The Rolex Forums   The Rolex Watch

ROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEX

Old 27 January 2019, 09:29 PM   #1
ibbraithwaite
"TRF" Member
 
ibbraithwaite's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Real Name: Ian
Location: Australia
Watch: 116710LN
Posts: 23
Rolex Appreciation Graph

Hi Guys, Im on the hunt for a funny graph I saw a while back - it tracks a WIS's feeling on Rolex... from total noob thinking they are the one and only, to disregarding them as common, to going back and appreciating, buying modern, buying vintage, and then selling off down to one or two

Does this sound familar? If anyone has it or knows where I can find it, Id really appreciate it. 👍

Thanks.
ibbraithwaite is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28 January 2019, 10:44 PM   #2
GradyPhilpott
2024 Pledge Member
 
GradyPhilpott's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: New Mexico
Watch: Tudor Big Rose
Posts: 34,329
I can't find a graph, but this article explains the stages of Rolex appreciation.

...[I]t is possible to characterize three basic levels of Rolex appreciation.

1. Rolex Is The Best (New Guy Version.) The fact that Rolex designs evolve so slowly has done something very important --it's ensured that if you have one on, a disproportionate number of people are going to know you are wearing (a) a Rolex and (b) an expensive watch. The upside is that it can and does say you're a person of means (there is nothing wrong, per se, with conspicuous consumption if that's what you know you want) but the downside is that a certain percentage of observers will conclude, rightly or wrongly, that advertising your affluence is the only (or at least the main) reason you bought the watch. You may have bought a Rolex simply because you've decided you like watches, and you've heard Rolex is a good watch --unfortunately, that's not going to stop some people from assuming you had more ignoble motives. Sooner or later, though, the new owner may wonder why so many self-styled watch experts are sneering, which leads to . . .

2. Rolex Is For Suckers (New Connoisseur Version.) This stage of appreciation --well, of recognition, anyway --is usually the result of one's first exposure to the enormous range of other luxury watch brands, and the onset of suspicion that what you get when you buy a Rolex is an overpriced, uninteresting watch from a company that is too lazy to update its own designs, too rich to risk change, and is generally happiest resting on its generously proportioned laurels. This stage is often marked by a discovery of, and fascination with, the vocabulary of hand-finishing of movements, largely absent in Rolexes; one swoons to the alluring exoticism of côtes de Genève, anglage, oeil-de-perdrix, and the whole rich world of finissage. The awareness that Rolex, rightly or wrongly, is associated with a certain kind of person in many minds --generally male, American, McMansion-owning, loud, golf-obsessed, sartorially challenged and gastronomically undiscriminating, and fond of unnecessarily large and inefficient automobiles --merely serves to confirm the prejudice that unless one wants to be taken for an illbred, reactionary lout, Rolex and all it stands for is best avoided. This stage can persist indefinitely, potentially, but if one continues to inquire one may arrive at . . .

3. Rolexes Are Actually Pretty Good Watches (Grizzled Veteran Version.) There are several paths that can lead to this stage. One observes bemusedly that it is, oddly enough, one's Rolex --usually in the context of being worn when you don't want to wear one of your "good" watches --that seems to keep time best. One observes bemusedly that it is, oddly enough, one's Rolex that seems to be the most free of irritating and expensive prima donna temperamental behavior. One finds, bemusedly, that it is --quelle surprise --one's Rolex which seems to be migrating more and more frequently onto one's wrist, like a faithful Jeeves tolerant as the years go by of the mad whims and fads of its master. One may even find, as I did, that Rolexes are worn by a rather surprising number of watch industry executives working for other brands (on their days off, of course!) and are preferred, for their extremely reliable engineering, by an awful lot of watchmakers. And one discovers that what one thought was lack of personality was merely a refusal on the part of the watch to impose one on you --its very simplicity is what lets it become, as it develops its palimpsest of scratches, marks, and nicks through the slings and arrows of daily use, your watch, and not a brand billboard.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackfor.../#44b9a2ee216c
Here's another more detailed rendering of the same concept:

https://dalevito.wordpress.com/2015/...-appreciation/

And yet another even more detailed list of stages of watch collecting:

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/tw...-to-avoid-them
__________________
JJ

Inaugural TRF $50 Watch Challenge Winner
GradyPhilpott is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Takuya Watches

Bobs Watches

Asset Appeal

My Watch LLC

OCWatches

DavidSW Watches

Coronet


*Banners Of The Month*
This space is provided to horological resources.





Copyright ©2004-2024, The Rolex Forums. All Rights Reserved.

ROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEX

Rolex is a registered trademark of ROLEX USA. The Rolex Forums is not affiliated with ROLEX USA in any way.