E-mail from Reader : Hunt for Rolex with Discount

This was a follow-up e-mail from reader Steve over the earlier posting. From my personal experiences, I found that one could generally get better offers from Rolex ADs in Hong Kong, Macau, UAE and Europe. If you go to an AD with higher and faster turnover, it could meant that they have the sales volume and could therefore offer you that extra price-down to close the deal fast. It helps if you have purchased from them before, or are buying a few pieces together. Not the norm, but I have done that before- 3 Rolexes over 2 days at the same shop, helping my Boss and colleague to net some good deals. Needless to say, I struck quite an impression with the manager and during the next purchase, I received preferential treatment and price-down offers.

If you were not a seasoned traveller or have no friends whom could assist you to net these pieces overseas, you could still purchase from grey resellers. Point to note was that some of these grey resellers deal with pre-owned pieces so make sure that you were paying for the right type of goods. You don't want to pay a less-than-AD-price-but-more-than-pre-owned-price, for a pre-owned piece marketed as a new piece. Another point was that some grey resellers only offer their shop warranty and not the Rolex manufacturer warranty- for me, I would advise to get the Rolex manufacturer warranty wherever possible as you could just walk into Rolex SC at Meara Dion in case of any issues, and needn't be worried about Franken parts. And some grey resellers sell non-full boxed sets so be sure to bargain down the price if that was the case.

Let us see what was the Rolex RRP from the previous blog post :

I would share with readers on some of the prices from grey resellers here in Malaysia, and you could see that there was an element of discount presented in their sale. In the example below, you could see that the Sea Dweller 116600, which was my current fave-most Rolex diver watch, retailed at RM40,350 at Rolex Authorised Dealer, but discounted 10% downwards to RM36,200 at a grey reseller shop.

As per above, there were elements of discount but be sure to learn more about the warranty provided. And if the piece that you wanted to buy was priced way too low, you should think rationally if it was at all possible as Rolex watches tend to sell well even in its MSRP. Learn to be smart to avoid being taken for a ride as there could be pretty good replica pieces out there in the market. All the best in hunting for your fave Rolex piece!

E-mail from Reader : Rolex Pricing

Well, the e-mail from a reader i.e. Steve that came in was worded along these lines :

Well, it ain't exactly the most polite of the e-mails that I received from time to time; but then again, it caught my attention for shooting straight from the hips. 

Far from being paid by Rolex, I actually have to pay them for servicing my watches as evidenced below. I don't even get a discount, as you could well see for yourself.

Well, I liked watches and Rolex is an established brand name in the horological world. It ain't the most expensive watch out there, it ain't the most decorative watch out there, and it ain't the most yuppie watch out there. But the watches that Rolex make- they tend to make them with the highest quality in mind, in its traditional hand-made manner, with the usage of patented technologies over time. For instance, their Oyster case was essential in bringing water-proof features into the watches of today, their usage of 904L stainless steel was still the pioneer and only one in the industry todate, etc.

I like Omega myself too, and if you looked through the watches that I had previously owned and flipped, you would find a couple of Seamaster Professional and Planet Ocean in the list. The only Omega watch that I still have in my collection now was the Speedmaster Panda, and I find that the Speedy was amongst the nicest-looking chronograph watch out there, beating even the Rolex Daytona. No doubt the Speedy's reputation as the first watch on the moon, helped in shaping my opinion so. But I digress.

For Diver and GMT watches, I find that the evergreen and oft-copied Rolex design still wins my attention hands-down. The design was practical, easy to read, and had an identity that was synonymous with Rolex. My favourite Rolex models in this genre were as the following :

For a new Rolex collector, I would highly-recommend the Rolex Submariner 114060. It had the very pleasing symmetrical look and was the original Rolex that was associated with James Bond from the Sean Connery era. An absolute beauty and easy to flip, a new collector couldn't go much wrong with the Submariner Ceramic No-Date (RRP : circa RM29k).

Next, we have the Submariner Ceramic Date, (RRP : circa RM33k) which was the best-selling Rolex diver watch. Buyers normally go for the Classic (black) or Hulk (green). I used to have the Classic piece, before I flipped it for the Hulk, which remained as one of my favourite watch.

For the GMT-Master 2 (RRP : circa RM34k), I have a preference towards the BLNR (blue-black), which was a very handsome watch in my eyes.

And finally, my fave-most Rolex diver watch was the Sea-Dweller Ceramic (RRP : circa RM40k). It has a window feature like the 116610LN, but without the Cyclops, so it looked symmetrical like that of the 114060. It's water resistance was to a depth of 1,220m as opposed to the Submariner's 300m. Here are my 2 fave Rolex diver watches side-by-side.

Pictures : Rolex Sea-Dweller Ceramic model no. 116600

This was one of my latest acquisition and I am pleased as punch to add this beautiful piece into my collection. Compared to the other divers in the Rolex line-up, the Sea-Dweller Ceramic aka SD4000 was considered the rarer piece in the open; as most buyers would rather pay lesser for the Submariner Ceramic Date (116610LN), which looked almost similar to the untrained eye; and in which the same movement i.e. Caliber 3135 was utilised in both the Sea-Dweller and Submariner.

I found the rarer Sea-Dweller to be captivating in its own rights, and the lower production nos. was an attractive plus point to me too.

Here, enjoy some eye-candies :

Pictures : Seiko Tuna 50th Anniv SE model no. SRP653 and SRP655 (WR 200m)

Seiko Tuna 50th Anniv model nos. SRP653 (Bluefin) and SRP655 (Dracula), were the latest collectible Tuna watches with the colour-coordinated bezels, shrouds, and dials. Not easy to net at the ADs, with RRP : RM2,650 at the interim period; I was fortunate enough to get the pair to freshen up my watch collection.

Now for 'em pictures, enjoy the following :

Grey resellers were selling it for some RM2,550 on Mudah, so it was possible to get these watches at a slight bargain compared to the RRP.

Now let's take a look at the comparison sizes between the Seiko Tuna 50th Anniv next to the Prometheus Poseidon and Magrette Vantage Bronze.

Pictures : Prometheus Poseidon Bronze (WR 3,500m) @ USD750/RM3,000 Shipped

This was a pictorial review of the masculine and handsome piece from Portugal i.e. Prometheus Poseidon Bronze. As per its name, it was a bronze piece, and came shipped with nicely-developed patina on the case. As per the norm with such watches, it was equipped with a 2-year manufacturer's warranty. This collectible piece was currently out of stock from the official channel.

Technical specs of the Prometheus Poseidon Bronze as per the official website :

• Bronze CuSn8 Case with Brushed finish 
• Blue Matte Dial with Swiss Made RC Tritec BGW9 lume applied to indexes
• Blue White lumed chapter ring with Swiss Made RC Tritec BGW9 lume applied to indexes
• Miyota 9015 Automatic Movement 
• Bronze CuSn8 unidirectional bezel with 120 clicks, sapphire insert and applied Swiss Made RC Tritec BGW9 lume
• Premium calf leather strap with a custom made bronze CuSn8 buckle
• Case diameter: 43.00 mm without crown
• Lug to Lug length: 52mm
• Case height: 15.90mm
• Lug width: 22 mm 
• Signed screw down crown with Prometheus logo 
• Water resistance: 3500 meters or 350 ATM 
• Helium valve a 9 o'clock
• Sapphire glass with anti-reflective coating inside watch 
• Watch hands filled with Swiss Made RC Tritec BGW9 lume (hours, minutes, seconds) 
• Two Years Warranty
• Price : USD750.00

And here was a size comparison of the Prometheus Poseidon Bronze next to the Seiko Tuna 50th Anniv and Magrette Vantage Bronze.