When is a Luxury Watch Not a Luxury Watch?

[Tom5518]

Originally Posted by MrNemo

Luxury goods are purchased by individuals who wish to disassociate themselves.........

Just kidding guys. Great post but already quoted plenty.....

[Gerardus]

Originally Posted by MrNemo

Luxury goods are purchased by individuals who wish to disassociate themselves from the masses. Emerging markets and certain wealthy nations seem to culturally prefer goods that leave no question about their wealth and social status. In more conservative countries or more mature markets, luxury can be a statement about taste or a desire to be part of a certain group. The underlying motivator for consumption of luxury goods is prestige.

The reason you are seeing stainless models going for more than precious metals is because there is a shift in global attitude away from conspicuous consumption (as in, "I bought this shiny, yellow, and bejeweled watch to prove to you that I am better than you") towards status consumption (as in, "I can afford the best, but I purchase what I like because I like it, not to impress others").

What's curious about this shift is, status consumption is now being used as a replacement for conspicuous consumption, because "stealth wealth" or "good taste" is often reserved for those with more prestige than the Nouveau riche, and god-forbid we admit to others that we are not "old money." Therefore, many are learning that being subtle can be more prestigious and make you appear not only successful but also sophisticated (as you share photos that say "Me and my Batman taking it easy on deck 18!!" on Instagram).

A stainless steel luxury watch is a conservative choice, because it will transmit your status and taste to those who know what it is without drawing negative attention from those who don't. A gold watch with diamonds may get you attention, but not always the kind you desire. There are, of course, plenty of people who have exuberant or eccentric personalities, and loud or playful watches are a great fit for them; you couldn't even imagine them wearing a stainless watch.

The problem is, if you play the luxury game too safely, then you end up with a Grand Seiko that is too stealthy, and you've stumbled into a new category - "unabashed watch enthusiast." And maybe your total disregard of Grand Seiko depreciation is your personal statement of luxury.

Of course, it's all fiction. Most people are never thinking about us or our watches. The people who made it to the other side of success mountain- people the masses attempt to emulate without having ever visited the other side- are typically not impressed by what they find. When you've reached the end of the book and it's just an empty back cover, what do you do? When everyone respects you, who is left to impress?

That realization seems to give those who have reached the apex of their chosen fields the freedom to create an entirely new definition of success. Luxury and happiness for them are completely custom and personal, whether it's an alpaca farm or traveling the world on a trimaran. A common epiphany seems to be acknowledging that the biggest luxury of all is having the freedom to be left alone and the time to enjoy it.

Quality is something that can be measured, but luxury exists only in our collective consciousness. It is only as meaningful and valuable as we allow it to be. Rolex may be around forever, but there are countless luxury brands that meant something in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s that have already been forgotten.

Rolexes are nice, but they're not selling for $10K over MSRP in the gray market because they're nice. It's because they are advertising on behalf of you. Rolex is recognized in every country. They have signs in every major airport, in every high-end mall. They sponsor some of the greatest sports events in the world and invite impressive athletes - even in obscure niches - to wear their watches, and those watches are typically stainless sports models.

For a company that spends so much on marketing, they are also somehow mysterious, sealed-off, and quiet. That's quiet an accomplishment for a company that manufactures so many products each year. They are so good at advertising and playing the long game that they don't even tell you what a Rolex means anymore, they just put the name out there and associate it with the best, and then the brains of wide-eyed teenagers, middle managers, professionals, and entrepreneurs fill in the gaps of what Rolex means to them.

But even the names and history of the traditionally stainless models come into play as the new generation of buyers emerges. Talk about strategically stirring emotions since the very beginning. Submariner? Like James bond? Explorer? Like Edmund Hillary? Sea-Dweller? Like James Cameron? GMT-Master? You mean like pilots from the Golden Age of air transportation? Even the nicknames - Hulk, Batman, etc. It instantly makes you feel strong, tough, adventurous. I expect many people want to be in that club, rather than "Day-Date" "DateJust" "Pearlmaster" "Cellini" club. When I think of the Day-Date or DateJust (and I love them - I've owned a dozen of them), I think of grandpa, Eisenhower, and Castro. The stainless sports models are still fresh and modern, even with fairly minimal cosmetic changes over half a century. The gold and two-tone models seem to suffer, because they have this attachment to a different era. The gold and TT Subs always pops into my head when I think about either 1980s yuppies or pop stars, and in the 90s, it seemed to be the de-facto watch worn by retired men on boats. For me at least, none of the stainless models conjure that kind of baggage. They're also more flexible, because you can wear them anywhere- the office, on the weekend, with a suit, with a bathing suit, etc.

And by buying a stainless sports model, you're not only showing the world that you're in great company and have good taste, you're showing others that you have enough passion to actually acquire one. Yes, even the normies are starting to hear about it, ever since Uncle Joe won $10K at the slots and stormed out of the little Rolex store at Caesars and screamed, "Whelp, they said my money is no good there! I'm calling corporate!"

That is perhaps where Rolex is heading. Now that they are becoming difficult to acquire, a Rolex is not only a statement of good taste and a symbol of success, but it will also signify that its wearer is passionate, because it takes passion to wait patiently, search frantically, or spend recklessly. Rolex is reasserting itself as "the best" and they are such a powerful cultural and economic powerhouse that they have the freedom to define what "the best" means. And whatever they decide that is, that is what people will believe.

And sir, we're all out of Submariners... may I interest you in this Tudor?

Very impressive and interesting post, thank you

[oldman2005]

Rolex is taking the same strategy that they used for the SS Daytona for the past few decades. Remembered the day when the SS Daytona was a slow seller decades ago, Rolex limited the number of allocation of the SS Daytona and everyone wanted one....Now I truly believe that very same strategy is being applied on the all SS sports, 2+ years ago, these watches were plentiful on the display at the AD and Rolex got good competitions from many other brands out there that provides watches with much better value and also being perceived as luxurious.

I think the new strategy works great for Rolex and they are selling more high profit DJ/TT/PM. It's us who are mostly WIS and interested mostly in SS Sports will have to change overtime to adapt to new Rolex marketing scheme or simply move on.

[TswaneNguni]

Originally Posted by oldman2005

Rolex is taking the same strategy that they used for the SS Daytona for the past few decades. Remembered the day when the SS Daytona was a slow seller decades ago, Rolex limited the number of allocation of the SS Daytona and everyone wanted one....Now I truly believe that very same strategy is being applied on the all SS sports, 2+ years ago, these watches were plentiful on the display at the AD and Rolex got good competitions from many other brands out there that provides watches with much better value and also being perceived as luxurious.

I think the new strategy works great for Rolex and they are selling more high profit DJ/TT/PM. It's us who mostly WIS and interested mostly in SS Sports will have to change overtime to adapt to new Rolex marketing scheme or simply move on.

There is no new strategy from Rolex .Its very simple...there is HIGH demand.This leads to interesting strategies from ADs and the market players.

[HogwldFLTR]

Originally Posted by teck21

Indeed, I’d go so far as to suggest anyone disagreeing materially with the content here is either truly not ‘getting it’, or simply being contrarian for its own sake.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm curious if you read what was posted with an critical eye. A sweeping acceptance and dismissal does nothing to further the conversation. Just saying. I can't for the life of me understand why that would be.

[oldman2005]

Originally Posted by TswaneNguni

.. .Its very simple...there is HIGH demand.This leads to interesting strategies from ADs and the market players.

Yes, very high demand especially when Rolex allocates 2-4 SS BLRO a year to each AD per year just like the SS Daytona before this

[AK797]

Originally Posted by oldman2005

Yes, very high demand especially when Rolex allocates 2-4 SS BLRO a year to each AD per year just like the SS Daytona before this

The day after Brexit everything changed, so its all demand led, supply didn't change at all, once prices moved up new buyers came into the market as flippers, so Rolex didn't and wouldn't change supply, just who ADs allocate to which became stricter.

[Eatapp]

[QUOTE=MrNemo;9667291]Luxury goods are purchased by individuals who wish to disassociate themselves from the masses. Emerging markets and certain wealthy nations seem to culturally prefer goods that leave no question about their wealth and social status. In more conservative countries or more mature markets, luxury can be a statement about taste or a desire to be part of a certain group. The underlying motivator for consumption of luxury goods is prestige.

Post of the year candidate! Great read!

[donq]

https://www.michaelsolomon.com/fashi...and-marketing/

This guy sums it up...

[oldman2005]

Originally Posted by AK797

The day after Brexit everything changed, so its all demand led, supply didn't change at all, once prices moved up new buyers came into the market as flippers, so Rolex didn't and wouldn't change supply, just who ADs allocate to which became stricter.

I don't keep track of Brexit and the mess over there but I from what I heard there are less of the SS sport supply and more of the others. Rolex could have easily shifted the production to SS but that's not their intention, we have seen this in the past 2 years (well UK has been bad for years) and I believe many more years into the future. It's their strategy to de-emphasis SS sport. No question the demand is there but there're also less SS sport watches available.

[MinMay]

Luxury to me ties with expensive brand name recognition.

ie. Rolex, Patek, Ferarri, McLaren, Louis Vutton, etc.

[icnbne]

My definition of when luxury isnt luxury when every john doe owns one. By this definition none of my watches are luxury.

But thats ok, it doesn’t detract from the fact their great watches.

One can also argue any item that isnt a necessity is a luxury item, in which case, almost any watch is a luxury item.