First Rolex AD Visit!

Keep us posted - I'm very curious. The AD here lost his Rolex account several years ago - kicking myself for not buying more when I had the chance. It all worked out because I add some Omega's and IWC's to my little collection, but I passed on the "Hulk", among others ....

MDS

 

I'm afraid the economy is still too strong. But you never know. And they'll never admit that they might need another sale ASAP to make current ends meet. Good luck and good timing!

 

Sounds like a trip to the Emerald City!!!

Just ignore the man behind the curtain….

 

IMHO, then odds of walking out with the watch you want, especially if it’s a Daytona (any variant except the top model), or Skydweller in blue, is about the same as being struck by lightening while battling a grizzly bear and a white shark simultaneously.

I’m a cash customer, already own one, and was willing to write a check or charge up to $60K, and was told they don’t have a “list” but that if I visited and maintained the relationship, when one came in, I’d get a call. My AD said they have 2200+ interested parties, so there’s no shortage of people willing to wait. Flippers and some gray market dealers are the root of the problem, they buy and flip to a dealer, who jacks the price to 2X retail, and waits. Sooner or later, the bubble will burst (or larger online dealers like Hodinkee will collapse) and the market will have an excess to drive prices down. Like Ferrari prices, the watch folks all sit and ponder when that might occur (or not).

Go to The Rolex Forum (a really good website) and lurk for awhile to get a sense of the experience around the world. Dealers and individuals also sell there frequently, and their for sale area is pretty robust. I went to the secondary market, it would probably be with one of them.

 

I drove 2+ hours to a smaller town to meet an AD since I lost my last one - I got the brochure and a hat - haven’t heard back and that was 2+ years ago. Good luck

MDS

 

I had what I thought was a great story to make them pity me and want to sell me a watch- 50th anniversary in my profession, 30th wedding anniversary, need a gold watch, everything I could think of short of being in witness protection, no bueno. I got the experience you described, but pretty much expected it. At this point, I’m pretty disillusioned with the interminable wait and will just stay with what I’ve got. The only thing they have over Ferrari is thay actually have prices that don’t change (much). Good luck.

 

Depending on what you asked for, I wouldn't be surprised if you got a call pretty quickly.

 

Hey Rob- Been dealing with same AD since 1995- PM if you want to chat- 4 watches so some experience- all positive but patience is paramount

 

I must admit, none of this dealer stuff makes sense to me. What is the appeal? Is it that you only want to buy new? I'm not criticizing, I'm genuinely trying to understand this AD thing.

I've occasionally done business with my local jeweler, it's a nice shop that has sold Rolex ('official jeweler'), Patek ('authorized retailer') and others for decades. I've never bought any new watches from them (I did sell them a few old ones). I tried out their in-house watchmaker and was underwhelmed (most stuff they wanted to send to Switzerland anyway). This is genuinely going over my head - besides the desire to have the latest and greatest now, what am I missing?

As a side note, if you miss out now, I suspect you'll get another chance. The watches being discussed are being mass produced; soon this will be like shopping for a red Testarossa in the early 2000s, or 250 PF Coupes in the late '90s.

Regards,

Art S.

 

As I was always interested in a particular Rolex model, I went to a Rolex AD several years ago, expecting nothing. A conversation started with the manager who asked me a few questions about why I wanted this particular model. I answered with passion and with all the details that made me tick, because I was truly interested in that timepiece (not to resell). She then said she would put me on the list.

I of course expected nothing at all, then a few months later the call came. I was so happy, then I learned that my passion and discussion felt so real to the AD and that’s why I got the call. I still have that timepiece, I was not playing with them (like many flippers do). Since then, I now have 5 different Rolexes in my collection, bought at retail at the AD, including harder-to-get models. All due to the relationship I built with the AD. I looove watches and rotate them on my wrist every few days.

Bottomline: a first-time buyer should be himself/herself, no pretense, no BS, also showing why buying a specific timepiece affects him/her…

 

just go to Bobs watches and get it done.

 

Did you ask him how long he worked at Ferrari before going into watches?

 

No slam against Bobs or comparable entities like Chono24 but there are some knowledgeable and great resources on here if you don't want to play the AD game-

 

All I can say is good luck with visit. I’m about to turn to grey market for my next watch. Have had so called relationship with local AD for 20years. In past 5.5 years have bought 3 Rolexes and Tudor for wife. In past 2 years I have spent over 70k in watches and jewelry only to be denied watch I have been waiting for nearly 2 years. Went to someone that has spent more. I’m done playing their games. Just my 2 cents. Still angry at the moment.

 

It takes a bit of effort and time.i started my Rolex journey last year.Did a lot of reading.First visit to an A.D was fill up the form will call you.Went to another A.D and the S.A spent some time with me.Few more visits and said hello to them.Bought a small bit of jewellery for my grand daughter.The first call came after a few weeks for a mint green date just 41.From there I have bought a few including Pepsi and celebration.Keep visiting them when ever you can .

 

Forgot to tell you owning a Ferrari did help. One of F.C.A member also work there.Had nice conversation about our cars.They realized is not a flipper and that helped too.

 

He's a moron- The whole purpose of the CPO program is to AVOID customers going to third party sources like Bobs and Chrono24- and to ensure Rolex warranty and certification of authenticity as well as trade-in opportunities- Albeit with significant markup over MSRP which ADs can't do on new watches.= Profit- I'm sure he's making the store a ton of money telling people to go external- imbecile

BTW- No disrespect to our awesome third party resources like @flat_plane_eddie and @Cigarzman

 

From what I hear to do a CPO programme you need to have certified Rolex watch maker in your premises.There are certain equipment you need to have which are quiet expensive.You also need extra space.These may be constraints to some A.D.They May not be interested in joining the CPO programme.