BREAKING NEWS: Rolex buys Bucherer

[Fleetlord]

Originally Posted by Mystro

One more move by Rolex to control the market and move their brand upwards and more exclusive.

One of the ripple effects will be the consumer seeing less chance of getting a watch at a AD and grey market supply will somewhat be cut driving prices upwards again.

I agree with this.

IMHO, Rolex will NEVER allow it's brand to look like it did 10yrs ago ever again.

Cases FULL of multiples of the same reference, Grey market sellers moving fully stickered product @ 20% off straight from the AD to the consumer

Pre-owned Watches (yes, including the SS Daytona) selling far below retail.

PM and TT watches getting substantial DISCOUNTS from the AD to sell them.

Pre owned PM models being offered for 40% off retail?

That simply won't be the case again. That kind of brand erosion is for Omega and the other guys to present to the market. NOT Rolex.

[TheDogHouse]

Originally Posted by SDR581

Say "Bye Bye" to your mom n pop AD. Especially in the Philly area. There is a Bucherer in KoP Mall.

Wonder how this will affect Benari. They are building a new store and apparently it is to meet Rolex’s demand of a larger brand footprint.

[RollingInTheDeep]

Originally Posted by wm82

Well that margin has to pay for staff, premises, new goods etc so its not like its 100% profit but yea, they'll become even richer lol.

Hope this puts an end to the AD corruption and nepotism, and all the family owned ADs get nose bleeds from reading this... So much corruption in this industry its insane.

Yes - they essentially bought revenue, which would hold true even without the pre-owned business. I have to imagine adding pre-owed is only accretive as they likely don't need add much more (if any) headcount.

Agreed on the overall impact to ADs - if Rolex ultimately controls these ADs I presume there will be increased scrutiny around who they sell watches to.

Since we are already halfway down the rabbit hole, remember that while Rolex SA doesn't track ownership, the ADs do. And now, Rolex owns the AD...

[GB-man]

Saw that from a mile away. Been saying for years they should cut out retailers whom provide almost no value and don’t offer a uniformly good customer experience. The only surprising thing is that Patek hasn’t done it.

That said they likely cannot sell 1M watches through 100 outlets so it’s not a flat line for third party retailers.

[MrMikee]

Wow!! I can see why there were so many AD’s losing their status now. What a move by Rolex. This will completely change the dynamic. Will wait lists and registered interest lists still be a thing at Bucherer?… or will they more transparent like AP.

AP will straight up tell you, you’re waiting 2 years etc.

[RollingInTheDeep]

Originally Posted by MrMikee

Wow!! I can see why there were so many AD’s losing their status now. What a move by Rolex. This will completely change the dynamic. Will wait lists and registered interest lists still be a thing at Bucherer?… or will they more transparent like AP.

AP will straight up tell you, you’re waiting 2 years etc.

Clearly calculated move long in the making since they were the first to carry pre-owned and bought Torneau.

[SDR581]

Originally Posted by TheDogHouse

Wonder how this will affect Benari. They are building a new store and apparently it is to meet Rolex’s demand of a larger brand footprint.

I know what you mean.

[Know1isgod]

Doesn't Bucherer produce it's own line of luxury watches? How will those watches be positioned market wise if they are now under Rolex? Does Rolex fold Bucherer into the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation or spin off/sell Bucherer?

[SDR581]

Originally Posted by MrMikee

Wow!! I can see why there were so many AD’s losing their status now. What a move by Rolex. This will completely change the dynamic. Will wait lists and registered interest lists still be a thing at Bucherer?… or will they more transparent like AP.

AP will straight up tell you, you’re waiting 2 years etc.

I think it's really up to the honesty and ethics of the Bucherer sales staff.

To sum it up their staff is horse sh*$

[GB-man]

Watch they start pumping out more limited watches like the lemans 100 and they only go to Rolex owned locations. Much like AP did before slowly killing off their 3rd party retailers. I hope not.

[malba2366]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

I agree with this.

IMHO, Rolex will NEVER allow it's brand to look like it did 10yrs ago ever again.

Cases FULL of multiples of the same reference, Grey market sellers moving fully stickered product @ 20% off straight from the AD to the consumer

Pre-owned Watches (yes, including the SS Daytona) selling far below retail.

PM and TT watches getting substantial DISCOUNTS from the AD to sell them.

Pre owned PM models being offered for 40% off retail?

That simply won't be the case again. That kind of brand erosion is for Omega and the other guys to present to the market. NOT Rolex.

As long as they have independent ADs it will happen again if there is an economic downturn or watches fall out of fashion.

[watchtabs]

Originally Posted by Carguy87

Wow that’s crazy big industry news! I wonder what the regulators in different countries will decide with regards to this being declared a potential monopoly. If it all goes through, it could be good for us actual enthusiasts though because then there might be tighter oversight on how watches get allocated, less “out the back door” etc.

A potential monopoly? Lol. What on “rolex products “?


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[Gebbeth]

Originally Posted by GB-man

Saw that from a mile away. Been saying for years they should cut out retailers whom provide almost no value and don’t offer a uniformly good customer experience. The only surprising thing is that Patek hasn’t done it.

That said they likely cannot sell 1M watches through 100 outlets so it’s not a flat line for third party retailers.

Unless Rolex uses it's cash to open more Bucherer, Rolex only, boutiques. This will allow them to do that in a controlled manner direct from Rolex HQ.

[MrMikee]

Originally Posted by Carguy87

Wow that’s crazy big industry news! I wonder what the regulators in different countries will decide with regards to this being declared a potential monopoly. If it all goes through, it could be good for us actual enthusiasts though because then there might be tighter oversight on how watches get allocated, less “out the back door” etc.

I don’t see the monopoly point… that doesn’t make any sense. Agree with everything else though!


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[RTG]

Big news and in typically amazing Rolex fashion, not even a whisper of this prior to the deal being announced officially.

[Gebbeth]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

I agree with this.

IMHO, Rolex will NEVER allow it's brand to look like it did 10yrs ago ever again.

Cases FULL of multiples of the same reference, Grey market sellers moving fully stickered product @ 20% off straight from the AD to the consumer

Pre-owned Watches (yes, including the SS Daytona) selling far below retail.

PM and TT watches getting substantial DISCOUNTS from the AD to sell them.

Pre owned PM models being offered for 40% off retail?

That simply won't be the case again. That kind of brand erosion is for Omega and the other guys to present to the market. NOT Rolex.

If the market has said anything over the years, it's that no one company, no one country.....no organization of countries even, can ever fight the market.

It's happened time and time again. From the English Pound to the housing market, you can't fight it as much as you try.

So to say never again.....it's just not true. It never has been true.

[redtigers]

Between this and the AP release today I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn't April...

Looking forward to the press release for a glimpse into Rolex's thought process

[Fleetlord]

Originally Posted by Gebbeth

If the market has said anything over the years, it's that no one company, no one country.....no organization of countries even, can ever fight the market.

It's happened time and time again. From the English Pound to the housing market, you can't fight it as much as you try.

So to say never again.....it's just not true. It never has been true.

Of course, Barring a worldwide calamity that will make watches completely irrelevant....

"It's NOT Happening". These are the moves that STRONG brands make to control their position and outcomes.

[cy888]

With the purchase of Bucherer, will that mean we'll see CPO at Tourneau locations?

Also I assume Rolex will have access to the database of clients info, "waitlists", and further control of inventory.

[worldofoyster]

We shouldn’t be surprise

[malba2366]

Originally Posted by GB-man

Saw that from a mile away. Been saying for years they should cut out retailers whom provide almost no value and don’t offer a uniformly good customer experience. The only surprising thing is that Patek hasn’t done it.

That said they likely cannot sell 1M watches through 100 outlets so it’s not a flat line for third party retailers.

Unless they start selling watches online. Bucherer has the infrastructure in place to do this.

[stephentross]

It also ensures they maintain control and exclusivity.

[RKunz]

Originally Posted by Avs Fan

So many comments have been made about Rolex not wanting to be in the retail business.
They sell everything they make to retailers and take none of the retail sales risk.
Well, if this is true, they are now in it in a big way.

That’s the truth! They’ve been preparing to sell from factory to the end user.

[Tools]

Bucherer was on the market, so it is a good strategic move for Rolex to pick it up rather than one of the luxury brand megaliths.

It will likely be set up as a subsidiary or separate entity, much like the Watchmakers Technicum, Tudor or Rolex USA, Sellita (now Kenissi), Bergeon tooling, and all the other horological enterprises Rolex owns.

There won't even be a hiccup in the Watch-O-Sphere.

[enjoythemusic]

Added benefit, the customer data is now Rolex's.

[HMHM]

My predictions are that Rolex will eventually cut production from the current 1-1.2m to approx 750-800k per year and elevate the status of their watches towards AP and Patek Philippe. The purchase of Bucherer is part of the parcel to have some control of distribution like Patek, with some manufacturer owned and some AD owned. Tudor will take the current position of Rolex to compete against Omega and Tag. As Rolex reduce production, staff will be trained to improve finishing, hence the move to open case back for models like the Platinum Daytona and the 1908. We will see better finishing from Rolex going forward to justify their position against AP and Patek.

[omar-rye]

What about other brands, like Cartier, VC, and JLC, which are carried at Bucherer? Surely they'll pull their brands out, right?

[Corvette]

Curious how it’ll effect the allocation of sought-after models like the Daytona, Pepsi, etc. Will other AD’s have their allocations cut drastically so Rolex can control exactly who they want to be allocated a Pepsi or Panda? Hope not but it would shock me.

[swexlin]

Originally Posted by TheDogHouse

Wonder how this will affect Benari. They are building a new store and apparently it is to meet Rolex’s demand of a larger brand footprint.

Was wondering the same (I'm in West Chester PA). Benari Exton is my AD. And the Bucherer store in KOP mall is huge.

[stephentross]

Originally Posted by HMHM

My predictions are that Rolex will eventually cut production from the current 1-1.2m to approx 750-800k per year and elevate the status of their watches towards AP and Patek Philippe. The purchase of Bucherer is part of the parcel to have some control of distribution like Patek, with some manufacturer owned and some AD owned. Tudor will take the current position of Rolex to compete against Omega and Tag. As Rolex reduce production, staff will be trained to improve finishing, hence the move to open case back for models like the Platinum Daytona and the 1908. We will see better finishing from Rolex going forward to justify their position against AP and Patek.

Exactly this. When you don't have a publicly traded company you can do what you want to do. There is a reason you walk into an Omega Boutique and the only question asked is how will you be paying. Vs. Rolex who is maintaining that exclusivity with waitlists and cutting production to do so. Rolex has a master plan and rising prices will occur. They are not doing this to cut prices or become more affordable. This is for better fit and finish and Raising the bar.