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Old 14 June 2018, 06:09 PM   #1
Speedbird-1
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PM Prices?

Why are Platinum Rolex's, so much more
expensive than the identical Gold version?
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Old 14 June 2018, 06:10 PM   #2
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because its platinum and because they can. Keep in mind that even though metal pricing isnt the main factor here a Pt watch is still 95% Pt and a gold watch is only 75% gold.
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Old 14 June 2018, 06:28 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by tyler1980 View Post
because its platinum and because they can. Keep in mind that even though metal pricing isnt the main factor here a Pt watch is still 95% Pt and a gold watch is only 75% gold.
That's very interesting, never heard the difference in the actual content percentages before. Do you know why there's that 20% difference?



"......because they can"
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Old 14 June 2018, 06:29 PM   #4
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Exclusivity pure and simple.

Platinum is considered to be more rare and precious so it is priced accordingly and people with the means will pay it.

This is essentially the same principle behind why people will pay so much for a SS Rolex despite the fact it probably costs less than a grand to fabricate - people are paying for the cachet as much as the actual watch.
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Old 14 June 2018, 06:30 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Lt Virgil Hilts View Post
That's very interesting, never heard the difference in the actual content percentages before. Do you know why there's that 20% difference?



"......because they can"
gold is softer so its 18k gold (AU 750) any more and it would probably not hold up very well. Pt is harder so it is Pt 950.
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Old 14 June 2018, 06:34 PM   #6
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Exclusivity pure and simple.

Platinum is considered to be more rare and precious so it is priced accordingly
Today's metal prices show Pt to be cheaper than Gold.
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Old 14 June 2018, 06:36 PM   #7
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Today's metal prices show Pt to be cheaper than Gold.
Hence the use of the word considered!

The whole point is that perception trumps reality.
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Old 14 June 2018, 09:06 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Lt Virgil Hilts View Post
Why are Platinum Rolex's, so much more
expensive than the identical Gold version?
Because jewelry prices will never make sense
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Old 14 June 2018, 09:07 PM   #9
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Because jewelry prices will never make sense
Indeed
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Old 14 June 2018, 09:31 PM   #10
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Because jewelry prices will never make sense
You can say that again!
There's a 1978 SS-GMT, for sale , marked as a gift from a UAE Sheikh.
They're asking, wait for it.............£95,000!
Well, they can ask, I suppose.
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Old 14 June 2018, 09:53 PM   #11
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Platinum is also harder to work with.
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Old 14 June 2018, 10:12 PM   #12
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Popular belief is that all the platinum in the world fits into one large room, all the gold into a couple of Olympic swimming pools, so platinum is considered the more exclusive and more luxurious, and is priced accordingly.
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Old 15 June 2018, 12:15 AM   #13
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Newbie, 1st post

I did some calcs based on threads elsewhere.

If I recall correctly, the SS Daytona is 146g, Au is 196g and the Pt is 286g. Can anyone confirm this?

Resolving this information for constant volume, the mechanism/non PM parts would be estimated at 45-50g.

That means approx 4.7oz of 18k Au (density adjusted) at GBP980/oz or GBP4600 of PM at market price

7.6oz Pt at GBP680/oz or GBP5200 of PM.

So looking at a new full Pt Daytona, knock off VAT and say a 10%discount it would be ball-park that an AD and Rolex have approx GBP30k to share between themselves.

Get drawn in to the hype and tripe on unobtainable SS Daytonas and "special relationship" BS, that buy buying PM Rolex's from ADs can help - I can easily see why...........You have just given the AD and Rolex an easy margin on effectively 6 SS Daytonas they did not have to build in one hit.
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Old 15 June 2018, 01:13 AM   #14
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You should do the maths on a stainless steel Rolex

Price of luxury articles make no sense, can't be justified
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Old 15 June 2018, 01:47 AM   #15
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Popular belief is that all the platinum in the world fits into one large room, all the gold into a couple of Olympic swimming pools, so platinum is considered the more exclusive and more luxurious, and is priced accordingly.
Pt is cheaper on LME.
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Old 15 June 2018, 02:02 AM   #16
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Platinum says, "My owner is discreet and understated, but classy. Quietly confident, but not ostentatious. Subtle and sensitive."

Either that, or, "My owner got tired of the Daytona wait, loves the color blue, and decided life was too short."

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Old 15 June 2018, 02:08 AM   #17
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Either that, or, "My owner got tired of the Daytona wait, loves the color blue, and decided life was too short."



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Old 15 June 2018, 02:12 AM   #18
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Platinum is also harder to work with.
Harder to work with than, Oystersteel?
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Old 15 June 2018, 02:13 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by Lt Virgil Hilts View Post
Why are Platinum Rolex's, so much more
expensive than the identical Gold version?
Also platinum weighs more so there’s more grams of platinum required in the same case size.
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Old 15 June 2018, 02:29 AM   #20
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Harder to work with than, Oystersteel?
That is what I have heard. That's why you don't see fluted bezels on pt. Day-Dates.
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Old 15 June 2018, 02:46 AM   #21
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Originally Posted by Lt Virgil Hilts View Post
Pt is cheaper on LME.
its still more rare and thus more exclusive. Sort of like how a moser watch can be had at a 40% discount where as a mass produced Rolex cant. The moser is both more rare and more exclusive. Rarity and price are not always related.
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Old 15 June 2018, 03:01 AM   #22
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Because Rolex uses rare elves to polish the platinum. They have a union deal and make like $90 per hour and get time and half on weekends.
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Old 15 June 2018, 03:30 AM   #23
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Pt is cheaper on LME.
It has been for a year or two, but the swimming pool story has been around even longer. Stories sell luxury, not exchange prices.
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Old 15 June 2018, 03:38 AM   #24
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Because platinum is

I desperately need one of these:

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Rolex uses rare elves to polish the platinum. They have a union deal and make like $90 per hour and get time and half on weekends.
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Old 15 June 2018, 03:40 AM   #25
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Originally Posted by Lt Virgil Hilts View Post
Harder to work with than, Oystersteel?
Oh definitely, I was trying to remove some scratches from a plat YM bezel before the sandblasting the other day on the lapping disk, took me a lot of darn time and force to get it smooth...
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Rolex uses rare elves to polish the platinum. They have a union deal and make like $90 per hour and get time and half on weekends.
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Old 15 June 2018, 03:52 AM   #26
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No idea

Platiinim is currently $900 t Oz. Vs gold at 1300
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Old 15 June 2018, 04:24 AM   #27
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Oh definitely, I was trying to remove some scratches from a plat YM bezel before the sandblasting the other day on the lapping disk, took me a lot of darn time and force to get it smooth...
Damnit Bas you are ruining my rare elves story.
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Old 15 June 2018, 04:26 AM   #28
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Damnit Bas you are ruining my rare elves story.
Shhht! I'm a rare elve
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Rolex uses rare elves to polish the platinum. They have a union deal and make like $90 per hour and get time and half on weekends.
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Old 15 June 2018, 05:05 AM   #29
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Also platinum weighs more so there’s more grams of platinum required in the same case size.
Actually, the atomic weight of gold is 196.97 while platinum is 195.08, which makes gold heavier. Platinum is #78 on the Periodic Table, and Gold is #79, so they are very close on a molecular level.
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Old 15 June 2018, 05:43 AM   #30
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Actually, the atomic weight of gold is 196.97 while platinum is 195.08, which makes gold heavier. Platinum is #78 on the Periodic Table, and Gold is #79, so they are very close on a molecular level.
At the risk of turning this thread into a chemistry lesson...

Whilst you’re correct that Gold has a higher atomic weight, that means that the molar weight of gold is higher than the molar weight of platinum. Or to put it another way if you have an identical number of gold and platinum atoms, the gold will weigh more by a tiny fraction - circa 1%. However the poster you responded to said this:

Quote:
Originally Posted by GolfPunk View Post
Also platinum weighs more so there’s more grams of platinum required in the same case size.
And what he said is essentially correct. Per unit volume, platinum is significantly heavier, because it is denser than gold (21.45g/cm^3 vs 19.3g/cm^3). So if you take two identically sized watch cases, one made of pure platinum and the other made of pure gold, the platinum case will be circa 10% heavier. In reality platinum and gold watches are not pure elemental metal because these metals are too soft to be useful as watches and therefore because there is a lot more platinum in a 95% pt alloy watch case than there is gold in a 75% au alloy case, a platinum watch is even more than 10% heavier than the equivalent 18k gold watch.
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