Gold content Vs Rolex Prices.

[Gman]

Ever Wondered How Much Gold Is Really In Your Rolex?

The solid gold Rolex watch is really a thing of beauty. The typical gents Rolex President looks rather impressive due to its obvious mass and weight not to mention the price tag that goes with it. But did you ever really wonder what the actual gold value is in a Rolex President? Below we have taken an 18kt. gold Rolex and have removed the movement, the crystal and other non-gold parts. We weighed each part using a laboratory grade scientific balance. We are sure you will find the results very interesting. All values were based on the spot price of gold at $400.00 per troy ounce.

All precious metals are weighed using the troy system. One troy ounce contains 31.1 grams of a particular precious metal. There is 480 grains in one troy ounce. If the spot price of gold is $400.00 per troy ounce, the value per gram would be $12.86. Using these standards, the actual gold value in the Gents Rolex President would be $963.27.

These are the basic component parts of the Rolex. The band, the bezel ring that holds the crystal in place, the main case, and the case back.

Inside of the case back you will see that it is marked as being 18kt. It also has the decimal value of .750. This means that 75 percent of the weight is pure gold. Pure gold is 24kt. The pure gold is alloyed with silver, copper, and zinc. Also notice the official Rolex markings on the inside of the case back.

The clasp is also marked with the gold content as well as being marked with the Rolex logo. There is also a number that is the official part number for this band. This band has the bark finish.

This is the head or case ring of the Rolex. It is also marked 18kt. A genuine Rolex case will also have a Registered Design number engraved between the lugs at the 12 position. In this case, the number is 1803. Between the lugs at the 6 position you will find the serial number of the case. If you look close at this picture, you can see how Rolex machines out the lug ends and the case walls to reduce the amount of gold used to manufacture the case.

Using these parts the actual gold value of this Rolex can be determined as follows.

Case ring weights 18.5 grams. Contains 13.875 grams of pure gold. It has a value of $178.43.

Case back weighs 7.21 grams. Contains 5.41 grams of pure gold. It has a value of $69.57.

Bezel weighs 5.30 grams. Contains 3.98 grams of pure gold. It has a value of $51.18.

The bracelet weighs 68.85 grams. Contains 51.64 grams of pure gold. It has the most value at $664.09.

The total value of the pure 24kt. gold in this Rolex President is $963.27.



Note as we know the Spot price for Gold is Currently around $950 per troy oz so this is a guide. Rolex are making money, Bigtime.

[Colnago]

Just goes to show.......that day "written out fully" display is a very costly complication.....I still love mine....

[theken]

If I understand this correctly, at today's spot gold price, an 18K Rolex such as a Daytona or Sub on a bracelet, contains about $2500 to $3000 in gold.
The WG Daytona has a 300% price differential ($20K) over the SS Daytona and the WG Sub about a 450% ($24K) differential over a SS Sub. Is this correct?

[AWATCH]

Unfortunately there are many nice watches being scrapped today for the gold. The value of the gold content of the watch is higher than the value of the watch. As watch enthusiast there is a great loss of fine timepieces. Fortunately the value of the Rolex watch keeps them from being scrapped for gold.

[Numismatist]

Thank you for this, I have always wondered what the 'real' value of the Gold is. I knew it was overpriced, but WOW!

[vjb.knife]

Originally Posted by theken

If I understand this correctly, at today's spot gold price, an 18K Rolex such as a Daytona or Sub on a bracelet, contains about $2500 to $3000 in gold.
The WG Daytona has a 300% price differential ($20K) over the SS Daytona and the WG Sub about a 450% ($24K) differential over a SS Sub. Is this correct?

I don't think you are right here. I believe he is saying that the Spot gold value is less than $1000 at current gold prices so the markup is even more drastic.

This has been addressed numerous times on this forum and others and it is obvious that there is no relationship between the amount of gold in any Rolex versus the price differential from the standard stainless model and the TT or the full gold versions.

[jtsjc1]

Wow thats amazing talk about a markup! The pricing does keep it pretty exclusive though so I can understand it. If 18k was $963 I'd have had a platinum President already. Joe

[boa2]

Originally Posted by jtsjc1

Wow thats amazing talk about a markup! The pricing does keep it pretty exclusive though so I can understand it. If 18k was $963 I'd have had a platinum President already. Joe

Anyone who has run a business knows it costs just a tad more than the price of a chunk of gold to deliver a President to your dealer.

[sexner]

I don't feel it has ever been about the price of the base metal or "mark-up" in/on any Rolex.

It has everything to do with craftmanship.

Machining, working and polishing the material into a piece of functional art.

[Tools]

I would say then that a Rolex is pretty cheap by those standards..

I just looked at a new gold setting for some diamonds for Mrs Tools new cocktail ring..

The ring setting alone was $1,800.00 bucks.... And there is far less gold in it than there is in a couple of links on a Rolex bracelet..

[kkwn98]

Originally Posted by Gman

Ever Wondered How Much Gold Is Really In Your Rolex?


But did you ever really wonder what the actual gold value is in a Rolex President?

No, not really.

Rolex are making money, Bigtime.

Perhaps, but I think we all knew that anyway. I'd be amazed if anyone truly thought the price of a gold watch was closely aligned to the value of the actual gold content. You buy a gold watch because you can afford it.

Also, no different really to any of the others offering gold models.

[vjb.knife]

Originally Posted by sexner

I don't feel it has ever been about the price of the base metal or "mark-up" in/on any Rolex.

It has everything to do with craftmanship.

Machining, working and polishing the material into a piece of functional art.

Actually I do not think that craftsmanship is that big of a factor in considering the price difference, because that same craftsmanship goes into the stainless model as well. It does not take any significantly larger amount of effort or machining to produce a gold part versus a stainless part, in fact it is probably less. It is certainly less wear and tear on the machinery to make the gold vs. the stainless part, and it is quicker and easier to finish and polish gold than stainless.

[BigHat]

I have never read a word about working with yellow gold vs SS, but Rolex maintains white gold and platinum are harder to work with. WG watches sell for more than same watch in YG with precisely the same gold content, so fabrication issues must be involved in some measure.

Of course, as others have said -- in this thread and 100 of others -- "it ain't about the cost of gold." None of these watches are a compelling value proposition; some people just want the gold watch. Asserting that the SS has the same movement as the gold one therefore is a better "value" is just another variation on the Casio quartz vs Rolex for "telling time" debate, just on a different level.

[deserted]

So basically Rolex is making money of it's parts , not the watch design itself , These guys are some bookies, LOL.

[BigHat]

Originally Posted by deserted

So basically Rolex is making money of it's parts , not the watch design itself , These guys are some bookies, LOL.

There are plenty of threads that attempt, and I do mean attempt, to calculate the cost of the parts and constuction of a Rolex and then determine the profit margin.
I find it a fool's errand. In the realm of luxury goods, it matters little and even in practical terms it neglects the very important costs of distribution, advertising, etc.

[deserted]

Help me to understand , This is my first Rolex ever but i have seen a lot of watches in my life and i do see the beauty in a ROLEX don't get me wrong but there are some heavy hitters out here that may not sweep better but do look better than Rolex by design.

I have even had pepole tell me they would choose a bigger Millimeter watch over a ROLEX , why i don't know because to own one is classic.

[AWATCH]

When buying a Rolex watch I do not believe your are buying gold content you are buying a Rolex. My wife loves jewelry by a certain designer, i bought her a gold ring made by this person and paid about double what a similar gold ring of the same approx weight would have been. I was buying the name. When one buys a Rolex they are buying a Rolex, a top quality, well crafted watch.

[deserted]

Thank god for the Forum you guys actually make me feel better owning this TT Sub.

[JJ Irani]

Trying to assess the price of a GOLD watch with respect to its actual gold content......is like trying to assess the price of a Rolls Royce with respect to the amount of steel in the car - what a load of crap!!!

Ever heard of labour, technology, skill, advertising, overheads and the amount of superlative work that goes into the making of a high-end watch......or a Rolls Royce?

End of story.

JJ

[boa2]

Originally Posted by BigHat

There are plenty of threads that attempt, and I do mean attempt, to calculate the cost of the parts and constuction of a Rolex and then determine the profit margin.
I find it a fool's errand. In the realm of luxury goods, it matters little and even in practical terms it neglects the very important costs of distribution, advertising, etc.

Agreed. The chasm between turning raw material into a finished product delivered by the world's largest luxury watchmaking company is a number that we can only guesstimate. And with great inaccuracy, for sure.

By the way, I'm liking the tail end addition to your signature, Matt.

[f16570]

Why are you suprised that Rolex have a mark up? They are in business after all.

[BigHat]

Originally Posted by boa2

Agreed. The chasm between turning raw material into a finished product delivered by the world's largest luxury watchmaking company is a number that we can only guesstimate. And with great inaccuracy, for sure.

By the way, I'm liking the tail end addition to your signature, Matt.

Of all the tiresome threads, these bug me the least. We've all calculated the cost associated with gold over a SS variant at one time or another. I'll take it a step further using the SS Daytona. The relatively exciting dials on the TTs are only exceeded by those in the all gold models. I'm sure the desire for the meteorite dial has separated more than one man from an additional $20K for the WG Cosmo than the gold. I don't think the OP or any one else was questioning the entitlement to a mark-up, it's just natural to get a tad too simplistic and think they are identical models aside from the metal content and thus "what's the value of that metal" question comes to mind. It takes a little time around this hobby to appreciate it's more nuianced than that.

Howard: Can't wait to remove the "inbound." Locked it all down this am. Getting a safe-queen virgin too.

[boa2]

Originally Posted by BigHat

Of all the tiresome threads, these bug me the least. We've all calculated the cost associated with gold over a SS variant at one time or another. I'll take it a step further using the SS Daytona. The relatively exciting dials on the TTs are only exceeded by those in the all gold models. I'm sure the desire for the meteorite dial has separated more than one man from an additional $20K for the WG Cosmo than the gold. I don't think the OP or any one else was questioning the entitlement to a mark-up, it's just natural to get a tad too simplistic and think they are identical models aside from the metal content and thus "what's the value of that metal" question comes to mind. It takes a little time around this hobby to appreciate it's more nuianced than that.

Howard: Can't wait to remove the "inbound." Locked it all down this am. Getting a safe-queen virgin too.

Sweet!!!

Sorry for the hi-jack...just a little excited for Matt.

[kzm40]

Compared to a say a gold Cartier Panther, which weighs massively less than a rolex, kind of makes the rolex good value :)

[snow_rocks]

Originally Posted by theken

The WG Daytona has a 300% price differential ($20K) over the SS Daytona and the WG Sub about a 450% ($24K) differential over a SS Sub. Is this correct?

You are saying that the SS Daytona costs 6666.67USD.

20,000USD = 6666.67USD X 3 (300%).

More like 200%, at retail of ~9995.99USD.

SS Sub would be 5333.33USD.

I like your prices better than the actual prices.
We are talking from an AD, aren't we?

[vjb.knife]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

Trying to assess the price of a GOLD watch with respect to its actual gold content......is like trying to assess the price of a Rolls Royce with respect to the amount of steel in the car - what a load of crap!!!

Ever heard of labour, technology, skill, advertising, overheads and the amount of superlative work that goes into the making of a high-end watch......or a Rolls Royce?

End of story.

JJ

None of this matters. All of these costs are roughly the same for any watch that Rolex makes. The point is that a watch costing $7000 in Stainless costs $25,000 in 18K Gold and there is about 2.4 troy ounces of pure gold in the watch. At todays price for gold that is about $2300 worth of Gold but the watch is $18,000 higher in price.

It does not matter why it is that way. In the end, either you are willing to pay the very high price for it or you are not.

Personally if I had not purchased my TT GMTIIC before the last 3 or 4 price increases and had not gotten a decent discount as well I would never have considered it over the SS model.

End of story.

[Perdu]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

Trying to assess the price of a GOLD watch with respect to its actual gold content......is like trying to assess the price of a Rolls Royce with respect to the amount of steel in the car - what a load of crap!!!

Ever heard of labour, technology, skill, advertising, overheads and the amount of superlative work that goes into the making of a high-end watch......or a Rolls Royce?

End of story.

JJ

Not to forget profit!

[roach13]

It's snob appeal Rolex knows this. They charge what the market will bear.

[deserted]

ROLEX does not make you , you make the watch period, if it wasn't for my wife buying this TT Sub black i would have never bought one , Iv'e seen better looking watches outside of ROLEX and a lot cheaper and would blow ROLEX out the water in terms of looks.
Those on the forum looking for idenity through a watch is the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard , i joined because you guys seem like some fun pepole not because of these watches REMEMBER class is a state of mind not the kind of watch you own.

No disrespect attended

[BigHat]

Originally Posted by deserted

Those on the forum looking for idenity through a watch is the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard , i joined because you guys seem like some fun pepole not because of these watches REMEMBER class is a state of mind not the kind of watch you own.

No disrespect attended

You just need to evolve some in understanding what watch sites are all about.

If you were expecting some sort of homogenous mass of watch purists on TRF you are in for a big surprise. FIRST, Rolex is the biggest snob appeal brand on the planet, because those that don't give a rat's ass about the miracle of a mechanical watch don't know if Patek, Lange, AP, or the very "primo" brands make watches or lawn mowers; they do know Rolex makes watches and some hangout are here. In fairness, this place becomes more of a watch site and less of a Rolex site every day. By way, that does no harm to the rep of Rolex, it just makes for a more informed community.