My AD is celebrating 100 years of selling Rolex

[grimps]

My dealer had a special celebration this week for having the Rolex franchise for 100 years .
He told me that his dealership is the second oldest family owned Rolex dealer in the world .
Does anyone know of another dealer that’s been selling them for longer ?

[365DAS]

Isn’t the Goldsmiths in Newcastle the oldest UK dealer?


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[TswaneNguni]

Quite an accomplishment ! I presume still family owned .

[grimps]

Originally Posted by 365DAS

Isn’t the Goldsmiths in Newcastle the oldest UK dealer?


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Goldsmiths beat my dealer by a few weeks but it’s not family owned anymore .

[101031-28]

WOW! Very cool! My former ADs in Europe all came after:
Bucherer 1924, Verga 1947 and Gobbi in the 1960s.

Big congrats to your AD on their 100th Anniversary!

[grimps]

Originally Posted by TswaneNguni

Quite an accomplishment ! I presume still family owned .

Yes still in the Hewitt family now , he’s now got his kids working there so it must be at least 5 generations maybe more .

He told me that Rolex told them not to make a big deal out of it as they wasn’t happy when Goldsmiths started advertising their centenary

[watchmaker]

Originally Posted by grimps

Yes still in the Hewitt family now , he’s now got his kids working there so it must be at least 5 generations maybe more .

He told me that Rolex told them not to make a big deal out of it as they wasn’t happy when Goldsmiths started advertising their centenary

Since Rolex did an event with Northern Goldsmiths and have produced a limited edition of 100 Datejust watches for them I don’t think Rolex is annoyed about it.

Congratulations to your AD though

[timepieceluvr]

Congratulations to them! Passing a family owned business through multiple generations is an awesome feat.


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[RTG]

That is really cool!

[TswaneNguni]

Originally Posted by grimps

Yes still in the Hewitt family now , he’s now got his kids working there so it must be at least 5 generations maybe more .

He told me that Rolex told them not to make a big deal out of it as they wasn’t happy when Goldsmiths started advertising their centenary

The family have been selling the Rolex product for 100 YEARS and Rolex SA or UK tells them not to make a big deal out of it .. ?

[grimps]

Originally Posted by watchmaker

Since Rolex did an event with Northern Goldsmiths and have produced a limited edition of 100 Datejust watches for them I don’t think Rolex is annoyed about it.

Congratulations to your AD though

They had an event too with Rolex there , that’s what he told me anyway

[grimps]

Originally Posted by watchmaker

Since Rolex did an event with Northern Goldsmiths and have produced a limited edition of 100 Datejust watches for them I don’t think Rolex is annoyed about it.

Congratulations to your AD though

They could have sent them 100 Daytona’s

[Kliminator]

Wow - that's really cool. Thanks for sharing!

[Chiboy]

How about Beyer in Zurich? There's was a Talking Watches segment on them and we visited last fall when in Zurich for the night.

[grimps]

Originally Posted by Chiboy

How about Beyer in Zurich? There's was a Talking Watches segment on them and we visited last fall when in Zurich for the night.

I might be wrong but I think Rolex was still based in England in 1919 , so I’m Guessing that it’ll be a Uk dealer

[doboy007]

It’ll most likely lose the license to sell Rolex since that’s the current environment. Just kidding ;)

[GMT Aviator]

Originally Posted by TswaneNguni

The family have been selling the Rolex product for 100 YEARS and Rolex SA or UK tells them not to make a big deal out of it .. ?

Because they’re probably going to axe their licence soon to keep their AD status.

A sad reflection of the times in which we live.

[Explorer2polar]

Some info I posted a few weeks ago, regarding the oldest Rolex UK dealer.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=673000

[grimps]

Originally Posted by Explorer2polar

Some info I posted a few weeks ago, regarding the oldest Rolex UK dealer.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=673000

Was that the original Goldsmiths store ? Or was they already part of a chain back then or family owned ?
I understand that Goldsmiths are the largest Rolex dealer in the world now and if you think back to 1919 at the end of the First World War these small Jewellers must have been taking a risk stocking a luxury watch brand that was still quite unknown .
It also explains why these dealers still today get the new releases like the new Batman ect before anyone else in the world , they must have a long family history with the Wildorfs or whoever is running Rolex these days

[Little machines]

Family business is still the greatest part entrepreneurship . Another 100 years of success!

[RGSVan]

Wonderful accomplishment!

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by grimps

My dealer had a special celebration this week for having the Rolex franchise for 100 years .
He told me that his dealership is the second oldest family owned Rolex dealer in the world .
Does anyone know of another dealer that’s been selling them for longer ?

According to Wilsdorf, the first ADs were set up in England in 1927, so before then I suppose anyone could sell them.

[jlovda]

Originally Posted by Chiboy

How about Beyer in Zurich? There's was a Talking Watches segment on them and we visited last fall when in Zurich for the night.

Beyer is where I bought my 5513 Sub in 1970. $130.

[azs.77]

Very cool. My AD had been family owned since the 40s. They have a great collage of pictures from their past to present.


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[Ar_Mi]

Very interesting & a great acomplishment, thanks for sharing

[hbombkid]

Very cool and nice accomplishment

The question is what is the inventory like? For an accomplishment like that they should have tons of models ready to buy lol

[Boaters]

Lets see another 100 years Big Congrats

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by grimps

Was that the original Goldsmiths store ? Or was they already part of a chain back then or family owned ?
I understand that Goldsmiths are the largest Rolex dealer in the world now and if you think back to 1919 at the end of the First World War these small Jewellers must have been taking a risk stocking a luxury watch brand that was still quite unknown .
It also explains why these dealers still today get the new releases like the new Batman ect before anyone else in the world , they must have a long family history with the Wildorfs or whoever is running Rolex these days

I don't believe Rolex considered themselves a " luxury" brand in the sense of the word. A very good quality timepiece? Absolutely. They were forced to redefine themselves as "luxury timepieces " in order to survive the quartz revolution in the 70's.

[donut]

Bucherer is also one of the oldest family owned Rolex dealer. Established in 1888 and been the Rolex dealer since 1924.

https://www.bucherer.com/ch/en/about-us/our-history

[grimps]

Originally Posted by Bigblu10

I don't believe Rolex considered themselves a " luxury" brand in the sense of the word. A very good quality timepiece? Absolutely. They were forced to redefine themselves as "luxury timepieces " in order to survive the quartz revolution in the 70's.

Maybe returning troops were a little looser with their money after surviving the Great War , also I’m told that it was WW1 when people started wearing watches on their wrists