Will younger adults in the near future be interested in Rolex Watches?

[EDL7]

Actually...lets hope they are not into watches as time goes by..esp luxury watches..as...could there be a more shallow thing to be into..??
Its just a fun toy for enthusiasts like us..w/money to burn..
But I hope the next few generations..have more on their brains in relation to the realities that exist then....than luxury watches..

[jps3b]

I think we need to remember that smart watches and Rolex watches are two completely different products. Almost anyone can afford an Apple Watch. Not everyone who wants a Rolex will ever own one. You have to be somewhat successful to have the means to purchase, let’s just say, a $3000+ watch. In these days, people don’t wear watches to tell time. We wear watches as an accessory. The word Rolex transcends every culture and every language. In 2030 the world population will be in excess of 8 billion people. The high end Swiss watchmakers have nothing to worry about. Just look what’s happening now. A million watches a year and there’s waiting lists...



Always have to post a pic. I just took this

[BT1985]

Originally Posted by DLRIDES

) General public (non-enthusiast) children do not experience an adult in their life wearing a mechanical watch, and the number is diminishing yearly

:

Maybe, but the number of children growing up experiencing an adult in their life wearing a watch in general is up exponentially. Not to mention as the world as a whole becomes more affluent, the luxury watch industry can flourish eating a level to shrinking piece (proportionally) of a growing overall pie.

Anecdotally, I do know that when my son showed up to Pre K wearing this:



it was a matter of weeks before half the class had one too.


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[Dabbadon8]

I bought my first, and only for now, Rolex at 29. Watches are jewelry to me functionally, having value beyond the illusory idea of being a tool. I don’t need it really to tell time, but I enjoy them and the effort that goes in. Smart watches are a different beast entirely to me. I’ll wear a watch the rest of my life because I enjoy the mechanical, historical, aesthetic, and success indicator aspects. Thier success indicator aspect can be especially useful as a young professional (attorney) when trying to cultivate a favorable impression with colleagues or others unfamiliar with my background or firm. It’s a bit shallow, but I also drive the same car I’ve had since high school, grew up with little money, and find some practical use, so it’s a vanity piece with a bit of function. Long story short. I think for many watches may lose their appeal, but I think a subset of youngsters will find similar reasons for the appeal.

[SearChart]

I'm 24 and wear Rolex, Omega and Cartier. I have friends my age and younger that wear Rolex, Breitling, Omega, AP. The ones with some money all have a nice watch.

[andrewjb88]

I've just turned 30, never worn a watch properly in my life, I started wearing a fitbit full time when I was about 27. I inherited one of my late fathers Rolex's in 2018 and for the first few weeks wore it non stop. I then decided I needed a daily as the Rolex has 18k Gold on it and I'm not a massive gold wearer.

My younger sister who is 22 now has another of his Rolex, she wears it occasionally, but has since been out and bought a Tudor clair de rose.

I'm a big car fan, well actually anything with engines, I do enjoy the mechanics of things even though I'm useless at fixing them, I'm beggining to enjoy looking at movements.

[matthurley]

as long as young professional sportmen/women buy them you know they are still sought after by the younger age demograph

[asiparks]

I think there’ll still be an interest in mechanical watches, but Rolex has a problem if they don’t become more accessible. If they’re only available at retail to existing wealthy customers with long purchase histories I don’t expect today’s youth to have sufficient patience to wait 3 years to get on the ladder....And nothing says cool as much as a brand only worn by old rich people.

[Old Expat Beast]

By 2030 they will all have moved on to Grand Seiko Spring Drive. Finally.

[jimcameron]

What percentage of watches sold Worldwide are $10K automatic mechanical timepieces that need $1000 servicing every so often? Somebody must follow the trend in luxury watch sales.

[Baco Noir]

Originally Posted by BT1985

Many think the Apple Watch will do for the watch industry with the current up and coming generation what Swatch did for the previous one and I tend to agree. What the both were successful at is getting young people excited and accustomed to wearing a watch. At some point those that become affluent later in life may then be more likely to buy a nice Swiss timepiece either due to genuine interest or for a status symbol. Either way a net positive for the high end watch industry and Rolex. Plus, by that time Apple will have moved off wearable tech and you will have an Apple chip in your brain.


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I've been a die hard mechanical watch guy since I started collecting 15 years ago and have been a Never Ever Apple Watch guy since the came out, but that all changed Dec 31, 2018 when I bought an AW Series 4. Now I'm not saying I'm selling all my mechanicals yet, but I will say I'm much more impressed, smitten even, with the AW than I ever expected possible. Only time will tell (pun intended) if I put the AW away again in the future and return to the mechanicals, but for now they sit in the watch box to be work occasionally while I for this out. And just for reference, I'm 56 year old.

[Soultime]

I look at vinyl and books as an example of how people are starting to value digital against 'real things'.

MP3 and ebooks are omnipresent and incredibly useful, but people don't really treasure them or place much value on them. In a word 'disposable'.
If it uses batteries and data it will become obsolete very quickly.

The huge revival of records and paper books is no different to an Apple watch v a mechanical watch imo.

Likewise, there is a place for fast food (cheap/convenient/does the job) - but it won't see the demise of a Michelin star restaurant.

[jestrada]

As long as mechanical watches continue becoming a status symbol rather than just instruments that tell time, there will always be an interest in them and Rolex should be at the forefront together with a handful of other luxury brands, imo. Granted, some will still desire owning a luxury mechanical watch because of its horological characteristics (the true WIS), the survival of the industry in the long term lies on these products transitioning from mere time pieces to jewelry that is a badge of one’s achievement or status. Whether this is good for the mechanical watch industry is another question up for debate.


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[DoDe]

Originally Posted by Tools

We were discussing these same questions a decade or so ago.

You know, back when nobody but me and a few others were buying GMT's..

I think «we» is the important factor in your logic. «They» have never experienced a time when «our» watches served a purpose. Unfortunately, I am unable to find a reason why watches would not follow the same laws as everything else which is developed, substituded or obsolete. Like horses, in a few decades, mechanical watches will be regarded as a novelty.

[mjr24]

I think there is a fine line between Rolex manufacturing enough new stock versus over-saturating the market and thus killing some of the future want for a Rolex.

I think Rolex is a status symbol because it's a great watch and that's been continuously beat into peoples' heads for a long time. That won't change in 20 years.

People don't buy watches because it tells time. We all have phones for that now. Thus, there has to be another reason. Many buy it as jewelry, some buy it because it serves a purpose (a traveler who buys a GMT), some buy it as a status symbol, some buy it due to the history and craftsmanship (although this is a vast minority now).

[timedate]

djokovic and federer are doing a hell of a lot for their respective brands, driving sales and building the brands.

these superstars are coming to the end of their careers,

where are the next generation of tennis greats? you always had them coming through in the past.

[BeastGC]

Tech is cool but Rolex and Style are cooler!

[Deityjazz]

I'll stake my bet they would. I was at a bar with a coworker and just behind us were these pair of young adults whose conversion got pretty interesting that i had to eavesdrop. One just got a job and was talking about getting a Rolex with saving a part of his pay. Rolex isn't going away.

[tomallen]

Originally Posted by DLRIDES

Short answer, generally speaking .............. NO !

) Twenty somethings currently interested in watches are irrelevant

) Enthusiasts tend to view situations with rose colored glasses

) General public (non-enthusiast) children do not experience an adult in their life wearing a mechanical watch, and the number is diminishing yearly

) Sales statistics for electronic wrist devices are staggering, and increasing rapidly

My conclusion:

In thirty to forty years, up to sixty percent of mechanical watch manufacturers will be out of business. The remaining will supply the WIS type enthusiasts.Rolex will be one of the survivors.


There will be a new market segment of hybrid mechanical/smart watch that will be powered by a mechanical movement with a micro generator producing the current for the electronic functions. Imagine an advanced version of the current Ressence E-Crown. Rolex will manufacture a line of watches for this new segment, and probably currently in development.

I agree, and maybe by that time you might be able to shop an AD and buy a watch in stock and not get on a waiting list, and dare I say get a discount.

[scurfa]

My conclusion:

In thirty to forty years, up to sixty percent of mechanical watch manufacturers will be out of business. The remaining will supply the WIS type enthusiasts.Rolex will be one of the survivors.


There will be a new market segment of hybrid mechanical/smart watch that will be powered by a mechanical movement with a micro generator producing the current for the electronic functions. Imagine an advanced version of the current Ressence E-Crown. Rolex will manufacture a line of watches for this new segment, and probably currently in development.



[/QUOTE]I agree, Rolex will be one of the survivors and I think their policy of scarcity causing desirability is because they are looking towards the future.

[Pops1973]

Originally Posted by jestrada

As long as mechanical watches continue becoming a status symbol rather than just instruments that tell time, there will always be an interest in them and Rolex should be at the forefront together with a handful of other luxury brands, imo. Granted, some will still desire owning a luxury mechanical watch because of its horological characteristics (the true WIS), the survival of the industry in the long term lies on these products transitioning from mere time pieces to jewelry that is a badge of one’s achievement or status. Whether this is good for the mechanical watch industry is another question up for debate.


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I think you are spot on watches will become jewellery for gents and a status symbol and we enthusiasts will see them as a bit more. I wear my mechanical watch every day and use my Fitbit for the gym.

[Flying Doctor]

Hmmmm - I guess as long as rappers/the music industry has flashy videos with Rolex/other's watches dripping off their wrists then there will be a healthy future. It also fits with the 'flaunt it' and 'in yer face' style and attitude to which rap in particular fits. So I think it will be fine.
However, there will be consolidation in the industry for sure but the tried and tested will be OK. Rolex for sure will be in that camp.

FD.

[Muxi]

Provenance will draw the young adults to mechanical timepieces.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by RolexReviews

Had a conversation with a few buddies of mine and would like to hear these forums thoughts on the matter.

Incase I didn't make it clear with the title let me say this, will a 18 to 28 year old be interested in Rolex Watches let's say in the year 2030?

I think Rolex isn't going to dwindle down anytime soon, but my friends say that brands like Apple have shifted the way people look at watches. "Why look at a watch just for time when I could look at it for a text and/or email as well?" he claims would be the thought process of a person who is 23 in the year 2030.

I understand some of their points, technology is getting more and more advanced sooner than later. But will Luxury watches be something people look into in the future or will it be all about the digital or smart watch scene?


Maybe I'm biased but I think people like myself who purchased their first Rolex at 21 will still be out in the world in 2030/2040/2050 and so on... what do you guys think?

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Perhaps in say 20 -30 years time many of tomorrow's generation will have forgotten how to tell the time on a analog device or even lost the power to think for themselves unless glued to their phones or electronic watches.Today what I see even in today's world with many relying on apps to this and that I sometime wonder if many have apps to help them remember to breath.IMHO much of today's media technology has served to do nothing more then perpetuate the next big breakthrough in anti-social and anti-entainment.

What tripped me you may say? or not! Well when the next generation is already noticing,tick tack toeing on phones that seems now the social interaction of the children and some adults. (Their children and others including grandchildren) brought together at Christmas comprised of a sofa full of ars#s each with a Nintendo or PSP,DS all playing different games and not even talking to each other, then I have to say that life could not get any technically dumbed down or dumber, the only thing that was missing was feeding tubes lowered from the ceiling.If today there was not a app for this or that many now seems to have lost the use of there brain.

As of the new year any new tech is barred, so that I don't end up buying into that long running dependency on the next advertisements Piled audio enhanced stream of nothing worth watching, or listening too, while gradually having my income eroded by £5 here and there.For increases for services that take up less then 2 hours of my day but cost me a 5th of annual earnings or now my bleeding pension.

I jumped the technical bandwagon and had a chance to watch from the sidelines as the self perpetuated insomniac driven mobian helter skelter rolled on into oblivion. And in so doing I got to taste the stuff I was drinking and eating (or more to the point scoffing to keep up with timescales) and realised that technology did not equal QOL (Quality of Life) or product come to that. Food is now tasteless (a curry does not qualify as taste) and entertainment consists of incoherent loud mouth ranting that is usually reserved for psychotherapy.

We now tune in the UK to see people being sick, having a dump, big Brother and the Xfactor other thing like so called pleb shows, in the jungle Subtle comedy and entertainment has died, period dramas are now like the ghost written 'My life since I was born' by 'I was a superstar at 10 years old thanks to media hype and/or daddy's money' books.

It was once said the more you got the more you had to go wrong. Well there are now more people so I guess there's a lot more wrong and the same can be said for the technology that supports it.

So no HD TV with free remote and free viewing for which we the advertisers will get the money back once the family is hooked, or mobile phone with 200 minutes free but when you do call expect the credit bill to rock. No more syphoning of the bank balance 6 months later on interest free deals or buy now pay forever schemes that are swamped in protective small print contained within the star of the pling the size of a microdot.

Entertainment will now revert to the pick me up entertainment with the only breaks being chapter breaks, with ad free cerebral viewing and no digital break up or system crashing (excluding misprinting and page tears, or mind failure).

Yes you can start to shove the digital age up your jacksey, never thought I would come to this being a prodigy of the technical age. And at one point a big proportionals of its 'benefits' but I guess as with all things developed to help humanity, they soon get crafted into the next weapon of choice to liberate people from their freedoms and their pay-cheques.

But I hear some of you say, if you don't employ the latest security, the most up to the minute gadgets, the better running car the ergonomically designed aerodynamic handbag for the missus, the computer controlled cooker, the service (DIY) driven entertainment systems, the spy in the sky tracking and tracing for your own and your families security where will you be? Where will I be! I'll be sat on my ars#, reading a book engaging the grey brain cells,perhaps drinking a quality single malt drink. That I took the time to test and flavour enjoying a comfortable chair in a quite and relaxing environment.

Gone will be the days of ferrying to the repair man or downloading that patch, or analysing the TV pages. Or trolley racing around the shopping centre or long protracted discussion with some mumbling guy the other-side of the universe trying to reset my access code to the hyper-service-self-evaluation-ebidding-barginwantnot.com. Or some similar 'service' no its just me the garden and this book a pint of beer or a single malt and comfy chair hopefully for the next few months or hopefull a few years..

So Welcome to you 2019 the anti-tech year..

[VicLeChic]

Jewelry has always existed and will carry on being part of our lives.

Luxury watches are aspirational and / or status symbols. It's also a form of art. People don't buy them for their utilitarian properties, these are either an accuse or just irrelevant.

I don't see interest in analogue watches vanishing with technology. Quite the opposite in fact, people might increasingly rely on mechanical artifacts to admire them and take a break from the overwhelming technological world.

[Boba Fett]

Justin Bieber.

[Sammers23]

The analogue revival and a skew towards luxury over utility are both strong trends that would suggest Rolex and others will be doing well for some time.

[Onikage]

Fantastic Peter. Oh so true.

[R G]

Douche.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UMSg0A...ature=youtu.be

[DLRIDES]

Originally Posted by R G

Douche.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UMSg0A...ature=youtu.be

Totally !

The son will be worse ...................