What time is it? Watches and horology

Wow, I wish I had your self control! I'd be a rich man, with a lot less stuff!

Good choice. I’ve tried a bunch of NATOs and those are the best I’ve come across so far (apart from Erika’s, but those are a bit different).

👏👏

Try keep the BB58. They will only go up

Sorry - just to be clear - you walked into a Rolex AD in central London unannounced, and bought a steel GMT-Master II that they had out on display? In 2019?

I'm also slightly confused??

Yes that's exactly what happened.

Kudos to you for asking for it then, I’m mainly gobsmacked that they had one in that wasn’t accounted for. A former colleague of mine waited ages for that same reference. Though I am aware that “waiting lists” for stuff like steel sports Rolexes are generally fictional and just a way of fobbing people off.

Quite a few Rolex staff have been given training about their attitude recently. I.e learning how not to fob people off and roll their eyes when people enquire about a harder to find model.

Amazing really, but it was necessary.

Maybe demand is softening because people are bored of waiting and getting fed bull shit?

And you can get a submariner homage for 1/100th of the cost of a Rolex.

I suppose there always was a risk that they could over egg the fake scarcity pudding.

Reading the swatch group accounts shows significant growth for omega so maybe they're taking market share?

It's absurd that a Rolex Daytona is basically a unicorn while you can walk into a high street jeweller and pick up a Speedy at retail.

Re the ceramic GMT. I got one when they first arrived and had to choose between the old style GMT and the ceramic one. Then it spent 12 years being a relatively unloved model that was easy to get hold of and the price remained roughly the same.

Suddenly I'm checking the prices again and they've shot up because they are not making them (at the moment). I've always loved it, it's an amazing watch to wear but it never felt like a popular model until it became unavailable.

They were tricky to get hold of when I first bought it but that was the summer of 2007 so there were both GMT master styles in the stores for a while.

Hard to second guess but is Rolex counting on the fake scarcity of certain halo models to drive sales of the more available models?

Essentially an unofficial limited edition policy for say the GMT to get more of the other stock out of the door?

Whereas Omega has ltd edition models and production models, which has the same effect but you know what you are getting yourself into as they are more open about it?

My Tintin seems (from a quick glance at Chrono24) to have benefited from being a ltd edition (unofficial as it was) in the same way that many Rolex do- in terms of what it cost to purchase on the open market now, four years after they stopped making them.

Omega (and many other brands) market stuff as limited edition in order to sell their stuff. Rolex doesn't need to, it's obvious that their production for certain models is way under demand

fake scarcity of certain halo models to drive sales of the more available models?

I think it's exactly this.

Also I wondered if it was a co-marketing strategy with Tudor to increase desirability among customers unlikely to buy a Rolex.

production

Let's be honest the word is "supply".

Well, exactly- they could stamp out a couple of hundred thousand GMT if they wanted to, but it’d torpedo the narrative that the fake scarcity has created, and the secondary/flipping market that helps support the initial purchase decision.

It’s identical to how Porsche have treated the GT car market- one chap recently bought the new 935 for £850,000 and immediately flipped it for £2,000,000 - he had (theoretically) pissed off Porsche, but he’s got £1,250,000 to console himself.

Buy a GMT and you can wear it for six months and then sell it for what, double what you paid?

I think the Tudor point must be right.

Isn't the increasing scarcity of Rolex pretty much correlated to the relaunch of Tudor? How many people in the market for a Sub go on to buy a Black Bay? Anecdotally, lots.

Didn't realise Tissot had started to incorporate a "T" into their seconds hands, is this a newish thing??

I've seen some Tissot dress watches with the T second hand from late 90s and early 00s but seems to be on most of their models now.

My son got his forst vintage watch today. 9 years birthday.

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Nice! Although if he's anything like my nephew, who gets through two or three Casio f91w a year, let's hope it lasts!

Well, two very nice NATOs for less than half the price of an Omega one seems like a no-brainer. Buying the Omega NATO would've brought me back towards the price of the watch with the bracelet that I chose not to buy, so it made no sense :-)