Will Rolex discontinue the 116719 BLRO ???

[123Blueface]

I sure hope not, at least not before I get this holy grail.

[barto78]

Rolex has been pushing the GMT pretty hard during PGA Tour broadcasts here in the states. Usually the only commercials i've seen for Rolex watches are for the Platinum D/D or just the D/D in general.

Clearly they are trying to market the watch and are trying to improve its sales in the US.

[m j b]

Originally Posted by montecarlo77

It does not appear to be selling well because prices are sagging for used ones and new ones are being offered for low to mid $20's now.

Show me where I can find a new one for low 20s and I'll buy it now.

[brucethemanlee]

Whether selling well or not that well I can see them discontinuing the model....Just because it's Rolex

I doubt they will ever make SS pepsi because of the BLRO and for all the people who bought it previously. At the very least they will change something about it like dial color or tweaked bezel color. Something. I can't see exact same watch but just in SS

More likely as some of have said it will be coke SS

(or root beer perhaps but doubtful )


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[Phil G.]

Love my 21 year old Pepsi, and always have. Still looks new and color match is very close to the BLRO.

[VicLeChic]

I wonder.. wouldn't Rolex maximise profit by offering it in SS rather than YG? It would make it much more affordable to the many enthusiasts who'd be interested in adding it to their collection. I would expect potential demand for SS to be much higher than for YG.

Where's the higher profit here:

(price YG - cost YG) x quantity "a"
vs.
(price SS - cost SS ) x quantity "b"

where "b" is a high multiple of "a" whereas cost YG is most probably a low multiple of cost SS


I'm sure the marketing boffins at Rolex have figured it out. I don't see a change from YG to SS outlandish at all, apart from the fact that I would happily embrace it. It'd be a win-win as far as I'm concerned, although I'm more of a Coke guy myself and would love a RONR in SS.

[uncufunc]

Originally Posted by m j b

Show me where I can find a new one for low 20s and I'll buy it now.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=537882

There are a couple of POs for a bit less

[rw2008]

I agree here that the key to doing this is having a metal exclusive dial color.

Ice blue for PT Daytona vs. white/black for Steel for example.

With the Pepsi that's gonna be tough, but maybe they could make the bezel colors more vibrant than the muted/off (albeit historically correct) BLRO colors. Therefore differentiating the watches for the WISs.

[AS1]

Originally Posted by VicLeChic

I wonder.. wouldn't Rolex maximise profit by offering it in SS rather than YG? It would make it much more affordable to the many enthusiasts who'd be interested in adding it to their collection. I would expect potential demand for SS to be much higher than for YG.

Where's the higher profit here:

(price YG - cost YG) x quantity "a"
vs.
(price SS - cost SS ) x quantity "b"

where "b" is a high multiple of "a" whereas cost YG is most probably a low multiple of cost SS


I'm sure the marketing boffins at Rolex have figured it out. I don't see a change from YG to SS outlandish at all, apart from the fact that I would happily embrace it. It'd be a win-win as far as I'm concerned, although I'm more of a Coke guy myself and would love a RONR in SS.

I think there is a large scale misunderstanding that Rolex is like a traditional corporation with shareholders driven solely by maximizing profit. I recognize that for sure they want to make money, of course, but they are driven by branding, positioning, prestige and a host of other factors.

For these reasons, they don't make half a million SS Daytona Cs a year, a Pepsi and a Coke in SS, etc. Probably they'd make more money. If they had huge numbers of public shareholders and activist funds bothering their management every quarter about EPS, then sure.

But they don't.

Isn't that part of the allure?

[montecarlo77]

Speed: Rolex absolutely cares about resale value because products that HOLD their value will always sell easy when new. If you sell products that drop huge in value, then fewer consumers will buy new and instead buy secondhand.

Ferrari is a great example of a company that releases limited quantities and makes a model for just a few years and because of that these cars do well in the resale market and often become collectible and solid investments that can also be enjoyed. Making something forever or flooding the market makes no sense. Both Rolex and Ferrari have to maintain an air of limited availability, exclusivity, and collector/investment value. For these reasons it would be smart for Rolex to discontinue this model in the next couple of years if not sooner.

[CYKBC]

Originally Posted by montecarlo77

Speed: Rolex absolutely cares about resale value because products that HOLD their value will always sell easy when new. If you sell products that drop huge in value, then fewer consumers will buy new and instead buy secondhand.

Ferrari is a great example of a company that releases limited quantities and makes a model for just a few years and because of that these cars do well in the resale market and often become collectible and solid investments that can also be enjoyed. Making something forever or flooding the market makes no sense. Both Rolex and Ferrari have to maintain an air of limited availability, exclusivity, and collector/investment value. For these reasons it would be smart for Rolex to discontinue this model in the next couple of years if not sooner.

Unlike Rolex, modern Ferraris plummet in value when driven/enjoyed. Solid investments they are not if you actually intend to use them as anything but garage queens.

[montecarlo77]

CYKBC: That is not entirely true. Some modern Ferrari's do drop in value like most cars but the higher end and more exclusive models can actually trade for more than MSRP and never drop below that because these models are limited and production does not last long. This is the model I think Rolex should take with some of its most expensive models like the 116719.

[samson66]

Would make no sense for them to release a SS Pepsi now. That would be a complete kick in the gut to BLRO owners. Would make a ton of sense for them to release a SS Coke however. That would sell like crazy in my opinion and would preserve the Pepsi as a PM watch only

[montecarlo77]

I agree with you Samson66...

[tomchicago]

note that BLRO is a generic term for "Bleu" "Rouge" which means blue red. my 16710 papers say BLRO.

if the wg blro precludes them from making a SS blro, then it's a shameful, failed gambit by Rollie imo.

[No SUBctitute]

Originally Posted by AS1

did he say if other PM watches with MSRPs around $40K are selling good?

He implied it was selling worse than other PM, but did not say. Fair point.

[Ruddiger]

Originally Posted by AS1

I think there is a large scale misunderstanding that Rolex is like a traditional corporation with shareholders driven solely by maximizing profit. I recognize that for sure they want to make money, of course, but they are driven by branding, positioning, prestige and a host of other factors.

For these reasons, they don't make half a million SS Daytona Cs a year, a Pepsi and a Coke in SS, etc. Probably they'd make more money. If they had huge numbers of public shareholders and activist funds bothering their management every quarter about EPS, then sure.

But they don't.

Isn't that part of the allure?

Howdy,

Totally agree, well said.

Take care,

Ruddiger

[gtnator]

I don't know if they will ever sell another SS Pepsi, I hope they do, and if so I'll buy (another) one.


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[Corsair66]

Since nobody here (to my knowledge) has any real information on BLRO sales, all we have are statistically insignificant reports from a very small number of ADs that the watches aren't selling well at their shops. OK, so what? How are other PM pieces selling at those shops?

As others have mentioned, the current WG Pepsi couldn't possibly coexist with a new SS version. I can't imagine that Rolex would do that to their 116719 owners. That said, buying new watches as investments is a fool's venture (at best), so who cares what the watch is worth down the road?

If one doesn't sell their watches, increased value only represents a greater insurance burden. I won't be selling my BLRO and couldn't care less what the "market" thinks it's worth going forward.

[TOlsen]

How many BLNRs does an AD / boutique have to sell to earn the same profit as on a BLRO?

What is Rolex production cap in their facilities at the moment and does demand exceed supply?

[CYKBC]

Originally Posted by montecarlo77

CYKBC: That is not entirely true. Some modern Ferrari's do drop in value like most cars but the higher end and more exclusive models can actually trade for more than MSRP and never drop below that because these models are limited and production does not last long. This is the model I think Rolex should take with some of its most expensive models like the 116719.

again it's because they're not driven. once you use them, they drop precipitously. if you're including the la ferrari, no one puts miles on those. tragic.

if rolex made a steel pepsi gmt2, it'd be lights out.

[TK-710]

I think it's impossible for anyone to state that any model is a slow seller. First you'd have to know total sales, which we don't. Then and more importantly you'd have to know production numbers. So even if you knew they sold one BLRO for every 500 hundred subs it wouldn't be safe to say it was a slow seller compared to the sub if they were only making one BLRO for every 500 subs.

You hear this a lot with the seadweller. It's a slow seller compared to the sub. Only if Rolex had no notion of their own market and were producing them at the same rate.

My guess is Rolex is selling BLROs at a rate that satisfies their rate of production and at a profitable rate at that.

[handsfull]

Originally Posted by m j b

Show me where I can find a new one for low 20s and I'll buy it now.

Originally Posted by uncufunc

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=537882

There are a couple of POs for a bit less

Congrats (in advance) on your purchase!


I don't think the 116719 is selling any faster/slower than the 116718....so I believe the 116719 isn't going anywhere.

[AJMarcus]

Originally Posted by kilyung

The inspiration for the BLRO was the 6542

Gorgeous. Both of them

[Roll the Lex]

I hope they dump the wg blro and release a ss Pepsi with a bezel with different shades of red, blue.

Then I'd have a very exclusive watch- that would be pretty cool to me.


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[GMT Aviator]

I think the next SS GMT Pepsi we see will be in the form of a completely overhauled GMT Master. (GMT Master III?)
I also don't think Rolex will make the same mistake twice of releasing one of their most iconic tool watch colour combos only in precious metal.
It was done at the time to trumpet their ability to form a bi-colour one piece bezel. A world first.

As beautiful as the current ceramic Pepsi is, Rolex have practically killed off the Pepsi by only offering it in PM. It's just way outside of most people's spending power to purchase, and lost its iconic tool watch credentials in the process by only being offered as a PM piece.
Imagine if the newer ceramic Sub With black bezel had only ever been released in PM and the marketing disaster that would have led to. Well that's what they did with the ceramic Pepsi.

GMT's are every bit tool watches by design and by their nature should primarily be made of SS. I doubt the pilots and astronauts of yesterday-year who wore these watches and made them the objects of desire they've become today would have done so had they been made of gold. They wouldn't have afforded them and neither would the watches been seen as serious tool watches paraded in PM. I also don't think the perceived image such a watch would have conveyed (as it does now being essentially unobtainium due to cost), would have made these particular professionals feel comfortable wearing it and I imagine few of the current ones in the wild now are worn as serious tool watches being exposed to the daily knocks and grinds that cockpits inflict. It's just not bought, worn or perceived as the tool watch it originally was.

Shame on you Rolex.

Personally I hope they discontinue it in WG. Not because it's ugly or offensive, it's not. Discontinuing it will afford current owners to continue to enjoy a rare and unique reference which will become ever more desirable as soon as it's removed from the catalog, and it will give Rolex the opportunity to re-vitalise the GMT line up and get back to offering a desirable tool watch first, and a PM novelty next.

The GMT line up is in desperate need of a complete re-think IMHO with respect to Bezel offerings and the case materials they are mated to.

I'd personally love to see a heritage line come to the market with sapphire bezels overlaid on genuine bakerlite. Waiting lists for those would make the current Daytona shortage pale to insignificance and line the pockets of many a grey dealer no doubt.

[Scholar]

Originally Posted by samson66

Would make no sense for them to release a SS Pepsi now. That would be a complete kick in the gut to BLRO owners. Would make a ton of sense for them to release a SS Coke however. That would sell like crazy in my opinion and would preserve the Pepsi as a PM watch only

It's funny that you say that, because the whole point of the white gold BLRO was to taunt Rolex's old core audience. (You see GMTs on a lot of older travelers and expats.)

The gold BLRO was the kick in the gut.

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by m j b

Show me where I can find a new one for low 20s and I'll buy it now.

Here: https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=502380

I had very few inquiries and even fewer offers!

[No SUBctitute]

Originally Posted by GMT Aviator

Iand it will give Rolex the opportunity to re-vitalise the GMT line up and get back to offering a desirable tool watch first, and a PM novelty next.

Not gonna happen. Rolex will first squeeze whatever money it can out of Pepsi/Coke fans by forcing them into PM, and after those desperate enough have bought PM, then Rolex will offer SS Pepsi and Coke. Its the Rolex way. Disgusting but true.

[jonnyz1245]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

Here: https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=502380

I had very few inquiries and even fewer offers!

Wow, thats a great price! They seem to have been moving this spring quite regularly and at higher prices for preowned.