Are we becoming rare?

[Raypep]

Originally Posted by Tmac478

I live in the Bay Area and, like you, I'm constantly checking people's wrists. In my business, I interact with alot of techies. The number of apple watches I see is crazy. Not so many mechanical watches.

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Same. I'm a 'techy' with a SS Apple watch and Rolex. I much prefer the Rolex.

-R

[rexG]

I think there’s a new generation coming up. My two boys are in Jr High/High School. The new “fad” is wearing a Rolex. My boys have suddenly become interested in my watches. Now, granted, I live in Newport Beach...land of spoiled children...but trends start somewhere. I think it’s a pendulum swing. Sure, high tech is cool, but there’s only so much tech one can absorb. I believe humans will always wander back to the beauty of a work of art over a microchipped, robot assembled object. To me, the sound of a Ferrari will always be preferable to the silence of a Tesla......but, inevitably, sadly....that’s where we’re going.

[JoeG74536]

I've noticed the same as OP. My wife and I are spending thanksgiving at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville nc. I'm always looking at watches on vacations. Much to my surprise it's been mostly Apple/Fit but here. I've only seen one other Rolex besides mine.

[Dhiren]

I see a lot of Rolex’s being worn in india all the time

[BAMBAM]

Have spend the last 10 years in the middle east and saw too many ROLEX and other real luxury watches in the wild .. everywhere there ....

Even my years in Singapore , still lots of them and I a almost sure they where real ones.

[Eric Chan]

I am a rarity in my social circle. Most of my friends don’t wear watches or just wear the apple watches or fit bits. To each ther own.

[douglasf13]

I think it’s only a matter of time before the ubiquity of the Apple Watch in American coastal cities will radiate out to the rest of America and the world (at least to those in the financial position to own a smart phone.) As others have mentioned, there are plenty of Tesla drivers who can afford a Bentley, if they wanted one.

[Why1504]

The Apple Watch or Smart Watches in general have a huge following regardless of where you live.

Those that can afford luxury watches will move back to them the more they see regular folks wearing their smart watch.

As I stated earlier, the Apple Watch has a place for me as long as I am working in my current capacity. All of my employees that travel wear an Apple Watch. My kids wear the Apple Watch. It does provide value in given situations.

That said, those that can afford it will move back soon. I would even suggest that PM will be the next trend.

[HogwldFLTR]

Originally Posted by Zestywesley

There are always exceptions to the rule, but for the most part people in my area would rather own a $150k Tesla X or a $80-100k p90 over a Porsche 911 and an Apple Watch over a Rolex....

Well, like I said, I have worked and still work as an engineer in the Semiconductor industry. I see none of the management, few of the engineers, and mostly operators wearing the Apple watch. Seems to be that the use is inversely proportionate to income. For some it's a statement and for others a distraction,

[Xerxes77]

I see fake watches on rich people

[jets]

I think we're medium rare.

[sweetlew]

Flew out of SFO last weekend...as we were eating in a little spot before we jumped on our domestic flight I spotted 4 people with Rolex...2 women and 2 men.

[rolex75216]

I think it is just the opposite. I think we are growing stronger than ever!

[DeeDubya]

I’m not sure what the demographics of this site are, but as a millennial I do not see the appeal of an Apple Watch. I’ve got an iPhone in my pocket - I bought and wear a Rolex because I appreciate the mechanical work of art that I have on my wrist along with the heritage and history of the company that it represents.

[Tan]

I spot a bunch of Rolexes in airports all the time.

[vintagewatch]

Back in the day (1990's) when I worked in an upscale jewelry store in Vail, Colorado I saw many high end watches on wrists of clients. Once I even saw a gentleman wearing a Patek Philippe Grand Complication Repeater (turns out it was Philippe Stern on a business/ski trip). Fast forward to present day, I still see high end watches on wrists (not nearly as often as the 1990's). Today (yah, working on Thanksgiving) I've seen one gentleman wearing a Rolex 43mm Sea-Dweller and a lady wearing a 1970's all gold Rolex Date on a riveted gold Jubilee bracelet. I think you need you look a bit harder to see high end watches "in the wild" now, but with a watchful eye you capture a few.

[AK797]

Originally Posted by Wools

I think it's important to remember this forum is generally very wealthy, older and middle to upper class. In some cases, a lot of retired people! :)

I remember buying my first every really good watch, a £120 Seiko Quartz with my first full time pay cheque back in 2007, and I could not have been happier! Even a £400 Apple Watch is still an aspirational item for the majority of the worlds population.

So considering most mechanical watches start around £400 for a Hmailton, up to an Oris around £1K and then, the sky is your limit, it's not too much of a surprise that the upper limit for most people is a few hundred pound. Apple is also one of the most refined makers of technology, which is so prevalent in our lives, so the 2 come together quite nicely with the Apple watch.

Putting aside the social / economic issues, it has to beside that the Apple Watch is a nice watch too! :)

Yes, I wouldn't say very wealthy but certainly doing well and that is the target market for this aspirational Veblen good, and while I still see most Celebs and sports stars and music stars wearing luxury watches, this market and esp Rolex within it, will not particularly diminish, altho the lower luxury and high street brands will struggle against the rise of Iwatch tech.

Most likely the price of Rolex, and AP, PP and the like will all rise in future to better distinguish their luxury and exclusivity components away from the proletarian Iwatches. We are already seeing this flight to quality to quite an extent already.

[wildcat465]

Originally Posted by yxc145

I think 90% of the people cannot afford a watch that's worth half or 1/3 of their cars.

My watch is worth more than my car.

[kngzfrd]

Originally Posted by slillestrand

I flew into John Wayne Airport.....most people on the plane lived there I'd assume.... standing in the isle to get off the plane....I viewed at least 6 Rolex models on wrists....most I've seen in one spot ever.



Scott

Haha!!! Next time you’re in the area, take a 5 minute uber ride to South Coast Plaza (its our mall out here)... you will see them everywhere, as well as VC and AP.


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[hallidc]

I see a variety of watches coming and going through my workplace. The younger crowd rock Apple Watches and Fitbits, and the older crowd wears the more traditional time piece. I myself wear an Apple Watch while at work, but Rolex at all other times.

[MikeyTX]

Originally Posted by Tmac478

I live in the Bay Area and, like you, I'm constantly checking people's wrists. In my business, I interact with alot of techies. The number of apple watches I see is crazy. Not so many mechanical watches.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Could it be because the majority of them would not be able to tell time on an analog dial let alone figure out how to unscrew the crown in order to wind or set the date ?

[Tmac478]

Originally Posted by MikeyTX

Could it be because the majority of them would not be able to tell time on an analog dial let alone figure out how to unscrew the crown in order to wind or set the date ?

Haha 🤣

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[superdog]

Originally Posted by HK Islandboy

That doesn’t match what I’ve obvserved. wandering around my office, I’ve seen a lot of people (say 1/4 of the folks on the floor) move from wearing mechanical watches daily to wearing only Apple Watches, Garmins, etc

Same with me.

I know quite a few people that have evolved into something else from mechanical. I might not be too far behind.

[SeaDweller50]

A smart move by Tag. Perhaps Rolex will follow suit. With electronic display resolution increasing as rapidly as it currently is, then it’s only a matter of time before you’ll find it difficult to discern virtual from reality. You’ll have all references available on one watch, as Tag already have.

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/...s-watch-market

[donut]

Plenty of luxury watches (Rolex, PP, AP, Panerai) detected in Bangkok, especially in CBD.
It's normal to see people here wearing luxury watches. We are not rare but also not a majority.

[Why1504]

During my life I have worn or carried just about every different class of time piece imiaginable. One thing is true people change what they like.

Right now the smart watch is hot. Smart watches will get more and more affordable. They will replace the Casio/Timex market.

But the luxury watch market has also heated up from where it has been for about 10 years.

People of style want to be different. Within a few years I believe people of means will return to wearing luxury watches in force just to be different from the masses who will all be wearing smart watches. Will these watches be mechanical or smart watches now that is a legitimate question.

IMO, makers like Rolex will continue to manufacture mechanical watches until demand completely stops. I don’t think mechanical watches will go the way of the typewriter but I just don’t know.

[Godfather111]

Originally Posted by Airborne

A smart move by Tag. Perhaps Rolex will follow suit. With electronic display resolution increasing as rapidly as it currently is, then it’s only a matter of time before you’ll find it difficult to discern virtual from reality. You’ll have all references available on one watch, as Tag already have.

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/...s-watch-market

I think I can safely say that Rolex will never go down this route, and that if they do, then they will definitely lose a lot of their following. I stopped taking Tag seriously when they went down the smartwatch route. It was the horological equivalent to "jumping the shark."

Don't get me wrong, I wear a Samsung Gear S3 everyday to the office, and I appreciate having various faces on the screen. I have even put on Tag, IWC, Omega, Hublot and yes even Rolex faces on it, but only did so as a joke to friends and officemates. Like "Haha, look I'm wearing a new watch again." But the novelty wears off very quickly, and I go back to minimalist dark faces on the dial in order to save battery.

Yes display resolution may improve to a point when you cannot discern between a video screen and a mechanical dial, but only from afar. And I'm talking about 3 meters away.

But there will never be a replacement for mechanical watches, Rolex in particular. The beauty of the the bezel, the dials, the hour-markers, and the hands. As many of you here do as well probably, I spend my free time going over the minute intricacies of my Rolexes, and I always marvel at the perfection and attention to detail of every single piece.

We are analog animals living in a digital age. We may use smartwatches for practical reasons, but we wear Rolexes for emotional ones.

[Gharddog03]

Not sure which rolex model has a texting feature

[andromeda160]

Originally Posted by Egelber

It seems like most every where I go, I tend to look at watches in the wild. Why oh why do I just see the apple or fit bit style watches? And believe me, I live in a fairly upscale area in a northern suburb of DFW. Are most people wearing their luxury watches to the office only? I figured the goods would be out on the weekends, but I don't really see that here.

My Rolex doesn't monitor how much sleep I get, how far I walk, how many steps i've taken, my heart rate nor does it have an alarm on it. Does it mean I don't wear any of my fine watches? no. I wear them daily under my cuff, but it's quite likely you only see the fitbit. my fitbit offers real advantages that helps me make changes to my lifestyle so I can enjoy my watches longer. I download the data and look through it though, when I want the time I just pull up my sleeve and read it. the only reason my fitbit is synched to a clock is so that I don't have to adjust the hours when I view my activity. id be damned if I tap on that thing a million times to get to the time screen lol

people aren't impressed by production anymore though, people don't see a watch and think of a well synchronized machine that took hundreds of hand finished, tight tolerance parts working together to create a function of time. people don't think of all the milling processes a watch case goes through from its start as a brick of steel to a completed mid case, caseback, and bezel. it's been done before, and it's been done to pretty much all extremes. gone are the days of watches like the Henry Graves complication which are true engineering marvels, its a new time, with new technology and I think in the future we will see our watches move more into hybrid electronics because that's where the new innovations are going to lie.

[Spartacus]

Great thread, and comments. So true that the current generation wants to be "connected" - many are also carrying debt. I still think smart watches and traditional mechanical watches can live in harmony.

I still see many Rolexes, everywhere, all day. If nothing else, I've see folks move away from Rolex to AP and PP due to how common Rolex watches are.

I could see myself going to work with a smart watch, and attending events and parties in a PP. Relative was flashing their series 3 tonight, the watch died around 6pm, reminding me that the chore of daily charging is not something I want to buy into just yet - I do like a cellular connected watch, that is very
Practical for me.