• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

sinnedk

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
17,104
Reaction score
5,116
Hi gents, just out of curiosity, how hard to get Rolex batman from boutique these days? Is it much harder than before due to shortage of production?

AD game is a joke these days. But you can go buy a date just or whatever is on the counter and put name down on waitlist then see what happens. I would be surprised if you get a call before 1 year.
 

brax

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2008
Messages
2,850
Reaction score
3,977
Hi gents, just out of curiosity, how hard to get Rolex batman from boutique these days? Is it much harder than before due to shortage of production?
I had to resort to the grey market of sorts (Monaco Legends auction) to get mine. It’s pretty darn tough to get from AD.
P.S. Through my own damn fault, the watch was stolen after less than six months on my wrist.
 

Journeyman

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2005
Messages
7,963
Reaction score
3,435
What *does* bother me though is when brands stick a basic/common movement in a watch and then still charge a bundle for it. I realize there are different levels of ETAs for example, but they're still basically the same. Why would I buy a watch for $3k with an ETA or Sellita when there are equally attractive options at under $1k with the same movement?

I suppose the answer is that an ETA movement is not always just an ETA (or Sellita etc) movement.

ETA and other such suppliers sell "ebauches" to watch companies. They can be supplied with various levels of finishing and, of course, the higher the level of finishing, the higher the price per ebauche. Brands also add finishing and individual touches to movements - upgrading some of the components, decorating or 'skeletonising' some of the parts and so on.

So, as a result, simply because one watch has an ETA movement, it doesn't mean that it should be the same price as another watch that has an ETA movement, because the latter movement may have had multiple parts upgraded and considerable time spent on decoration.

To give a really extreme (and extremely rare) example, take a look at this IWC from 1993 - the movement is based upon the tried-and-tested Valjoux/ETA 7750 calibre, with much work to the basic, underlying movement:



Hi gents, just out of curiosity, how hard to get Rolex batman from boutique these days? Is it much harder than before due to shortage of production?

I don't think there's a shortage of production, as such, as Rolex still produces more watches than most other Swiss watch companies, churning out 900,000 or more watches per year. Only Swatch (as in the actual Swatch watches), Longines and Tissot make more. All other Swiss watchmakers are lower than Rolex by hundreds of thousands of units.

So the problem isn't Rolex's production - it's the ridiculous increase in demand over the past five or so years. I'd estimate that for every steel sports watch that a Rolex authorised dealer gets in the shop, they've probably got 30, 40 or more people who want to buy that watch.
 

bdavro23

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2014
Messages
3,694
Reaction score
4,461
To me, the in-house movement debate is about value. Or said another way, what am I paying for? For a simple three hander, its hard for me to pay $4-10k for a steel watch that uses the same movement thats available in a Hamilton that sells for $650. I suppose there can be some level of movement decoration that will raise the value, but there is a limit to that.

As an aside, my wife got me a watch building class several years ago for my birthday and it was a lot of fun. It was much more difficult than I expected as well! In any event, you actually assemble the watch, case, dial, etc, and leave with an actual watch you can wear. The movement we used is the same movement used in some current Panerai watches, which has made it difficult for me to see Panerai as a viable purchase for me in the future. That might just be a perception thing for me, but perception of what you're getting for your money is kind of a big thing with watches.

Anyway, theres gonna be lots of opinions about this, so you can now add mine to the pile of things you dont care about :)
 

Phileas Fogg

Distinguished Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2020
Messages
4,712
Reaction score
4,467
To me, the in-house movement debate is about value. Or said another way, what am I paying for? For a simple three hander, its hard for me to pay $4-10k for a steel watch that uses the same movement thats available in a Hamilton that sells for $650. I suppose there can be some level of movement decoration that will raise the value, but there is a limit to that.

As an aside, my wife got me a watch building class several years ago for my birthday and it was a lot of fun. It was much more difficult than I expected as well! In any event, you actually assemble the watch, case, dial, etc, and leave with an actual watch you can wear. The movement we used is the same movement used in some current Panerai watches, which has made it difficult for me to see Panerai as a viable purchase for me in the future. That might just be a perception thing for me, but perception of what you're getting for your money is kind of a big thing with watches.

Anyway, theres gonna be lots of opinions about this, so you can now add mine to the pile of things you dont care about :)

when Mercedes still made an E550, it used the same power plant as the S550.

Would you say the additional cost of the S class was superfluous given both cars used the same engine?
 

sinnedk

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
17,104
Reaction score
5,116
I had to resort to the grey market of sorts (Monaco Legends auction) to get mine. It’s pretty darn tough to get from AD.
P.S. Through my own damn fault, the watch was stolen after less than six months on my wrist.

sorry to hear that.May I ask how it was stolen from your wrist?
 

bdavro23

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2014
Messages
3,694
Reaction score
4,461
when Mercedes still made an E550, it used the same power plant as the S550.

Would you say the additional cost of the S class was superfluous given both cars used the same engine?
I don't think this is even close to a valid comparison. Now, if you said the E550 had a Ford Duratec 2.0 engine, but MB was still charging $90k for it, that's a closer comparison.
 

brax

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2008
Messages
2,850
Reaction score
3,977
sorry to hear that.May I ask how it was stolen from your wrist?
It wasn’t. I put it in the center console of my car (along with my wallet) when I was at the gym. Like a dumbass I forgot to take them out that night and, just my luck, someone broke into my car that night.
 

Neville Southall

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2019
Messages
4,460
Reaction score
15,250
Cool fall watch.
579BE265-BE92-4467-B7AC-50C6788224DB.jpeg
 

sinnedk

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
17,104
Reaction score
5,116
It wasn’t. I put it in the center console of my car (along with my wallet) when I was at the gym. Like a dumbass I forgot to take them out that night and, just my luck, someone broke into my car that night.

ouch man. Sorry to hear that. Any chance insurance covered it?

I’m in SF and had 2-3 car break ins over really petty ****, kid’s diaper bag. After that other than car seats and hand sanitizer nothing visible in the car.
 

物の哀れ

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2021
Messages
234
Reaction score
1,113
I think the watch industry made a strategic mistake when “in-house movement” became a meme.

Very few have the business model to support the development of in-house moments.

So many faked it.

1635029241192.png


Instead, I think they should have developed their movement maker's brands, elevated their status, and embraced the fact that they source externally.

There’s an alternative reality where customers value a watch with Manufacture Horlogère ValFleurie made and branded movement.
 

brax

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2008
Messages
2,850
Reaction score
3,977
ouch man. Sorry to hear that. Any chance insurance covered it?

I’m in SF and had 2-3 car break ins over really petty ****, kid’s diaper bag. After that other than car seats and hand sanitizer nothing visible in the car.
Unfortunately no. But I’ve learned my lesson. All watches and wife’s jewelry are at bank’s safety deposit box. Insured. When I get back to USA, I will insure through Hodinkee or some other insurance provider. Anyone have a particularly good experience with a watch/ jewelry insurer?
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 60 38.7%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.4%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 18.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,164
Messages
10,579,132
Members
223,884
Latest member
chalky
Top