Why the new intro GMTs only on Jubilee?

[TheVTCGuy]

Been away or a while so sorry if this has been brought up before, but last year, Rolex released the new Pepsi GMT, on Jubilee. This year, they release the Batman with the new movement... on Jubilee.

I don’t get it. Yes, I am bias because I much prefer and have always worn the Oyster, but why doesn’t Rolex release the new models with an option of either bracelet? GMTs USED to be available in either. Why not now?

[Fat_ninja]

Cause when they go back to a oyster...the waitlist is going to go out 20 years

[Dennisoul]

Brilliant marketing by Rolex....keeps the demand up by unavailablity

[Cryten]

Because they snookered themselves with the BLRO. They had to make the SS different from the gold one somehow.

Now the silliness has spread (like a fungus) to the BLNR.

[faimag]

My guess about the jubilee on the Pepsi was to make it distinct from the white gold version. And having seen it got enough traction (despite your own preferences, admittedly), they went the same road with the Batman. This, together with the very different look of the same watch on jubilee vs oyster, makes for a greater allure of a new release.

[Brew]

Rolex is going up-market, baby!

[1William]

I prefer the oyster bracelet and think they could have upgraded the movement and kept on moving forward. I also think they could have offered it on the Jubilee or Oyster and let buyers decide. But that makes too much sense and would not create the false hype.

[RHIII]

I think just to shake it up a bit — as well as (mentioned above) create a little gap between the metal variants.

Also to ‘play’ towards the market section that are huge Jubilee fans — with the hope of filling some orders!!

Hopefully the less hype from this Basel will allow for more models to show up at ADs...sooner


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[MCO1]

Are we going to see a white gold Batman on oyster next year?

[Sprta]

The jubilee gives the watch an entirely different look which appeals to many people.

[jrs146]

Originally Posted by Fat_ninja

Cause when they go back to a oyster...the waitlist is going to go out 20 years

Haha yeah exactly. Rolex is the master at toying with us. And we eat it all right up!


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[Jmbarrack]

Product development. It's a way to differentiate from the Submariner line.
- Oyster for Sub - Jubilee GMT
- Yellow gold sub - rose gold GMT
- All black bezel sub - bi-color GMT

Prior, the lines were too similar. People said all the time on here they didn't want the LN GMT because it looked too much like a Sub date. These latest rounds of changes to the GMT line fixes all of that.

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[beshannon]

Originally Posted by FlyFishingLawyer

Because they know it causes their customers to react to any little changes to iconic models like teenage girls seeing whoever the pop star du jour is of the moment. Rolex hysteria....

Bingo!

[brandrea]

It’s interesting to me too Paul.

I think in the case of the Pepsi, they wanted to bring it back to the 50’s style and capitalize on sales to people looking for that vintage look/feel. It sort of harkens back to the originals so to speak.

The BLNR kind of caught me off guard though. I just don’t think it’s looks as nice on the jubilee.

Having said that, I always thought I preferred oyster bracelets to jubilees. That is, until I was lucky enough to get a Pepsi from my AD. I totally get it now ... the jubilee is just perfect on this reference IMO.

[lmcgbaj]

Interesting logic. I was thinking next year they introduce the oyster on both bi-color and the LN with maybe a red hand. No one predicts oyster will be back in 2020 across the GMT line?

[MSchott]

I can’t quite figure it out but Rolex operates in a different world than the other luxury watch companies. Only Patek can get away with such nominal changes. Imagine if IWC at SIHH 2019 showed the 2018 MK18 with just a modified movement and different bracelet. The outrage would be massive.

[Sublovin]

It’s a way to create buzz without really doing anything at all?

[zjd168]

oyster black ln and TT will be back soon

[avega357]

Rolex initiated three new rules

SS on jubilee only so that PM is all oyster and upmarket

No yellow gold only RG and WG

Only bi color ceramic bezels on all new models

That means coke will be released in RG and oyster initially then jubilee in SS the following year

This is been published in several journals already


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[torifile]

Originally Posted by 1William

I prefer the oyster bracelet and think they could have upgraded the movement and kept on moving forward. I also think they could have offered it on the Jubilee or Oyster and let buyers decide. But that makes too much sense and would not create the false hype.

Maybe they learned from Apple’s mistake of upgrading the internals without a significant appearance change doesn’t work all that well? We enthusiasts would know what a movement upgrade is but no one else will know or care.

[avega357]

Originally Posted by Jmbarrack

Product development. It's a way to differentiate from the Submariner line.
- Oyster for Sub - Jubilee GMT
- Yellow gold sub - rose gold GMT
- All black bezel sub - bi-color GMT

Prior, the lines were too similar. People said all the time on here they didn't want the LN GMT because it looked too much like a Sub date. These latest rounds of changes to the GMT line fixes all of that.

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Also the release of the sea dweller TT in YG is an indication that YG will not come back in the GMT line so they extended YG to the sea dweller


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[shortsqueeze]

Topic close to my heart. I wish they offered a choice. I do like the Jubilee occasionally, it dresses it up. But if I could only choose one, it would be the brushed Oyster without question. So versatile and frankly just more to my taste. I hope they offer the SS Pepsi on brushed Oyster at some point. I’d definitely pick it up for mine.

[ejj]

As mentioned above, I think the plan is to separate from the Submariner design more. The Sub and GMT were a little too close, particularly with the black bezel and Oyster bracelet.

They have also set up the SD to be the big brother to the Sub in the future--I would expect the future Sub to resemble a scaled-down SD.

[rushca01]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Been away or a while so sorry if this has been brought up before, but last year, Rolex released the new Pepsi GMT, on Jubilee. This year, they release the Batman with the new movement... on Jubilee.

I don’t get it. Yes, I am bias because I much prefer and have always worn the Oyster, but why doesn’t Rolex release the new models with an option of either bracelet? GMTs USED to be available in either. Why not now?

I agree, not sure why they don’t offer both bracelets as an option, I mean they used to like you mentioned.

[Chadridv]

I personally prefer jubilee (although I wish there was a way to do a super jubilee with micro adjustment), but it’s a smart move from Rolex.

I’ve been wearing 116500s, 16710 and 116710BLNR on jubilee for years. I happily share my pics here and on IG and have always received incredibly positive responses. I’m not saying I’m responsible for anything, but certainly influencers like me collectively affect the decisions Rolex makes. I think there are a lot out there that really wanted to see the BLNR on jubilee. Lots of “this is how they should have made it” comments.

So it’s pretty simple, they created a watch that a lot of people really wanted to see. The smart part is discontinuing the 116710 on oyster. As an enthusiast I of course want the options (I still have them btw lol) but from a marketing standpoint, the demand for the 116710BLNR will remain strong, because now you have a hard choice to make. Get the latest and greatest BLNR on jubilee, or hunt down a preowned BLNR on oyster. No matter what the buzz, hype and demand remains.

[Likestheshiny]

Interesting logic. I was thinking next year they introduce the oyster on both bi-color and the LN with maybe a red hand. No one predicts oyster will be back in 2020 across the GMT line?

Several journalists at Basel reported that all GMTs will have multi-color bezels going forward, which is consistent with the discontinuation of all the single-color models. Obviously Rolex can change its mind any time, but LN bezels don't seem to be in the immediate future. If that decision was made partly to make the GMT line more distinct from the sub, we probably also won't see an oyster bracelet option for awhile.

[mjclark32]

They made too many jubilee's and said "screw it, what else can we put this on?"

[Speedbird-1]

I know that, when I wore a Jubilee, I hankered after the Oyster. Now that I wear an Oyster, I quite fancy changing to a 'Super-Joob'.

The colourful pattern of human behaviour, regarding 'trends' and personal taste, is a strange and fickle mistress.

[samson66]

This way they can force Oyster fans to pay twenty grand for PM

[dannyp]

Originally Posted by Jmbarrack

Product development. It's a way to differentiate from the Submariner line.
- Oyster for Sub - Jubilee GMT
- Yellow gold sub - rose gold GMT
- All black bezel sub - bi-color GMT

Prior, the lines were too similar. People said all the time on here they didn't want the LN GMT because it looked too much like a Sub date. These latest rounds of changes to the GMT line fixes all of that.

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Differentiation aside, I think this also helps bring some semblance of "order" to the Pro watch lineup. Rolex was a bit all over the place, stylistically, particularly when it came to offering different color/metal combos. Throwing bracelet type in as another variable made the line truly all over the place. Now, there are again rules:

All GMT have black dial (except WG)
All GMT have bi-color bezel
SS GMT have Jubilee; TT/PM have Oyster
TT/RG pieces otherwise identical configurations
Two PM colors available
SS/WG unavailable in overlapping configurations (except bezel)

Sub has similar rules:

All Subs match bezel/dial
Two PM colors available
TT/YG pieces have otherwise identical configurations
SS/WG unavailable in overlapping configurations

Additionally, the SD43 is following the Sub "rules"

Explorers I and II already have "rules" due to such limited variations, and the Daytona/YM have fewer as the "luxury lifestyle" pieces in the lineup.

Originally Posted by MSchott

I can’t quite figure it out but Rolex operates in a different world than the other luxury watch companies. Only Patek can get away with such nominal changes. Imagine if IWC at SIHH 2019 showed the 2018 MK18 with just a modified movement and different bracelet. The outrage would be massive.

On the contrary, as IWC begins to roll out new manufacture movements, that in and of itself will create quite a stir.