The other day, my wife said she stopped in a Rolex store at the mall. She tried on a watch, and was surprised at how much she liked it. I don’t know the model or anything, but the pricetag was around $6200. She doesn’t wear a ton of jewelry and we can easily afford it, so if it would make her happy to own/wear it, I’d love her to get it.
However, I know nothing about Rolexes. I have a couple of old manual watches, but suggested she do some research to decide if she really wanted a Rolex. I thought I recalled reading that they were not horribly reliable, and that they required costly maintenance. If Rolex is not worth the price, are there other luxury watch brands that are? Is there any difference in price/warranty buying at a Rolex store or elsewhere?
I know some of you are watch afficianados, and I would appreciate if you’d direct me to resources to help assist my wife in getting a watch she loves.
(I realize $6k is a ridiculously unjustifiable and unnecessary amount to spend on a timepiece, so those of you who wish to suggest we spend our money in other ways, please keep your comments to yourselves.)
These days my Apple Watch has proved so useful that my Swiss watches all sit waiting for special occasions.
When I feel the mood, I wear a Rolex Submariner.
Rolex is the 800 lb gorilla in the Swiss watch world, and people who enjoy fine watches either love them or hate them. They are not the finest Swiss watches out there (which retail for many times the cost of a Rolex), but they are very good and someone like me can afford one.
Their timepieces are high quality, and worth the price, if you consider you are buying some relatively expensive jewelry.
In my opinion, they are quite reliable–my Submariner has been in so many places that a fine watch ought not go. They keep excellent time, for mechanical watches. Better still, they retain value over the years.
Consider going for a previously-owned Rolex from a reputable dealer. The cost will be substantially lower, and you can be assured of a high quality watch. When a Rolex is fully serviced, it comes back to you in perfect condition, like new.
There are two real issues to worry about. First, these are probably the most highly counterfeited watches in the world–you must buy from a reputable dealer. Second, standard service is somewhere around $500, and must be done every three or four years–and you lose your watch for several months while the do the service.
Looks like you can only buy new ones from the dealer. I imagine she would prefer to buy new, than to try to navigate the used market. But I’ll offer the suggestion.
Don’t tell my wife about that several months for service - she may feel the need to buy TWO!
Very good time peices, reliable, but very expensive to fix. You need a auto winder for when not worn
You may get better service at a nice restaurant, but some proles will think you’re rich entitled asshole.
6K is not crazy if you think of it as jewelry that also keeps time. Way better than blood diamonds, anyway.
Now you can get some very nice swiss self winders, a Tissot, a Hamilton, or Invicta at a fraction of the price. I own a couple of Invictas myself. But none have quite the cachet’ of a Rolex.
I think if that is what she wants for Christmas, and you can afford it, go for it.
If you do go for it, please note that your home insurance company may not cover it against loss unless you take out a separate high-value jewelry policy. That’s not expensive or difficult; just easy to overlook.
No autowinder really necessary–I had mine for many years without an autowinder. The reason is that I wouldn’t swap them out every day, it was more like 3 months of Omega, then 3 months of Rolex.
Nobody really notices them either–Rolexes have a very classic look, not very flashy by today’s standards, and much copied in cheaper watches. They almost fly under the radar, to the point where when someone actually notices it it’s off-putting (one day the guy at the drive-thru window at Mickey D’s said “Hey, nice Rolex”, and made me totally self conscious).
I agree that cheaper nice watches are out there, my preferred timepiece is the Omega Speedmaster Pro “Moon Watch”, though the prices are going up on that one as well–mine was made in 1976 and I bought it in the 90s, so it wasn’t nearly as costly as a new one.
I’ve owned one for 47 years and wear it virtually every day. I’ve saved a bunch on not buying batteries over that period. I did need to have it repaired once, but it wasn’t really designed to go through the washer and drier. Other than that, I’ve had minor adjustments to the timing and replaced the crystal a few times.
As a guy my opinion might be way off, but I don’t much like Rolex’s women’s watches. They look like slightly smaller versions of the men’s watches. If you’re in the market for a mid-four figure watch, I think you can do better, particularly if you shop around and look at used, vintage and/or antique watches. (For instance, these guys are authorized retailers of new watches but also have used/vintage ones available.)
But really the only opinion that matters is the OP’s wife’s. If she likes the Rolex, go for it. Just be aware that there are other brands out there selling really nice stuff.
A jeweler I well respect told me that Patek-Phillipe made the best watches in the world. No one will laugh at you for driving a Mercedes, which is the Rolex, but if you want to really blow them away, show up in the Rolls-Royce which is the Patek-Phillipe.
If your wife is looking to impress other people, btw, not many people will notice her watch anymore, they have been replaced by iPhones. I’d shell out the $6400 on a killer diamond necklace, trust me her friends will notice that way before they notice the watch.
The general impression I have of Rolex watches is that they are rather vulgar and showy, like you desperately want someone to know that you can drop $6000 on a watch.
If you want it for accuracy then get a quartz movement, if you want it for engineering interest or ruggedness there are many more out its equal or superior, if you want it for pure aesthetics then it is purely a matter of taste but for that sort of money you have a pretty much unlimited choice of the world’s watches and to me a Rolex sounds like a rather cliched choice that seeks to send a certain message.
From a purely stylistic perspective, most fine watches made for women are clunky copies of the masculine versions. Vacheron Constantin, Omega, and Chopard make women’s watches designed for women, IMHO.
And while I know little of the engineering and reliability stats, I would have put Rolex with Rolls and Patek with Mercedes. The first are big, showy, vulgar and spend an inordinate amount of time in the service bay. Not suitable for daily use. The latter are understated, high-quality, reliable, daily drivers better suited for those who want one really fine item, not a collection.
My Rolex has not been off my left wrist in twenty some years. (It’s tattooed there)
Avoid the used market. A friend with a passion for Rolexes owns two, along with a decent knock off. He has told me numerous sad tales of people who inherit a Rolex, then find out years later it’s not.
I wouldn’t describe Rolex as being remotely “vulgar” or “showy”, unless you’re talking about the ones encrusted with diamonds (which look like shit to me.) The basic and classic Rolex designs are very tasteful, my personal favorite being the Milgauss, and even that one is a bit quirky by Rolex standards. I think Rolexes in the main are fairly staid and understated.
My impression is that Rolex is essentially mid-tier in the world of horology. Totally respectable, well-made, with classic designs that nobody would fault you for wearing. But there are countless other Swiss watch brands with offerings which are far in excess of Rolex, both in price and in aesthetic idiosyncracy - some of them in a likable way, and some to the point of garishness in my opinion. Audermars-Piguet, Ulysse Nardin, Hublot, Franck Muller, Parmigiani Fleurier, the list goes on and on. Some of them are really beautiful, some of them have designs so convoluted that they’re impossible for me to take seriously. And some, like the Devon Tread, have truly unique and interesting mechanical workings that diverge sharply from the traditional watch movement (which is itself very interesting, and also too complicated for me to really understand, but I appreciate its complexity anyway.)
Oh - also, the higher-end Seiko models are very highly regarded, and not inexpensive - though still more affordable than some of the offerings I mentioned above. The Grand Seiko “Spring Drive” models use a unique movement that causes the second hand to sweep in a smooth and seamless motion that is more continuous than any traditional Swiss watch that I’m aware of.
Thanks for all the input folk. As far as I can tell (only having been married to the woman for 32 years) she really has little interest in impressing anyone other than herself. We very much adhere to the philosophy, “Have nothing you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” She said she was basically wasting time at the mall waiting for an apt, and went into the Rolex store on a whim. We had first noticed Rolex womens’ watched at an over-the-top Indian wedding last summer, where we noticed a huge percentage of the women wore them. Wife said she was amazed at how good it felt on her wrist, and how much she liked it. When we have a strong emotional attraction to something - whether it be food, experiences, people… we tend to take that seriously.
BTW, she is looking at a stainless steel one with a silver face and Roman numerals - not terribly showy IMO, tho opinions vary. I told her my main objection was the IIII instead of IV (long a pet peeve of mine) - and told her I forbade her getting it for that reason! Yeah, like I can forbid her from doing anything…
We spoke this a.m., and I said something like, “I assume if you get it, you’ll wear it all the time, rather than just keeping it for certain occasions.” Her response, “Well, I might take it off while gardening…” Rather than wanting to impress anyone, she wondered if she might feel embarrassed to be wearing such an expensive watch. I reminded her that she regularly wears jewelry that costs more. Further, I feel the womens’ watches are not all that showy, and if anyone notices them, they’ll likely assume it is a fake.
Looks like I may have something to give her for x-mas after all! She observed that she has absolutely nothing to give me - which I’m completely fine with.
Well quite, bolding mine, and they would be wearing them as a very clear statement of wealth, that’s the modern reputation in a nutshell right there. Rolex has moved from “i have discerning taste in horological engineering” to " I have spent thousands…please look"
In the UK at least, wearing a Rolex makes me think “used car salesman” or “estate agent”. I have no doubt at all that your good lady doesn’t give a stuff about that and just found something that she likes. If so, then sod what anyone else thinks and spend what you like on what you like but, like it or not, a Rolex sends messages that other watches do not.
An anecdote in the interest of avoiding potential embarrassment:
Years ago my sister bought a Rolex. When she put it on on the third morning it wasn’t running. She went to the dealer in a huff, ranting about how much she paid for it and it only ran for two days. She got pretty sheepish when the sales lady picked it up, twisted the stem a few times, and said “One must wind it.”
BTW, she’s been wearing that watch for over 30 years.
Yeah, like I can forbid her from doing anything…