Paranoia? Are we being watched?

[vlaletom]

I guess my read is that of the AD's and how they treat different sets of people and country of origins .... it's an interesting social lesson these AD's

Ho yeah, i am totally on your side with the AD.

Cold Snobish pretentious moron.

Who tend to judge people by the money they estimate that they can spend in their shop, judging that by the way they look.

[Pugwash]

I guess my read is that of the AD's and how they treat different sets of people and country of origins .... it's an interesting social lesson these AD's ..

That's a retail issue, not a manufacturer issue. Remember, websites are blind.

[Shundi]

Sure, as long as you don't pretend the companies are happy you're promoting their brands.

It's not corporate greed, by the way, but I'll let you off that one. Rolex aren't overcharging that much if you sit down and do the maths.

Well said, I agree with your logic on this one...

[ubiquitous]

Lani-

In my opinion, it's the AD's that probably project and perpetuate this kind of image; my opinion is that the ADs have a false self perception that they are far more important than they really are, or make themselves out to be. I think they are likely to over exaggerate the prestige that their particular showroom has to offer, and hence they tend to aim for a certain demographic for clientele.

If Rolex was concerned about the class of people buying their watches, I'd think that they'd go for the Patek style of marketing; MSRP your entry level pieces out of the reach of the every day common man and cater to the uber stinking filthy rich

[TeeJay]

Double post

[TeeJay]

I suspect he pays less bribes than the factories have to.

Yes, and it may not be PAYE, but at the end of the day, it is still 'being taxed', in some form...

You think the Deep Sea had no design costs? Interesting ...

I said that?

Okay, yes, Rolex have released some new models of late, and, they've even been good enough to throw a new bracelet design in here and there, but for the most part, the EXP IIs, the DJs, the Subs, etc, (what I would suspect to be their staple sellers) are all long established designs, which costs would have been recouped on some time ago...

also think of the craftmanshipp cost of a swiss watchmith compare to the average salary in china.

Swiss industry also regualy upgrade there machinery to the "state of the art"

A friend of mine who had the chance to visit JLC manufacture after an advertizing contract was explained how they had to order specific tooling that costed billion of dollar, just to be able to produce the gyro tourbillon.

Oh for sure, there's always going to be some examples where the cost is actually more reasonable, but, I don't see any Rolexes with a gyro tourbillon

[lanikai]

Lani-

In my opinion, it's the AD's that probably project and perpetuate this kind of image; my opinion is that the ADs have a false self perception that they are far more important than they really are, or make themselves out to be. I think they are likely to over exaggerate the prestige that their particular showroom has to offer, and hence they tend to aim for a certain demographic for clientele.

If Rolex was concerned about the class of people buying their watches, I'd think that they'd go for the Patek style of marketing; MSRP your entry level pieces out of the reach of the every day common man and cater to the uber stinking filthy rich

I gotta admit I am very jaded in my perception of the AD's .. naturally so .. when a customer is from Japan and points to 2 watches valued at over 100k .. and the whole deal takes no more than 30 minutes.. it's hard to get any quality service when you are "shopping" or trying to decide on a PAM 005 @3,500 usd ...

Us "locals" are usually ignored especially when you get "kids" from Asia buying the DSSD for 'beach wear'..

such is the World ....

[Guest techlogik]

It's the nature of the business they are in. If they don't like it,and it isn't profitable, they should maybe just close up shop, or sell their operations to another company.

Of course that won't happen, they just budget for a certain amount of counter efforts to ensure their potential customers they are getting their money's worth...which the customer ultimately pays for in higher prices.

So they kind of do it to themselves in a strange way.

[Brightight]

I don't think the gen manufacturers are following the experiences of manufacturers in other fields. For years in the guitar business, first Japan, then Korea, were thorns in the side of Fender and Gibson, etc, so both gave in and created a cheaper brand manufactured in Japan and Korea, but with official sanction so the perceived value was greater. It also provided an upgrade path from a Far East model to a 'proper' US made model, gave them product separation, no longer Fender and fake or copy Fender, and no doubt gave them some clout with local government. Most other big guitar manufacturers have followed suit. This allowed them to maintain both a reasonable market share and the prestige of their high end models, even if this is simply perceived and not actual and has been pretty successful. The cheaper brands are well thought of and, more importantly, seen as an upgrade from reps now manufactured in China. The next logical move will be Fender/Gibson/etc manufacturing in China.

Maybe Rolex should be considering a Replex with clever marketing to make it something special for the less well off.

[TeeJay]

It's the nature of the business they are in. If they don't like it,and it isn't profitable, they should maybe just close up shop, or sell their operations to another company.

Of course that won't happen, they just budget for a certain amount of counter efforts to ensure their potential customers they are getting their money's worth...which the customer ultimately pays for in higher prices.

So they kind of do it to themselves in a strange way.

Absolutely so. They create the demand through marketing, and create an inflated price tag which some people simply are less likely to be able to afford, so those who have been swayed by the marketing and want the product find themselves not being able to afford said product, but still wanting it, so they start searching for the next best alternative: Reps. Indeed, they [the corporate moguls] do it to themselves, as they create a demand which creates it's own void, which rep manufacturers are then able to fill...

I don't think the gen manufacturers are following the experiences of manufacturers in other fields. For years in the guitar business, first Japan, then Korea, were thorns in the side of Fender and Gibson, etc, so both gave in and created a cheaper brand manufactured in Japan and Korea, but with official sanction so the perceived value was greater. It also provided an upgrade path from a Far East model to a 'proper' US made model, gave them product separation, no longer Fender and fake or copy Fender, and no doubt gave them some clout with local government. Most other big guitar manufacturers have followed suit. This allowed them to maintain both a reasonable market share and the prestige of their high end models, even if this is simply perceived and not actual and has been pretty successful. The cheaper brands are well thought of and, more importantly, seen as an upgrade from reps now manufactured in China. The next logical move will be Fender/Gibson/etc manufacturing in China.

Maybe Rolex should be considering a Replex with clever marketing to make it something special for the less well off.

That is a very interesting example, and indeed, maybe something like that would be the ideal solution Everyone saves face, everyone gets to keep doing what they're doing, and the buyers still get to keep making their own decision

Of course, it could create the situation where: Dude walks into AD and asks to see a Submariner... Sure, Sir, says the assistant, Swiss or Asian version? What's the difference? asks the dude... About $1000 in price, says the assistant... I'll take the Asian version, replies the dude

All I'm thinking, is would the average customer be willing to spend the extra dollars, for differences which would only be appreciated by a watch enthusiast? (who by extension, would also appreciate the Asian version for it's own merits...)

[Jb boin]

Well... Rolex have Tudor, isnt it?

And for the Replex idea with Asian or Swiss versions its the same idea as with Sandoz / Sandoz HK / Sandoz Singapore http://www.pmwf.com/Watches/WATCHSALES/SandozSingaporeSalesTable.htm

[trailboss]

Shure a Patak or Lange is worth every cent of what you pay but a Sub that costs 500 bucks to make is way over priced IMO. I don't know how much a Swiss Watchsmith puts into one either. Most of the job is machine done. They don't hand make cases and such on a sub and who knows how much is hand done on the MVT. Prob not much.

Col.

[robertk]

well, I agree with all of you who say they're overpriced.........just like cars, televisions, appliances of all kind. In fact, everything that is commercially sold. We should have fakes of all of them.

[Demsey]

Paranoid 'dutchy? No, that's just the money you could be saving with Geico.

"I always feel like, somebody's watching me.............."

[Tribal]

They keep an eye of us for shure

But who cares ?

You must remember every one who's wearing Reps is a potencial customer.

Most of the people come from a Rep to a Gen.