Do you consider Rolex the BEST hand crafted timepiece?

[horseShu]

I read that all the parts are made and finished by machines, but assembled by hand.

[tomallen]

C, It is mass produced of mass produced parts, with some hand assembly. The best is an opinion, two identical Rolex models both made in the same time frame both sold near the same time one has to be serviced under warrantee a few times the other runs for years with out issues. One can see on this forum that a lot of new watches have problems either imagined or real.

[Ihatecheese]

Lovely mass produced product. An example of how you can maintain QC at volume. World leading marketing.

Not haute horlogerie by any means though. More accessible luxury these days.

[learningtofly]

I can't even work out if the OP was being serious.

[RJRJRJ]

Originally Posted by horseShu

I read that all the parts are made and finished by machines, but assembled by hand.

Of course the movement is hand assembled. Do you think they drop 200 parts in a bin and let the supercomputer put it all back together? The parts themselves are mostly done by machine.

[Freelance]

C

[Ian Macdermott]

Originally Posted by THE FURY

D and it’s not even close! Love Rolex but it’s not high Horology, it’s high marketing!

I concur

[horseShu]

Originally Posted by RJRJRJ

Of course the movement is hand assembled. Do you think they drop 200 parts in a bin and let the supercomputer put it all back together? The parts themselves are mostly done by machine.

Then there must be a lot of supercomputers in Swatch Group and Seiko factories, because quite a lot of their movements are manufactured and assembled entirely by machines.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Xenon

Rolex watches are mass-produced by machines. Only the movements are handmade.

Although Rolex make very fine reliable watches the simple facts are that Rolex watches are mass produced thats a simple fact and today to those who think that mechanical watches are produced by hundreds of little elves, restlessly filing, smoothing, grinding, polishing watch parts. And that they are made by grey-haired little old watchmakers, sitting bent at their tables for countless hours, somewhere in the Swiss mountains afraid they would be vastly mistaken. Sure there is still a small percentage with the hands on approach but look at the past COSC tested figures 750000- 950000 watch movements a year now around 800000 plus movements passed a year.But as only the bare uncased movement is tested at the COSC no winding rotor module date wheel,now these could be added to the movement to be finished by hand later.This was a past much advertised Rolex quote it takes 12 months to make a oyster this is what advertisement tries to sell us, but IMHO its light years away from reality.

IMHO in today's,watch production world its now primarily an issue of engineers,computer technicians, and metallurgists,various technicians,and specially trained workers.Once you have the design and tooling for vast production you can make them by the many thousands. And as the parts are all mainly now robot machine made, in theory they should be all the same much more easy to get a first time pass rate at COSC,than a movement thats completely hand made, too many variables with a completely hand made movement and just think of the huge extra time cost.IMHO the traditional watchmaking part is all but now the very last thing in modern day mass watch production today.And then only when the movements are fully assembled in case and adjusted and finally checked again on timing machine before packed and shipped world wide.

Quote from a past Swiss watch magazine.
Rolex launches its large-scale construction the goal of the new Rolex building project is to contain the entire watch movement making process to one building. Most of the parts distribution and much of the movement manufacturing process is totally automated by robotics.

[Aberdein]

The BEST hand crafted timepiece? They are not totally hand crafted and are mass produced so they can not be considered the best handcrafted watch. Very few quality and desirable items are hand crafted these days and those that are , are often beyond the reach of the masses.
Are they a high quality watch with desirable designs and a degree of prestige for their owners? Of course they are that's why most on these pages love them. And yes much of the attraction of Rolex watches is due to marketing by Rolex.

[RupertP]

Absolutely not.

[1William]

D. I love the brand but so many other brands which do it better. Except marketing and hype, Rolex wears the Crown.

[ras47]

1. Should have been a poll.

2. Poll should include F: Tacos.

[doramas]

Originally Posted by beshannon

No, since they are not hand crafted and certainly not even the best made watches in the industry

I totally agree.

[Rori]

I consider it the most recognizable watch in the world. Also, the most beautiful.


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[EtherBrown]

You don’t have to be the best to be the most important and that’s why Rolex will do what it do and keep wearing the crown.


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[mmaggi]

Well... Asking this on a Rolex forum will get some biased answers.

But.... my humble opinion: They make good, durable, reliable well made watches. They ARE over priced. No question about it. IMO their SS models should have an MSRP half of what they're currently asking.

If I said it once, I've said it a million times: Rolex has done and continues to do an outstanding job at marketing. That's why they are able to sell ALOT watches at their over priced price point, not to mention the resale value is outstanding as well.

[Swaye]

Rolex. A million'ish watches a year.

FP Journe. 800'ish watches a year.

I love, and I do mean love, both brands, but there is no comparison. At all. But Rolex is not trying to be FPJ, or PP, or even AP. Yet. But no, to answer the original question, Rolex is nowhere near the best hand made watch. I believe it is the best mid-market mass produced watch, to me.

There is room in a collection for both high end hand fitted bleeding edge horology, and mass market robust "tool'ish" watches.

[GoingPlaces]

They are not handmade so the question is pointless.

[JR16]

Originally Posted by ras47

1. Should have been a poll.



2. Poll should include F: Tacos.

I vote for F. Assuming you meant hand-crafted tacos.



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[mario1971]

It is not handmade and it is not the best either.

But for me Rolex is enough. I love to wear it.

[DoctorA]

I love rolex but my answer is D!

[dnpina]

Originally Posted by djyolky

Trolled

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X 2

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[Oyster Sauce]

C

[wrexc]

D

[faimag]

Originally Posted by Swaye

Rolex. A million'ish watches a year.

FP Journe. 800'ish watches a year.

I love, and I do mean love, both brands, but there is no comparison. At all. But Rolex is not trying to be FPJ, or PP, or even AP. Yet. But no, to answer the original question, Rolex is nowhere near the best hand made watch. I believe it is the best mid-market mass produced watch, to me.

There is room in a collection for both high end hand fitted bleeding edge horology, and mass market robust "tool'ish" watches.

These comparisons are kind of biased. They would be fair if both companies had the same size and capacity to produce, i.e. same size factories and numbers of employees or technicians.

I guess if ALS had as many employees and factories as Rolex, they would be producing more, no?

According to Wiki, ALS produces 5,000 watches (not 800) per year with 770 employees, and Rolex produces 800,000 watches with 6,000 employees. Obviously ALS produces fewer than Rolex even if you account for company size (that's not my point), but that would be a fair comparison.

[HogwldFLTR]

Originally Posted by vh2k

Thought this topic would generate some lively discussion...

Do you consider Rolex the best hand crafted watch brand?

A. Indeed, Rolex is the gold standard and I consider them the best.
B. Rolex is awesome but not the best.
C. I love Rolex but it’s not “hand crafted” to me.
D. Not even close. So many better watches.
E. Other / Don’t know or care

Thoughts?

I'll go with "A" simply because of my requirements for ruggedness of a watch. I don't know of a better watch for what I need a watch. On the other hand as others have pointed out, they aren't hand crafted, there are watches with much nicer finishing, but for the purpose of a rugged exceptionally nice watch they're the cat's meow. We can always find a more exclusive brand that really is polished my highly paid elves but that doesn't mean it will take the punishment a Rolex will take.

[Fleetlord]

Simply the best 'beach to boardroom' timepieces available.

[mario1971]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

Simply the best 'beach to boardroom' timepieces available.

Bingo! All the rest is blowing a rubber doll

[Robf52]

Originally Posted by brandrea

this exactly ^^^

i guess i’m in the c camp

+1.