Top 10 Tips On Buying A Rolex
Buying a Rolex, especially your first Rolex, can be difficult. It’s definitely not the easiest watch brand to purchase. The reason why we are listing tips on buying a Rolex is because most first time buyers don’t understand that the process of buying a Rolex usually isn’t what they expect. In most cases, first time buyers or repeat buyers, are often disappointed and frustrated.
If you didn’t already know, Rolex is the most popular watch brand on the planet. To make a long story short, disappointment and frustration happens because buyers often times can’t buy what they want to purchase and even if they can it’s often over MSRP (grey market) or after a lengthy time on a waitlist. With that much demand, there is no doubt that users need to know tips on buying a Rolex.
If you choose to buy Rolex new, check out our Guide To The Rolex Waitlist.
Do Your Homework
When you start your journey on buying your Rolex it’s important to do your homework. The biggest questions that you need to ask yourself when you begin to do your homework is what purpose will the watch play in your life and then which of those Rolex models fit into your budget.
Rolex is first and foremost known for being tool watches. Even the Datejust references were originally created as sports models. Now a days Rolex has both sport models and dressier ones. Find which ones fits your lifestyle or which one will help you achieve an accomplishment. The next step is to then find which Rolex or event multiple that fit within your budget.
Be Open To More Than One Model
It’s important to be open to more than one Rolex reference when you’re exploring purchasing a Rolex. This might be the most important of our tips on buying a Rolex because in many cases a buyer isn’t always getting their first pick. This could be because an authorized dealer simply wont sell it to you because the relationship isn’t good enough or the price tag, grey market or not, is too much.
Know Which Rolex(s) You Want Before You Walk In The Store
I don’t care how much money you have, a Rolex isn’t a minimal monetary purchase. If you are going to be buying a Rolex, make sure you’re buying the one you really want. If it’s important for you to get a fluted bezel, get the fluted bezel. Likewise if it’s important for you to get the Submariner Date, get the Submariner reference that has the date. The last thing you want to do is settle on a purchase of this magnitude.
It’s also important to stick to your guns when you walk in the store. Selling Rolex is easy, they sell themselves. You may experience a sales person who will try to convince you to buy another brand. This is because he/she knows you’ll never be able to buy the Rolex you want because of the relationship or because they have aging stock they want to unload.
Be Honest About Your Relationship With Your AD
This may be hard to believe but a Rolex authorized dealer will not sell you any Rolex you ask for. I know it’s hard to believe and it’s the reason that most of you have come to our Tips On Buying A Rolex article but it’s true. The most popular models from Rolex that have waitlists only go to an authorized dealers most loyal customers. What that means is that if you don’t have a history with the dealer or sometimes not enough history, it could be almost impossible for you to purchase the reference you want.
This practice has forced plenty of buyers into either buying other watches to build up a reputation or to go to the pre-owned market, which often leads to paying well over MSRP.
Understand You Won’t Probably Get A Discount
It doesn’t matter which industry or market a product is in, if there is extremely high demand discounts either don’t exist or are minimal. Don’t even try to ask for a discount on a stainless steel sports model. You simply wont get one. The good news is that if two-tone is your thing, you may be able to get a couple points.
We suggest heading over the the Rolex Forum if you want to poll what discounts others have received recently.
Be Comfortable Waiting On The Rolex You Want
If you’ve ever walked into a Rolex authorized dealer, you’ll notice that they case hardly has any product. Unfortunately Rolex product doesn’t produce watches in the abundance that we’d like. This means that orders will have to be made or you’ll need to sign-up on the lengthly waitlists to get the references you desire. Be patient, if you really desire what you want to buy, it’ll be worth the wait.
You may want a Rolex that isn’t available yet. If that’s the case it’s never a bad idea to wait until Rolex releases specifically what you want. Check out our Top 10 Rolex 2022 Predictions article.
Buy With Confidence
One of the best feeling with buying a Rolex is the confidence that comes with it. No I am not talking about the perception of how others see you, even though I wont ignore that is the reason why some people do buy.
What I am talking about is the confidence a buyer can have in the quality of the product and the future value retention. Rolex produces a very good product and even though it may be a little over priced compared to alternatives, you can have the piece of mind that your new Rolex will hold its value.
Buying A Pre-Owned Rolex Is Perfectly Ok
Because of the difficulty of buying Rolex, the pre-owned market has become a viable source to purchase the watch you desire relatively quickly. With buying pre-owned you’ll probably still purchase the watch somewhere around MSRP or sometimes even higher.
Rolex watches are engineered to last a very long time so buying pre-owned is a attractive option. They probably have one of the healthiest pre-owned watch markets of anyone in the industry.
Don’t Buy A Rolex Just Because It’s A Rolex
Often time watch buyers want a Rolex just because it’s a Rolex. I’ll be the first to admit that brand recognition matters and we all want to be associated with the best. That doesn’t mean that when buying a watch you shouldn’t explore alternative.
What most find when exploring alternative watches from other brands is that they either love the Rolex model even more or they find a new watch that captivates them. If you find an alternative to the brand Rolex, the watch quality, and price; you’d have to be a fool to not explore that alternative in the hunt for your new watch.
A great example is myself. I really wanted to buy a Rolex Submariner but was told by my local AD that I simply didn’t have enough purchase history even though I had already bought a Rolex from them in the past. I turned my sports model search to competitive dive watches and found the Omega Seamaster 300m. I couldn’t be happier with my Omega purchase and honestly now prefer it over the Submariner.
Don’t Empty Your Savings Account
This may be the most obvious of our tips on buying a Rolex list but don’t buy a Rolex if you can’t afford it. Luxury watches are definitely not a need hence the term luxury. There are plenty of other ways to tell time and emptying your bank account to do so doesn’t make sense.
