Rolex = BMW of watches? | Page 2 | FerrariChat

Rolex = BMW of watches?

Discussion in 'Fine Watches, Jewelry, & Clothes' started by ryalex, Dec 9, 2003.

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  1. Senna1994

    Senna1994 F1 World Champ
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    Nov 11, 2003
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    Anthony T
    I agree that a lot of people in these parts have Rolexes. I personally have a SS Daytona Cosmo and I am very happy with it and only see them on Car Guys.
     
  2. whart

    whart F1 Veteran
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    Dec 5, 2001
    6,485
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    Herr Prof.
    So, what's the downside of buying a high-end watch "used" from a reputable dealer, with warranty, etc.? Seems like you can take advantage of the depreciation, and the vagaries of ownership of these things, just as much as there is value in buying "previously owned" exotic cars. In fact, apart from outright counterfeits, there may be less to go wrong with a watch than a car (perhaps not, with exotic complications), but anybody that collects watches would likely take decent care of them, yes?
     
  3. Prugna 328

    Prugna 328 Formula 3

    Sep 10, 2003
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    Gregory
    FACT- A mech. watch can never and will never keep time as well as a quartz. FACT-My Rolex submariner has run fast since the day I got it, and its been back to Rolex twice.
     
  4. cohiba_man

    cohiba_man Formula Junior

    Jan 23, 2003
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    John
    You all seem to look down on Movados, but I have a Rolex, Cartier, Jaeger-Lecoutre (reverso, very neat watch) and a Movado, and I wear the movado 90% of the time because its cheap so it can get messed up no problem, light, thin and I love the way it looks.
     
  5. cohiba_man

    cohiba_man Formula Junior

    Jan 23, 2003
    937
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    John
    To answer the question, yes they're the BMW of watches, plain, decent quality, mass produced with an undeserved aura of prestige, usually owned by pricks who think they have something special.
     
  6. rodsky

    rodsky Formula 3

    Mar 24, 2003
    1,601
    Los Angeles
    You would buy a Rolex with diamonds - if you drove a Lambo :)
     
  7. Agent Smith

    Agent Smith Formula 3

    Apr 20, 2002
    1,569
    quote: How do Reymond Weil watches fit in? (Not as high end "timepieces," but as watches against the rolex's , tag's , et. al.?)

    They are comparable to Movado and Tag. Very nice watch, especially if you want something different from the Movados and Tags. Very high quality watch, especially if you want something to bang around in and still have something dressy to wear without breaking the bank.
     
  8. RacerX_GTO

    RacerX_GTO F1 World Champ
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    Nov 2, 2003
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    Gabe V.
    That may be true, but if I was absolutely anal about precise time, I'd opt for the atomic watch that homes in on the time signal in Colorado. The fact that I don't have to fuss with batteries or any other electronic mechanism is an attractive feature. All retail jewelry has a significant markup. If I could have bought a Rolex at cost or below I would have. But I may not have received a warranty. Rolex has been around for some time unlike recent pop ups such as Movado, Day time or Tag Heur, Raymod Wiel, Franciso 'whoever', those types don't catch my interest. Despite its marketing team, its customers have been very satisfied with the quality of the watch. It doesn't win awards for best art showcase or flamboyancy, but its a stout, durable timepiece. The Submariner/GMT Oyster case sold me on its diver watch style. I like that. My second choice would be an Omega Seamaster. But Rolex won my bid. Hey, I'm a happy camper.

    I beleive that all manufactured products regardless, ship out a "lemon". Swap it with another, or acquire another series. Give me a call, I'd like to hear your success.
     
  9. JaguarXJ6

    JaguarXJ6 F1 Veteran

    Feb 12, 2003
    5,459
    Black Hawk, CO
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    Sunny
    I'm in the same boat, looking for a nice watch I can wear often, in the same price range. I'm in love with the Breitling Wings Automatic with a black or blue dial. Its diameter at 37.5mm fits my smaller wrist, as anything 40mm and larger is simply too big for me to wear. And its under 13mm thick which is nice. The only other watch I've considered was an Omega, will have to dig up the type and specs. I was pretty much "done" when I saw the Wings.

    Sunny
     
  10. bumboola

    bumboola Formula Junior

    Mar 7, 2003
    625
    Personally, for 4k I would look for an older used Patek that shows some wear, maybe an entry-level Calatrava. Old watches have a certain patina that I find irresistible. If you wanted a new watch, I would get an IWC Mark IV with a leather band. I use one as my everyday watch and love it.

    Rolexes are not bad watches, but typically the people that wear them are. They want a "lot of flash for the cash." One time I was wearing my complicated platinum Patek and a prick wearing a Rolex came up to me and said "when are you going to step up to a Rolex?" I was tempted to tell him that I could have bought ten of those for one of mine, but just smiled and said "someday......"
     
  11. bumboola

    bumboola Formula Junior

    Mar 7, 2003
    625
    The 5102 Celestial is the ****!!!
     
  12. judge4re

    judge4re F1 World Champ

    Apr 26, 2003
    13,477
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    Dr. Dumb Ass
    My Rolex datejust is my beater watch. My $20 GMT II is my beater watch when I go out of town (and keeps better time that my real one). If you want something different, find a nice mechanical watch from the 20's - 30's. There are some really neat piece that you won't find everyday out there. I have a couple of Girard Perregaux's from the 20's that are very classy and timeless (they work) and I didn't have to shell out a fortune on any of them. Every now and then an alarm GP will turn up on ebay and go for less than $300. The more complicated the watch, the more the price. If you're going to spend $61k on a watch, don't buy a pimp or oil sheik's watch, get a minute repeater.

    Still, a $20 Timex will keep better time than anything mechanical.
     
  13. enjoythemusic

    enjoythemusic F1 World Champ

    Apr 20, 2002
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    Steven
    Ryalex,

    Been through this whole situation myself... In the 1-4k range there are both new and used items i would suggest. ONLY recommend mechanical watches, naturally quartz need not apply:

    Breitling
    Minerva
    Maurice Lacroix
    Zenith
    Used Omega
    Used Patek Philippe Calatrava or Gondolo


    Would NEVER recommend a Frank Muller as they are overpriced ETA repackaged. Yes Maurice Lacroix and many others use ETA mechanical movements, but Muller rapes you for it in price IMHO. Hard to go wrong with a good vintage Omega IMHO. A used Patek will probably begin at nearly $5k on upwards.

    For used, see www.TimeZone.com sales corner http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t=threadt&frm_id=32

    Had good experience with:
    http://www.tarrytownjewelers.com/watches.asp

    There are other sources and the above are just two of many. Always glad to help.

    Enjoy Your Time,

    Steven R. Rochlin
     
  14. Hubert888

    Hubert888 F1 Veteran
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    May 14, 2003
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    LOL .... it'a all just for show right?
     
  15. Enzo

    Enzo F1 Rookie

    Feb 14, 2002
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    Pat Pasqualini

    Bill,

    This is what I have done buying my Rolex. My wife bought it for my wedding present got a great deal on it and took the stainless band off and put on a leather for a day to day watch. My brother had purchased his wife a Rolex for her wedding present and found a late 40's pink gold Rolex (beautiful piece). So buying a used one from a dealer you trust can be a good thing as long as you get it cleaned from time to time just like any higher end watch they all need to be maintained.
     
  16. ForzaFerrari

    ForzaFerrari F1 Veteran

    Jul 25, 2003
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    Waldo
    Don't know much about watches...but like them very much. What suprised me was that nobody here (for as far as I read the posts :S) talked about Girard-Perregaux:

    www.girard-perregaux.ch

    It's the only manufacturar of watches that makes official Ferrari watches...and other ofcourse. I personaly think they beat Rolex :)

    (wish I could buy one...but unfortunatly I can only look and drewl :D )
     
  17. allanlambo

    allanlambo F1 Rookie

    Jun 9, 2002
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    Allan
    360 is definately not for show.. too ugly. So if i had a 360 and wanted a watch that matched my car, id buy a casio with a calculator.

    Oh and by the way, a Patek is a ugly watch, and there are many Rolex's that are very expensive. I believe a bottom line entry level Rolex will run around 4k. All the good ones start 20k+.
     
  18. Hubert888

    Hubert888 F1 Veteran
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    May 14, 2003
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    There are only TWO Rolex's worth buying that will appreciate in value. They are:

    1) Stainless Steel Rolex Daytona Cosomograph

    and

    2) Rolex Prince

    All the other ones are not worth buying if you are considering the investment value of the watches. The $20k all gold rolexes (like the Presidents watch) are pieces of crap. All the Cellini Rolex watches look like sh*t and they are mad expensive too.
     
  19. Tspringer

    Tspringer F1 Veteran

    Apr 11, 2002
    6,155
    I am a "low-end" sort of customer I guess when it comes to a watch. Currently I dont wear one at all, my cell phone has a clock and it goes with me just about everywhere.

    I do own an old timex, and I have a nice Seiko I paid about $500 for like 10 years ago. I have not worn it in a couple of years though.

    I may be changing though. After reading some of the threads here on watches over the past year or so.... Im interested. Also, my wife has pointed out on several occasions that nice watch and wedding band are very sexy. When your wifes says its sexy.... you pay attention!

    Anyhow... I REALLY like the Rolex SS Daytona white face watches. Are these worth the money? Does anything think they would hold their value? If I did want to sell in the future.... is it likely I could get a decent price and not lose a bundle? On this watch is the movement made by Rolex or is it generic?

    If I wanted to buy one pre-owned.... what are the downsides? How do you make sure its not a fake. I have seen websites hawing fakes that cost $1500 and are claimed to be 100% exact down to the stickers, box, certificate.... everything. If there are guys making fakes that supposedly a jewler cannot tell are fake... how do your buy second hand and know its real?

    Anyone out there know where to go to shop a second hand, excellent SS Daytona? Is there any reason I should stay away?

    Thanks!


    Terry
     
  20. Norm512TR

    Norm512TR Formula Junior

    Nov 10, 2001
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    Colorado Springs, Colorado
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    Norm
    While there are cerrtainly much better watches than a Rolex, let me relate my Rolex story- In 1985 while in Europe I picked up a SS GMT Master, not the GMTII, I wore that watch every day for 16 years. One day on vacation in Hawaii I wandered into a watch shop and was just looking. The owner, behind the counter, suggested I trade in what I had on a new Gold and SS GMTII- his trade-in value was three times what I'd paid originally for the watch. Not a bad investment!

    When I got home I called him up and asked if the offer was still in effect, it was, we Fed-xed watches back and forth and did the deal, also saving the sales tax.
     
  21. SRT Mike

    SRT Mike Two Time F1 World Champ

    Oct 31, 2003
    23,343
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    Raymond Luxury Yacht
    Hubert knows his stuff - I could not agree with him more!

    As for Movado, I believe they no longer make their own movements, and I have heard (although I dont know it to be true) that some of their low end watches actually had movements sourced from places like Swatch. It would be like if Rolex stopped making mechanical movements and started putting quartz guts in their watches. Movado has a name and looks but in terms of quality and their actual cost to make, I don't think they are any better than a $60 Fossil watch.

    When you buy a high end watch, you are paying for precision mechanical work and something you know is intricate and delicate. If you are "into" watches, that's great, if you are not, the above mentioned $60 Fossil watch will keep better time - always.

    Personally, I don't like Rolexes too much. My biggest beef is that they are mass produced, but also that their more pricey watches aren't actually any better than their cheap ones, but rather just have more "stuff" on them. Sort of like special edition Lamborghinis with wings, ducts, and writing all over them and an inflated MSRP :)

    My favorite watches are Patek and Audemars, with Audemars being my real favorite. Their tourbillon is a very nice watch - I think the exact one I want is around $50k. And that isn't $50k worth of diamonds stuck on the face, but $50k worth of actual watch complexity and quality.

    It's sort of like cars. A deusenberg isn't as fast as a new Bentley, or as comfortable as a Mayback, but it just oozes class and quality that just isn't available for most anywhere else. In my collection I have a couple of Brietlings (far from my favorite watches). I have a Rolex Oyster perpetual that is nice, but not wonderful. And I have a bunch of other unique and unusual watches. My favorite changes like the weather... but I have to say I like one of my Citizen watches a lot! I wear it most of the time, ironically.
     
  22. Hubert888

    Hubert888 F1 Veteran
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    May 14, 2003
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    A Rolex StainlessSteel Daytona will ALWAYS hold its value. It continues to appreciate more rapidly than normal Rolexes each year due to the huge demand of Rolex's only chronograph-type watch. Rolex SS Daytona's used to have Zenith movement inside the casing, but I believe sometime last year or the year before that, Rolex made their own movement for their Daytona watches.

    You can always get a used Rolex SS Daytona on ebay. If you are buying a brand new one, do not pay more than $12k for one and if you are buying a used one in great condition, do not pay more than $8K.
     
  23. atheyg

    atheyg Guest

    Some fake Rolexes are very accurate, all are made in China even the so called $800 high end swiss replicas the only way to really tell is take the rear cover off and verify its real.

    overstock.com had a Daytona for sale, my favorite is the Rolex GMT or Sub in stainless, nothing fancy just class and purpose, it also helped that the real James Bond, Sean Connery wore one in the early Bond films,
    the Omega Seamasters do seem of equal or better quality for much less, the problem with Breitling is you can get them for as low as $350 at wholesale clubs which detracts from the expensive series
     
  24. Prugna 328

    Prugna 328 Formula 3

    Sep 10, 2003
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  25. Hubert888

    Hubert888 F1 Veteran
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    For all you Rolex owners out there!

    Here is one simple way to see if you have a FAKE Rolex watch:

    Check out your Rolex Oyster metal wrist bracelet band on your watch. The center link of the Oyster band (the Oyster band is comprised of 3 links per section) is HOLLOW.

    All those fake Rolex's have a SOLID center link.

    That is a quick way to check. But if someone replaced the fake Oyster bands with a genuine one, the only way to check is to open up the casing and check the mechanics.
     

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