The real reason Rolex is buying Bucherer 

They definitely have a problem with customer experience in practice. I’ve heard some horror stories, especially since things started to get really unavailable. Cheers 😀

There's rumors this is happening at one of my AD's locations here in Canada. That the store is in collusion with grey market flippers, and no watches are going to customers.

😂 a new wait list experience

Not untrue 😂😂😂

​@@MBimmer...you need to get waitlisted at any AD before you can register for a waitlist at Bucherer....😂😂

That is very much the bitter truth with the Rolex experience. They want to control what you are allowed to buy. It is the prestigious brand for criminals and money grabbers. ( This has not always been the case.)

Could be a good hope. I think Rolex are aware that they have some really bad ad behaviour out there and they’re trying to figure out how to fix it. Thanks for sharing 😀

I would disagree......Rolex isn't scared. They're in control(operative word) and they know what they're doing. That being the case, the AD's are nothing more than greedy middlemen. They're not in charge.....Rolex is.

They have lost their superlative buying experience and cachet. Now they are the brand preferred by posers and Dbags. Wearing one sends the wrong signal in some circles. A shame, I used to appreciate their tool watches, but would not wear one today. I hope that the brand gets back to their core, but it appears that dollars (Pounds, Euros, Yen etc) will win out over long term sense.

Yup. To me scared, concerned, defensive are all circling around the same sentiment. Defensive is a good way to put it to. 😀😀

Who would buy??

AD's really can be hit or miss. Some are excellent, but I've had my fair share of arrogant "why are you even the store" behaviour to be ad bit jaded as well cheers 😀😀

Agreed. It's as if they need to decide if you are lucky enough to hand over indecent sums of money to them 😂.

Wow! Thanks 😀😀😀

Not untrue 😂😂😂

Thanks - glad you feel my perspective resonates to some extent. A boutique only model just doesn’t seem feasible to me when you’re selling a million watches a year. Currently AP sells 45.000 watches and about 150 boutiques. That’s 300 watches per year per store. Rolex has 2000 dealers, averaging 500 watches per store. Reduce that to 1000 and that’s still 1000 per store. That’s not a cosy little boutique. That’s a supermarket and starts not being exclusive… The numbers just don’t add up to boutique only to me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts too 😀😀😀

@@Mike.thiswatchthatwatch good analysis. The numbers already tell you a lot but some people are just dumb and rather listen to hearsay than do some simple thinking for themselves. It’s frustrating watching these thick RU-vidrs.

Fingers crossed 😀

“More money than scrooge mcduck” 😂😂😂

If that's just how much money Geneva has then it's kaput....😂

​​@@Mike.thiswatchthatwatch Putting numbers into perspective. Rolex generated a profit of $8b Swiss Francs in the last financial year. In my country Australia, our largest bank reported A$10b. Equivalent to $5.6b Swiss Francs. Rolex profit only accounts for new watches sold at retail. No additional interest income or fees, revolving credit facilities or commercial credit that a bank has access to in their portfolio. Yet Rolex makes more money from a single item purchase with no recurring income? That's incredible!! Imagine the potential for the cpo program once it's fully integrated. The cpo program is not a mistake that many people have suggested. It's engineered to generate a new income stream from the grey market. Rolex are building new factories to support this. In 2 to 3 years time I think you will see profit margins triple. If I were running a Swiss bank I would partner up with Rolex to manufacture Rolex credit cards. Make them out of ceramic. Ladies versions with diamond encrusted, mother of pearl inlay, gold, platinum. I think you'd generate enough sales on those alone more than the potential of credit interest from using the credit facility on the card! Rolex are so big they could open their own bank to do it if they wanted to.

Rolex even owns, the building that holds Patek Philippe’s old Bond Street store in London!

Thanks - appreciated 😀

You’re not going to see me pay 30k for a steel daytona 😂

Maybe. Time will tell, I suppose. The debate though is an interesting one 😀

Perhaps. They defintitely get more direct control 😎

Glad you enjoyed it. I don’t profess to know “the truth”. I like to think though that the less dramatic scenarios are more realistic in general. The sky is very seldom falling quite as fast as the internet would have us believe… Cheers 😀😀😀

Don't know if that's true, but thanks nevertheless 😊😊😊😊

Thanks - glad you felt my perspective resonated 😀😀

Thanks - I try to do different stuff that interests me and really glad that others, including yourself, find my perspectives a worthwhile watch as well Cheers 😀💪

Great to hear! Thanks 😀😀

Exactly. I remember at time when I was offered a daytona woth no purchase history. Gone are the days 🥲 Thanks for sharing 😀😀

Thanks . Glad you felt it resonated 😀

Not to mention not having reasonable control. Let’s say PE bought Bucherer - Rolex could cut their allotments, divert it to other top stores with 100% confidence they’d all sell.

Not so sure. Watches of switzerland was owned by private equity from 2013 to 2019. In that period they made multiple buy ups, including mayors in the us. As I say in the vid, and I agree with you now, it’s probably become too expensive to do now compared to 2013, but it’s not without precedent that PE has taken an interest in this market Cheers 😀

Fair enough - I don't profess to know the truth - just speculation and time will tell eventually Cheers 😀😀

Potentially they run that risk for sure 😃

Not a bad adage - Wonder if AP is listening ? 😎

Rolex don't have to play defensive strategy. That's a gross under estimation of the most powerful luxury watch brand. They are exerting more presence and control in the market. It's domination and growth not defensive. They may be conservative but I suspect they're being proactive rather than reactive. If they continue what they are doing currently even though profitable, they eventually run the risk of being an uninteresting less desirable brand. They know their reputation with the AD network has been declining and lots of profit is seeping through to the grey market. The combined CPO program, opening a new factory and now takeover of Bucherer will give them a level of control never seen on the current scale. Don't underestimate the CPO program. It's going to be crucial in the next 2 to 5 years when customers are insisted to buy a pre owned piece before they're allowed to qualify for a brand new piece. That's why they are intentionally higher priced than the grey market for a reason, to stop flipping to grey dealers. All they have to do to shut down the grey market is to officially announce they will not service watches not purchased through their own network. This will eventually happen and people will veer away from buying uncertified, unauthorised, frankenstein watches from the grey market. The strategy will be to kill the competition and cut out the middle man. Mark those words!

Oysterman: I tend to agree on the point about a future servicing model. They’ll never get around statuatory mandated warranty periods (ie in the eu) but a model where stuff bought out of network gets no support after the mandated periods is definitely something I could see happening. 😀👍

@@Mike.thiswatchthatwatchThat fits in well with a strategy they may execute. The CPO watches carry a 5 year warranty. If Rolex made it compulsory to buy CPO pieces prior to offering new pieces, they could easily use the warranty expiration as a way to influence the customer to trade it in and then sell them another watch, new or used. The customer will feel obliged to maintain their relationship with the same mindset they have now with ADs. I see potential to manipulate the market very easily.

Much appreciated! And yeah - we’re on the same page for sure about this 😀

Exactly. It’s the potential and not the 100 stores in itself that are the unknown that Rolex does not like 😀

Yup 😀

Glad you found it a worthwhile watch 😀😀

Thanks - glad you felt my perspective responated 😀😀😀

Very welcome 😀😀😀

Fair enough - Glad you enjoyed it 😀

100 years of doing business means nothing

As I said in the video “Rolex is doing Bucherer a solid” 😀

Thanks for rhe feedback - generally I always lean towards the less conspiratorial explanations of things. I find it usually (but not always) turns out to be the case. 😀

Thanks - It’s a perspective that I thought would be fun to talk about 😀

Good point - I think Rolex would ideally like the experience to be a specific way and the AD's are not delivering that. It reminds me of the movie about mcdonalds where they realised that the way the ensured the quality of each franchise was by owning the land on which the franchise was built. 😀😀

Good point, the swiss do tend to stick together 😀

Glad you liked it! 😀

How did Rolex survive the last 100 years before this madness started ? You’re right about one thing though.. Rolex post 2019 will never be like Rolex pre 2019 again.

Desirability / scarcity. It’s gone a bit to far in recent years. Don’t really see it changing significantly though 😳😀😀

IT does give them a way to experiment with running own stores without the risks associated with starting from scratch - I've heard (and experienced) that not all AP boutiques are a great experience. Retail is very different from watch production Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 😀

Thanks!!! Really appreciate the praise😀😀

That’s the way it should be at least 😀😀

Likely a very healthy perspective 😀

That’s the thing - some places will ve very far from A boutique…. 😳

You're probably right about the last piece. My guess is there are going to be a lot of daytonas and GMTs at the bucherer stores while other dealers will have the more "basic" models 😀😀😀

Over time, they might, but building a retail network takes time. A lot of time 😀

Private equity has a bad rep for a reason 😃😃

Its just Rolex having more control ovber their sales and making more money ...th grey market will for sure take a big hit but it will never be gone. Just drown out alot of the dealers out there that are not good

Not necessarily to disagree, though the Asia market is huge, eclipsing Americas or Europe, but not combined. While in Japan I never encountered one of the four Bucherer stores but I saw a whole lot of other places to get watches. Just visiting Nakano Broadway was to see enough Rolex to wear out my brain and eyeballs… I just don’t believe that market share of retail necessarily means market power. People choose Rolex because they want to, just like people choose Walmart. But they don’t need them. As long as humans are adaptable there are other ways. By the way I have thoughts on why the supply-demand of Rolex turns into watch sales and flipping of other brands. Other brands succeed by their association and proximity to Rolex. Rolex isn’t an island. They succeed when Swiss watchmaking as a concept succeeds.

Thanks. Will try. Just trying to share my perspectives. I may be wrong and try not to pretend to have all the answers, but rather share a perspective. It does feel good when the perspective resonates with people though 😀😀😀 Cheers 👍

Have no clue 😂 First off they’re calling the swiss competition authorities and asking for garuantees that Rolex won’t engage in unethical practices…. 😀 It’s gotta be tough knowing there are 100 stores in high value markets where your competitor has detailed insights into what sells off your shelf…. 😀

@@Mike.thiswatchthatwatch Since the stock price of Watches of Switzerland has dropped like a rock maybe Richemont or on of the other Big watch conglomerates will pick it up for a song? But i understand that W of Sw is more of a showroom style than standard retail? I don't know if it would really make sense as a purchase.

Click bait title

Scared. Concerned. Cautious. To me the sentiment is essentially the same - and yes: As a youtuber, I do what I can to make a catchy title - but there’s no bait and switch. I make my argument in line with the premise of the title 😀 Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts 😀

Glad you think so! 😀

Much like your profile name / tag 😂😂

You beat me to it. That was implausible. Rolex would never let some greedy MBAs get a cut. They sell STRAIGHT to the biggest greys before that.

While watches of switzerland was owned by private equity from 2013 to 2019, they bought Mayors - a chain of 17 stores in the US plus some other minor purchases. So it’s not unheard of. In europe there are still a couple af AD’s that are 5+ stores. Most are “mom and pop” type businesses though. Private equity let go of their own stake in WoS in 2019. Things have also gotten way more expensive since, so like I said in the video, it’s not a super likely or super attractive model for PE in the current landscape - but there is historical precedent for them getting involved Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts 👍

Thanks 😀

Disagree...Mike's analysis is spot on with my own independent analysis.

Thanks. Glad you felt it resonated 😀

Thanks 😀

Glad you liked it 😀😀

Thanks! Wow - really appreciate that 😀

Luxotica… they get me so riled up 😀

Fair point - I think they do care in some ways, but they are having trouble ensuring that the level gets lived up to. Lack of availability and dodgy dealer practices is definitely something that is hurting them. And being the biggest dog does potentially lead to a level of arrogance towards customers....¨ Thanks for sharing 😃😃😃

Not untrue 😂😂😂

buy all of the a-series peripheral movement CFB watches before they are discontinued? @@Mike.thiswatchthatwatch

This too is true at many ad’s 😀

You'll likely be waiting for quite a while unfortunately ... 👍

Tudor isn't even significant in global market share. Logines has more than triple the market share of Tudor. Tudor has less than 2% market share globally. Only RU-vidrs are making a big fuss about it.

Good question. Probably not at all is my guess. Would be wierd if bucherer became tudor/rolex only stores 👍

Much appreciated! And cheers to you to 😀

Probably, but I do have to think a little bit more about “catchy titles”. Either way - it’s the same sentiment 😀

Likely not...😃

Glad it was helpful! 😃

From Robb Report, Rolex is building four new factories “Construction on the facilities in the canton of Fribourg will begin later this year, with timepieces rolling out as soon as 2025. Rolex is also planning to launch a new $1.1 billion factory nearby in Bulle that is expected to commence production in 2029.”

Thanks for sharing your perspective. Generally I don’t believe in the more “checkmate” kinds of conclusions that these topics illicit. To me, the simpler, more modest logic is where my mind tends to gravitate towards. Creep strategy (well put btw) is very much in keeping with the way Rolex does things. Slow. Methodical. Never drastic. Cheers 😀😀😀

Maybe. I’m not convinced but ultimately time will tell. Thanks for taking the time to contribute either way 😀😀😀

Thanks. Glad you found it a worthwhile watch 😀

Lol 😂

Thanks! 😀

Thanks 😀

To each his own. I’m probably still a little hooked despite them trying my patience 😀😀😀

That's my thinking for now at least 😀

Very very true 😀

Exactly 😀

A lot more people seem to be feeling the same way as you. Rolex has had some hard times in terms of customer experience 😀😀

You clearly understood nothing of his narrative.

Fair perspective. It's definitely put a shock through the system either. Clearly nobody really saw it coming Thanks for sharing your own perspective 😀

Lol 😂😂

Speculation 😂

A mcnavitimer 😀😂

Ha! Ha! Ha! The only people worked up over resale values are non-owners of Rolex. Ha! Ha! Ha! They never shut up about it. Prices of used watches is literally ALL THEY TALK ABOUT. Rolex owners have their watches and for the most part don’t even give a shit because they have no interest in selling their watches anytime soon. Why care what your watch is worth today when the thought of selling it hasn’t really ever crossed your mind?

@@closer71defensive aren't we?😆 Struck a sensitive chord? Too close to home?😆 Relax dude! 😆😆😆 Rolex is where all newbies start like Bose speakers. Then they move on to more interesting watches especially now that Rolex has become synonymous with loud and crass jewelry and no longer a watch company. 😆 Btw I still have them but not interested in wearing them. Relax dude you're not the only one with rolexes... 😄 Move on. Don't be so defensive like you actually own the company 😆

@@Mega-zi7ys Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Awwww, get your feelings hurt? Ha! Ha! Ha!

@@closer71 you know yourself better Buddy 😄 👌