanical watches sold today.
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This is an odd comment. Rolex AD's are notorious for stonewalling customers who wish to buy (particularly newer models) and making them jump through all sorts of hoops. By this I mean retail authorized dealers, not gray market. And there's nothing at all "poor man" about Rolex movement or quality, even for the Vacheron Constantin or Richard Mille crowd.
You may be right that it's a well-known brand and is by no means at the apex of watch pricing, but Rolex isn't in the category of mall fashion watch quite yet.
Why you shouldn't buy a Rolex
An interesting video. He makes an off-hand mention to the high-pressure sales tactic of 'receiving the call' and talks about the various negatives of having one.
One thing I'm surprised about is that they're apparently... finiky? As in, need regular maintenance. Rather disappointing. Give some of the videos of watch restoration of Rolexs that were worn as a daily beater for decades, I wonder if that's a more recent development.
Still, having one isn't on my to-do list, ever. If I wanted a high-end watch, I'd just buy an Omega Speedmaster and be done with it.
"I own three Rolexes" --> makes a video on why you shouldn't by Rolexes.
I agree with most of what he says about the price-gouging, luxury branding, and artificial or prestige pricing. When Sean Connery would have bought his submariner 6538 it would have cost around 2-300 bucks, which in today's dollars would be maybe 2K ish. A submariner today MSRP is anywhere from 10K-40K+. Plus the hoop-jumping for the AD. It's absurd. You can get a Rolex on the grey market with box and papers for 2K USD depending on the version (not a new one, a new one will be considerably more).
I still think they're good watches, and I've never heard about any problems with quality control as long as the watch isn't routinely abused. Certainly not in terms of mechanics. I don't love all their styles, but I would probably prefer any Rolex to, say, a Hublot, where the average price is like 20K and more often than not they look like garbage (this is just my opinion).
I happen to have a Speedmaster and endorse your choice.
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At one point I had finished some consulting work and was considering getting a moderately fancy (few hundred dollar range) watch. My wife warned me that I should on no account get a Rolex. She ended up taking charge of the project for me and got me a nice vintage Seamaster.
My daily driver is a vintage (well, 1990s) midsize Seamaster! It's actually the same watch Joe Biden wears. It's a quartz because I can't be bothered to reset it every few days if I'm not gonna wear it which takes away some of the magic but I have other watches for that kind of show that stay in their box unless I have guests over who would be interested in seeing an IRL tourbillon etc.
Btw, this is amazing for learning how a standard mechanical watch works. The animations are top notch.
I knew before I previewed the link that this would be the ciechanowski animation, and I'm here to express my extreme delight with everything on that site. The GPS animations are also stand-out spectacular. One of the few people on the internet doing interesting things with the new WASM toys.
That man seriously deserves a Public Engagement in Science/Engineering award. Too bad that the people who usually get those kinds of awards aim their content at the level of an average 8th grader and not an intelligent adult who knows a thing or two about STEM...
I thought I understood how bicycles work. Then I read his bicycle article...
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Not true for Rolexes, but yes if you want a shot at a Birkin bag you need to build up a relationship as an Hermes customer.
Nah, you just need to find the right store (some airports, Tokyo) and have a man walk in and buy it for you (since the assumption is that they’re less willing to play the game). Even if you do neither of those things, you can negotiate a purchase as a new customer in a single day, it’s just about how you talk to the SA. The mythos around this suits the brand, but the idea that you have to spend $100k on scarves and horse saddles before they let you buy a black Birkin is just that.
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Similar for certain Rolexes. Desirable colorways are often available on a limited application basis.
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