Rolex, A Love-Hate Relationship

I love Rolex, but after buying my first new Rolex GMT from an AD, I am not sure modern Rolex is the brand for me. The Crown’s customer experience may be an existential threat.

I’m a simple man. Give me an old steel Rolex—Submariner or GMT—with drilled lug holes and an aluminum bezel, and I am happy. That's all I need. While I wouldn’t describe myself as a “Rolex man,” as that sounds a little fanboyish, I admire the brand for all the right reasons. Over the past century, Rolex has established itself as arguably the world's most iconic brand, and not just in horology.  

Rolex is a universal sign of accomplishment, and the Swiss brand has deep and decades-long ties to the W.O.E. community. While it's easy to forget this fact when walking into the brand’s luxurious boutiques today, the brand's DNA is in tool watches for adventurers, explorers, and warfighters. For generations, Rolex was the watch of choice for those who have made real and meaningful contributions to society. I fear that that is no longer the case today.

Rolex GMT-Master II “Bruce Wayne” - Reference 126710GRNR

The Call - “We Have Your GMT Available For Pickup”

A few months ago, I got “the call” from a local authorized dealer saying they had a new Rolex GMT-Master II reference 126710 with a black and grey bezel, dubbed the “Bruce Wayne” by watch nerds. I was excited.  While I own more than a few Rolex sports models, this would be my first modern steel Rolex.  

I have long believed that the Rolex GMT, any reference, is the ultimate CIA Case Officer’s watch—a classy and refined tool that signals to others you are a man of culture, yet don’t mind getting your hands dirty. The watch for the proverbial “Ph.D who can win a bar fight.” I own two older references, and the GMT-Master is unequivocally my favorite watch. When the call came, I said yes without hesitation.

Rolex GMT on Billy Waugh’s wrist, legendary Army Special Forces turned CIA Paramilitary Officer. (Photo Credit, Recoil Magazine & Tom Marshall)

Buying A Rolex In 2025

I had “expressed interest” eight months prior, shortly after the announcement of the new color scheme, and I was added to the dreaded “waiting list.” I had a significant relationship with the dealer and was confident I would eventually be allocated one, but didn’t push the issue. I had all but forgotten about the watch, and the strong desire I felt from the hype during Watches and Wonders had faded, but I was still excited. It sounds messed up, but I was lucky that the sales associate deemed me worthy enough to spend $11,000 on a timepiece.

Picking up the watch was a special and curated experience, it always is.  Escorted to a VIP room, you are offered champagne and time is taken to explain the functions and to size the bracelet. Despite what the haters will say, the quality and craftsmanship of modern Rolex are phenomenal. In contrast to the older references I treasured, the tolerances, wearability, and aesthetics are unmatched. The black/gray GMT is arguably the most subtle GMT reference of the past 10 years. To the casual observer, it appears to be closer to a Submariner than a bicolor GMT.

 Rolex GMT-Master II “Bruce Wayne” - Reference 126710GRNR

Buyer’s Remorse?

Leaving the store, I glanced down at my wrist and was caught off guard by the shiny, polished center links. The new watch was in stark contrast to the older references I was used to wearing. I felt something that I had never felt before with a watch—was it buyer's remorse?

While the aesthetics of the modern “tool watch” felt off, it was something else that nagged me. Why did I buy this watch? It wasn't to mark a specific achievement or a significant life milestone, the reality is I bought it because the sales associate called me and told me I could. I’ve worn the watch on and off over the subsequent months, and while I appreciate the watch for what it is, I've come to realize that it isn’t the watch itself that I question. It is the process of buying a Rolex that is disenchanting, it sours the experience.

 Vintage Rolex GMTs hit different (Photo Credit: Rupley / W.O.E.)

The Myth Of The Rolex Waitlist

Aspiring “Rolex men” have two options: you can visit the authorized dealer (AD) regularly to build "rapport" (ass kiss) with the salesperson in hopes of one day being granted an allocation, or pay the absurd grey market prices to a second-hand dealer. Both are equally disheartening and damaging to brand equity, even for an icon like Rolex.

Visit any Rolex boutique and you will quickly learn that they don’t actually have watches for sale, at least not for you. The watches on display are for "exhibition only,” meaning you can try them on but can’t buy them even if you have the cash. Instead, prospective customers are encouraged to provide their contact details to “express interest” in a specific watch, which theoretically adds their name to the notorious and misunderstood “waitlist”.

But this whole concept is bullshit. I know this because I have cut the “list” many times. I said this was my first modern Rolex, which is only partially true. Over the past few years, I have used my connections to buy several new Rolexes for friends, those who were waiting on the “list” but couldn’t get an allocation themselves. Most, if not all, boutiques have several coveted steel sports models for sale in a safe in the back; they just don’t want to sell them to you.

Rolex headquarters in Geneva (Photo Credit: Rolex SA)

The reality is that Rolex in Geneva does not dictate how and who boutiques sell watches to, and each store has their own process. This results in inconsistencies, and while some stores may maintain lists and allocate watches in sequential order, most simply sell them to clients with significant sales history or, in many cases, people they simply like. The most sought-after pieces, like the Daytona and Titanium Yacht-Masters, go to friends of the store owner, and individual sales associates get whatever’s left over.

In my experience, even simple sports models like the steel Submariner and GMT will go to long-time clients over those looking for their first real watch, an approach I would argue is fundamentally flawed

(Photo Credit: Rupley/W.O.E.)

Rolex - The Existential Threat

According to Morgan Stanley’s annual Swiss watch industry report, Rolex controls over 30% of the retail market share, with the runner-up being Cartier with a mere 8%. But nothing lasts forever, and I would go as far as to say the current customer experience represents an existential threat for Rolex. If I am disenchanted with the Rolex customer experience, how does the prospective buyer feel? The increase in demand and inability to quickly scale production to meet demand is not Rolex's fault, but the disappointing customer experience is, or at least it should be. 

According to most estimates, there are approximately 1,800 authorized dealers or “retail partners,” with the largest segment in the United States at over 300. Every day, thousands of people walk into these stores eager to learn about the brand and maybe even buy a watch to commemorate an accomplishment or milestone. Newcomers' dreams are immediately deflated.

Rolex Store Locations in North America (Credit: Rolex SA)

Rolex Prospective Customer Experience

Online reviews will often report the sales associates as aloof, disinterested, and even arrogant. Some will even suggest that the customer buy other watches or jewelry to “build a relationship” with the store. I have met some great sales associates and think that many/most of them are good, honest, hard-working people. But I have also experienced this dismissive attitude firsthand, at Betteridge in Vail and Tourneau in Pentagon City, to name a couple.

For my generation, Rolex was known as something luxurious but, eventually, and with hard work, obtainable. But I fear that this is no longer the case. Each year, millions of potential customers leave one of the boutiques demoralized, promised that their name is on a list (it's not), and never hear anything. Play this out over decades, it is bound to have a real impact on one of history's greatest brands. Rolex may lay claim to hearts and minds for now, but what about the next generation when they become wealthy enough to play in this arena, having come up in an age where they weren’t “good enough” to “deserve” a Rolex, whether they had the money or not?

Vintage Rolex sign, Tawila District in Aden, Yemen (Photo Credit: Unknown)

Would Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex, be pleased with the brand positioning, attainability, and waitlist of 2025? For a man who was inspired by accounts of the Second Boer War in South Africa, where warfighters used wristwatches to coordinate operations and dreamed of putting a watch on every wrist in the world, I don’t think so.

Those potential customers walk next door to another brand and are welcomed with open arms and often recruited as lifetime customers. No one has sold more Omega watches than Rolex, and Omega stores are often within walking distance of Rolex. This is no accident.  

(Photo Credit: Rupley/W.O.E.)

The Solution - Rolex Must Control The Customer Experience & Allocation

The cynical take is that this scarcity is contrived by Rolex to drive value.  While this is undoubtedly true with limited pieces, I speculate that with “regular” watches like Datejust and the Submariner, Rolex leadership would prefer to produce an amount that is just below demand. It is important to note that it takes time to build production capacity, and the skyrocketing demand since the pandemic could not have been foreseen.

By most estimates, Rolex produces and sells approximately 1.2 million watches per year at an average price of $13,000. Rolex is set to open another production facility in 2029, which should increase annual output, which in theory should make these more obtainable. But is that what’s really going to happen?

Rolex mockup of its new production facility, slated to open in Bulle, Switzerland in 2029. (Photo Credit: Rolex SA)

Rolex SA Must Control The Customer Relationship

But the real crux of the issue is that Rolex delegates the customer interaction and, more importantly, how to allocate specific watches to specific clients, to the “official Rolex retailers.” While Rolex does carefully curate and dictate the store layout, design, and presentation of the watches, Geneva is still disconnected from the customer. For a luxury brand, the customer experience, or even prospective customer experience, is arguably the most important part of the sales cycle.

This results in people like me being escorted to the front of the line, while people like you aren't even on “the list.” Allocations become lopsided and inevitably, “flippers”—those who purchase watches to immediately sell for a profit—receive allocations. Of course, this cycle inevitably perpetuates the grey market. While I would never “flip” a watch for profit based on principle, it is easy to empathize with those who do. That GMT that I was allocated could be sold on the grey market for approximately $17,800, netting a $6k profit after taxes. That’s real money, enough to buy a brand new Omega Seamaster Diver 300 just with the proceeds from a single flip.

A second-hand dealer's display of Rolex and other luxury watches. (Photo Credit: Reddit)

To combat this and preserve the integrity of its product and reputation, corporate Rolex must ensure that a significant portion of its watches are allocated to new customers. In short, a young professional looking to commemorate his promotion with his first real watch, a new Rolex GMT, should be prioritized over someone like me, at least some of the time

In 2023, Rolex acquired Bucherer, one of the largest points of sale with over 100 retail locations and the largest brand presence in the United States. This acquisition offers a unique opportunity to pilot these programs and refine the customer experience.

Titanium Yachtmaster prototype “leaked” on the wrist of the helmsman of the Great Britain SailGP Team, Sir Ben Ainslie (Photo Credit: Ineos Britannia Team/C. Gregory)

Final Thoughts - The Rolex Dichotomy

Despite everything I said above and in contradiction, I still officially “expressed interest” in the Titanium Yacht-Master. Released in 2024, it is a stark contrast to the more polished trend at Rolex but is also one of the hardest watches to get in the catalog. The muted titanium and black indices on the bezel have the look and feel of a true modern tool watch.

If I do get the call for a Titanium Yachtmaster, I will be ecstatic that the sales associate deemed me worthy enough to spend $14,800 on a watch.  If that sounds like sarcasm, I can assure you it's not. If that sounds like a fucked up way to live your life, trust your instincts.

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