[IDriveAnM5]

Hello All,

A long time since I've posted. I have something useful to say.

My AD called me today to inform me of a price increase, effective immediately.

For the model I'm stalking, it is a 6% increase. :crying:

I do not have a new price list, nor do I know anything about prices for various (new) models going forward. These things just keep getting slightly further out of my reach!

Good luck!

 

[Scott D]

Yup, just looked at the latest full price list (79 pages long!!!! hmy . A few of the new prices:

"classic" YG 36mm DayDate on president bracelet: $33,950
Platinum version: $57,600

DayDate II YG on president bracelet: $34,850
Platinum version: $62,500

Steel DateJust II: $7,150
TT DateJust II: $11,650

Submariner:
SS No Date Sub: $7,500
SS Sub Date: $8,550
TT Sub Date: $13,400

DeepSea: $12,050

Milgauss: $7,650 ($8,200 w/ green glass)

Explorer II: $8,100

GMT II:
Steel: $8,450
TT: $13,000

Yacht-Master:
"original" 16622 SS plat dial & bezel: $11,200
"New" 116622 SS plat dial & bezel: $12,350

SS Daytona: $12,000


And a couple of the 2012 Basel releases:

SkyDweller:
Yellow gold on bracelet: $46,150
Yellow gold on strap: $39,550

Yacht-Master:
"New" 116622 SS plat bezel blue dial: $11,550

Steel & Everose two-toned Yacht-Master II: $25,150


:crying: :crying: :crying: :crying: :crying:

 

[WatchFan1]

2 words:
- freakinunreal !!
- greedy


_______________________
Sent from my mobile device using Tapatalk.
Excuse my brevity and potential typos.

 

[IDriveAnM5]

2 words:
- freakinunreal !!
- greedy


_______________________
Sent from my mobile device using Tapatalk.
Excuse my brevity and potential typos.

That's a bit harsh, it's not a surprise to most of us. The worst part for me is that it happened when I'm in the market for a new one, probably two actually.

 

[Scott D]

You got that right Milos...

I love the brand, but at those prices there are other more high-end (IMO) brands where I feel I get better 'bang for the buck' I'll put my money into. Nothing wrong with Rolex, and they're not the only greedy brand out there for sure. But unfortunately my days buying brand-new Rolex's has officially ended. And the pre-owned probably won't be far behind... :001_unsure: :crying:

Oh well, I had a good run and enjoyed it while I had it.... :thumbup1:

 

[wings]

I hahve not purchased a new rolex in a few years and was not aware of some of the price increases.
But there is NO WAY a SS sub date is worth 8.5K, that is completely crazy.
6 years ago i bought a new D series sub date from an AD and paid less than 1/2 that!!

 

[Watchbreath]

"Bang for the buck", is now barely a pop.

You got that right Milos...

I love the brand, but at those prices there are other more high-end (IMO) brands where I feel I get better 'bang for the buck' I'll put my money into. My days supporting Rolex buying brand-new watches has officially ended. And the pre-owned probably won't be far behind... :001_unsure: :crying:

Oh well, I had a good run and enjoyed it while I had it.... :thumbup1:

 

[IDriveAnM5]

I hahve not purchased a new rolex in a few years and was not aware of some of the price increases.
But there is NO WAY a SS sub date is worth 8.5K, that is completely crazy.
6 years ago i bought a new D series sub date from an AD and paid less than 1/2 that!!

I have a hard time paying $8,500 MSRP for a plain-old SS Submariner as well - I agree with you.

It's shocking frankly that my Dad's Presidential set me back less than $20,000 NEW about 3 years ago, and today it's going for almost $34k retail.

gulp..

 

[cffrost]

I own some Rolexes, and IMHO, Rolex is thinking they are more important than they really are. They are a good entry level watch in the luxury watch market; however, they do not come close to any upper tier watch. In just 5 years, it seems that the prices have increased 30-50%. (Note: I said seems.) Perhaps they are purpose pricing some consumers out to attain a certain "level"?

Had the ecomony been doing better, than I can certainly see the price increase, as consumers would have more disposable income. Nonetheless, Rolex is smart. They must be able to justify the price increase in some way, and still maintain the strict control of the market that they do. Whereas they are a private company, we will never know their P&L numbers.

 

[Scott D]

In just 5 years, it seems that the prices have increased 30-50%. (Note: I said seems.)

Actually you're absolutely correct. Here's a few of the prices to compare. And these '07 prices were AFTER the Oct. '07 increase, so in some cases the difference is even more.

Steel Sub.
'07 price = $5,175
'12 price = $8,550
Increase, $3,375 or 65%

Steel GMT
'07 price = $5,075
'12 price = $8,450
Increase, $1,175 or 67%

OK, so you could argue those are worth more because of the improvements they made between those years. So how about a few other models that haven't changed in that time-frame.

Steel Daytona
'07 price = $7,900
'12 price = $12,000
Increase of $4,100 or 52%

OK, so that's a Daytona and you could argue they were just 'catching up' to the secondary market prices. Fair enough.

Some more that haven't changes in that time and aren't the most 'desirable' in terms of sales volume.

18k Day Date
'07 price = $22,450
'12 price = $29,650
Increase $7,150 or 32%

Steel & gold GMT IIc
'07 price = $8,920
'12 price = $13,000
Increase $4,080 or 46%

And the ultimate winner........

Ladies DJ steel & gold
'07 price = $3,575
'12 price = $7,850
Increase $4,275 or 120%

Bottom line, most of their prices have certainly increased at least 30%, and many by far more.... :crying:

Perhaps they are purpose pricing some consumers out to attain a certain "level"?

This is probably a very large contributor to the increases. And to be fair Rolex isn't the only one doing it, but it doesn't make it right or proper. To me Rolex is, like you said, a very good beginning luxury watch. They are not a top tier brand.

 

[Watchbreath]

:glare: Justify, easy. The USD has lost 40%+ of it's purchasing power in the past 11 years and
the Swiss Government has has to hold down the Franc to protect it's export market.

I own some Rolexes, and IMHO, Rolex is thinking they are more important than they really are. They are a good entry level watch in the luxury watch market; however, they do not come close to any upper tier watch. In just 5 years, it seems that the prices have increased 30-50%. (Note: I said seems.) Perhaps they are purpose pricing some consumers out to attain a certain "level"?

Had the ecomony been doing better, than I can certainly see the price increase, as consumers would have more disposable income. Nonetheless, Rolex is smart. They must be able to justify the price increase in some way, and still maintain the strict control of the market that they do. Whereas they are a private company, we will never know their P&L numbers.

 

[cffrost]

@ Scott: Thanks for posting the prices! Very informative.

@ Watchbreath: In June, 2007, one Swiss Franc purchased 80 cents. Today it purchases $1.05. With regards to purchasing power, nearly all economies are worse than they were five years ago, with exceptions. Also, are you implying that the price increase was US only?

At any rate, given the numbers Scott has produced, that is a very significant increase. There comes a point in which a consumer looks at the price of the good, and if the consumer can not purchase, or feels the price is more than its 'worth', then the consumer simply purchases a substitute good, or avoids it all together. Again, is Rolex trying to enter a certain market, ensure only a certain percentage of a market can purchase, or are they simply trying to genrate more revenue, even if less watches are sold? Whereas Rolex is not a publicly traded company, they can keep the ledgers closed.

 

[Watchbreath]

:mellow: As long as the USD is the 'World Reserve Currency', it safe to assume that the
increases are world wide, give or take a point her and there. Even the Yuan is peg to the
Dollar, but if this status is lost, and there is talk that it might be, look out. Bernie at the Fed
wants crank up the presses, "quantitative easing", Rolex and a few others are just getting
a little ahead of the game, woe is us.

@ Scott: Thanks for posting the prices! Very informative.

@ Watchbreath: In June, 2007, one Swiss Franc purchased 80 cents. Today it purchases $1.05. With regards to purchasing power, nearly all economies are worse than they were five years ago, with exceptions. Also, are you implying that the price increase was US only?

At any rate, given the numbers Scott has produced, that is a very significant increase. There comes a point in which a consumer looks at the price of the good, and if the consumer can not purchase, or feels the price is more than its 'worth', then the consumer simply purchases a substitute good, or avoids it all together. Again, is Rolex trying to enter a certain market, ensure only a certain percentage of a market can purchase, or are they simply trying to genrate more revenue, even if less watches are sold? Whereas Rolex is not a publicly traded company, they can keep the ledgers closed.

 

[cffrost]

@ Watchbreath: Ok. Now I see where you are coming from. And can't disagree witih you. Well said.

 

[Watchbreath]

:001_unsure: Something else could be added to the mix, the cost of opening all those boutiques
doesn't come cheap, it has to be made up somewhere. The story goes that the cost of opening
my former store, wood paneling, carpets, safes, cameras, cases, lighting and such was about
1.7M USD and it looked it. With boutiques, you don't have the smaller brands paying rent for
space. It's just them.

@ Watchbreath: Ok. Now I see where you are coming from. And can't disagree witih you. Well said.

 

[alam]

Actually you're absolutely correct. Here's a few of the prices to compare. And these '07 prices were AFTER the Oct. '07 increase, so in some cases the difference is even more.

Steel Sub.
'07 price = $5,175
'12 price = $8,550
Increase, $3,375 or 65%.

:scared: :scared: Any idea how this is affecting the pre owned market, specially the SS Sub? What would you say a 07 SS Sub w/date in mint condition, box and papers will sell for these days? And also, how does the fact that the current SS Sub is very different from its predecessor influence the value of [previous models]?

 

[ppalac]

Question. . .

I'm still relatively new to watch collecting. Are most of the luxury watch makers annually cranking their retail pricing? To my knowledge, Omega has done the same in at least the last two years.

 

[Watchbreath]

Price increases generally come out in the Spring like new flowers and at times, in the Fall.
Keep an eye on the price of Gold, it's a good indicator.

I'm still relatively new to watch collecting. Are most of the luxury watch makers annually cranking their retail pricing? To my knowledge, Omega has done the same in at least the last two years.

 

[Scott D]

Price increases generally come out in the Spring like new flowers and at times, in the Fall.
Keep an eye on the price of Gold, it's a good indicator.

Change indicator to excuse and that's a far more accurate statement IMO.... :huh: :001_unsure:

 

[Scott D]

:scared: :scared: Any idea how this is affecting the pre owned market, specially the SS Sub? What would you say a 07 SS Sub w/date in mint condition, box and papers will sell for these days? And also, how does the fact that the current SS Sub is very different from its predecessor influence the value of [previous models]?

From what I've been watching the preowned market seems to be staying relatively stable. The Sub's took a bit of a hit on the preowned market a couple years ago, then bounced back a bit. But despite this and the last price increases, the preowned doesn't seem to be 'keeping up' with the new model increases like it has in the past. Maybe it'll change in the future, but if you look at the volume of preowned Rolex's out there, there's quite a few..

Personally I think the preowned market is the only place to buy a Rolex anymore, and I for one am glad they're not skyrocketing with the new ones.