The fact there is supply grey market means rolex makes enough watches. The problem isn't supply, the problem is where the supply ends up. The issue is 100% with the ADs

Lets hope Rolex and Bucherer open more stores globally and get rid of these backdoor dealing AD's.

I’ve been on a waiting list for a Rolex for well over a year now, and now don’t know if I’ll bother even if they ever have one available. I already went and got a Breitling, was treated like a king and even given a free VIP night out at a Rugby match. I’ve went off Rolex , and they are no longer what I thought they were.

I think that until I can walk into a shop and buy a Rolex at retail... without dealing with the current BS... I don't care what they do.

The way they treat their customers so gratifying to see Watches of Switzerland getting their comeuppance

Amazing video mate! Glad to see you back!!

Great video Adrian… Nice to have you back! Cheers!!

Loved the clear explanation of the impact. Appreciate you and your content as always, Adrian!

I think it’s worth mentioning as well, this is just as beneficial to Tudor. You come in for a Rolex, and they can point you at a Tudor and an Omega, and make the Tudor look like good value.

I’d love to save up and buy a Rolex but can’t bear the thought of my hard earned savings being an inconvenience for them…

Really missed your videos, great to have content from you again!

Hope to see more videos from you soon! I really miss having new ones from you in my feed.

Apple did this some 20 years ago for exactly the same reason. They had no control of what product multi brand retailers were pushing and no control of the expertise at the point of sale which led to the creation of the Apple Store.

If Bucherer own their stores, that means Rolex now owns those as well and could transform them into Rolex and Tudor boutiques without the need to sell other brands. They would be basically buying properties and rebranding them without having to invest on opening new Rolex boutiques around the world.

WOSG shares have been tanking since early 2022, down from a high of €16.80 a share to €6.50 or so… the market isn’t believing their model as retailers! Richemont group also easing in the last 6 months.. as luxury brands feel some of the economic pressure.

Thanks for the great video - it’s always a highlight from the watches world! You made an interesting remark… the wishlist Rolex ADs have in place is to track people’s spending at them during the year. They use that when they distribute Rolexes. I didn’t know that they are looking at the spending history per year.

I'm interested to see how the bigger brands involved react to the move from Rolex

I am all for improving customer experience when buying a Rolex or Tudor. I went to an AD last weekend and what a shitty experience…

This is the best summary of the situation and its implications I have seen.

Very helpful and informative video. Thanks for sharing this video.

Just a thought, but if Rolex is keeping that 40-50% markup as profit in their retail store, wouldn't it be prudent for brands like Omega, Breitling, and other to open more boutique stores in smaller markets? The other thing is that if Omega is 7 or 8% of total watch sales, what does that mean for Swatch group? Wouldn't it be better to compare Rolex to Swatch Group vs. just to Omega.

The whole game of waiting to purchase a simple Tudor turned me right off getting into watches. I’ve had my name on 4-5 waiting lists for months now. The whole marketing strategy is frustrating for someone new to this watch world. I’m sure I’m not the only one who says screw it. Spend my $ on something else.

Finally you have mentioned the points that will exactly happen. Thanks for this video! Definitely a smart move!

Yes Adrian. Great to see you back! When did you get the root beer? I completely missed that. Looks awesome on your strap.

It’s an interesting move really, especially keeping in mind Bucherer had recently gotten into pre-owned market. Which means now Rolex has control over new sales as well as pre-owned.

Very nice to see a video again Adrian. 😊 On topic, I think this is very smart from Rolex. Now they have full control, have full return and can give a far better buyer experience.

Welcome back...I thought you gave up on the channel.

Welcome back Adrian! Glad you're OK & doing well. A couple years back Bucherer bought the single largest watch store here in the US (Tourneau) which has 30 locations throughout the US. Genius.

Amazing how Rolex keep all their 'business' secret until they announce it. No hints, no leaks, just bang ! Its done! They must be some operators at the top end of this company. Respect.

I think it’s a epic move for Rolex but for many of us who maybe are venturing into buying their first Rolex they still have to to deal with arrogant AD’s and jumping through hoops. I guess we will just have to see how this plays out and hopefully things will become easier for potential buyers and not harder.

Valuable information in this, great video - thank you!

Great video, really insightful. I think we can all speak to unpleasant experiences at AD's. Walked into Betteridge and the mere act of setting foot in the Rolex section prompted the associate to belt out, "These are for display only." Not even a "Let me know if I can help." Primarily for this reason, I'm fine with not owning a Rolex.

That money making will only happen if the other brands don't pull out of Bucherer, of course. I'd be nervous about providing my biggest competitor with sensitive release and pricing information before handing them a large chunk of margin. Wouldn't surprise me if Bucherer turns into a monobrand store where you finally still can't buy a Rolex.

Brilliant move, IMO. There are multiple benefits and truly a baller business move. On another note, your Rootbeer is boss--such a cosmopolitan timepiece with a slight vintage vibe. And on that strap? Absolutely stunning 🙌

I really like the color of the Nato on rootbeer. Wonder which B&J Nato color you would recommend for the Guinness (GRNR)? [welcome back!!]

Maybe The Swatch Group will stop selling their watches in Bucherer stores and focus on other AD:s. But nice to have you back Adrian 😃.

This - together with the new Rolex Factory(s) - is going to be a major blow to the secondary market. Not only watches of switzerland, smaller dealers / flippers as well. Good for collectors and "normal" buyers, bad for investors. I think I like the move.

Excellent analysis, many thanks.

Where have you been Adrian?? Finally back huh? Keep posting mate, we love this channel. My personal favorite to watch with a cup of joe.

Just purchased certified Rolex watch from Bucherer. Probably the only AD in Germany selling real Rolex watches. The rest, especially internet stores sell fakes.

A smart business move by Rolex, but now I love Omega even more. My local boutique takes excellent care of me. I can get what I want, I'm getting a master chronometer at a competitive price, and I get royal treatment to boot.

The picture at 0:55 is exactly where I buy all my watches and also it‘s just a 10 minutes walk from where I live in Lucerne. One of the most beautiful cities in the world for sure.

All I know is that when I stop by the Tourneau/Bucherer store to see where I am on the waitlist, they shrug and steer me straight to the certified pre-owned models...it's getting old.

If I'm running Swatch Group, I'm looking hard at exiting Bucherer and doubling down on Watches Of Switzerland as a preferred distribution partner and potential investment opportunity.

While I do think this will make acquiring a Rolex at list prices easier, and reduce the problem of grey market flipping, Rolex will still limit production of its most coveted models. Rolex knows how to play the game of supply and demand better than most, and to think that it will suddenly become easy to acquire a panda Daytona is a ridiculous notion. This is the same game that Hermes plays with its Birkin bags, like it's so hard to make a leather bag in large quantities. Anyway, it's still a great move by Rolex, since people that like mechanical watches often like other brands as well as Rolex. Why not make some money on the side with other brands while your customers also buy or wait to buy the Rolex they want. I also think Rolex has become somewhat tired of all the bad mouthing about the brand on social media. Hopefully this move into retail will remedy some of the issues watch buyers have been dealing with lately.

Excellent analysis. Been busy here as its Air-Sho season. Catch you later ATB ATT.

Welcome back, mate!!

It is a huge move as Rolex is now officially entering the B2C market instead of just B2B, after being a pure manufacturer for a century. It means that Rolex will have the full control client experience and behaviour, stock control and distribution, as well as brand exposure and retail network, unlocking huge opportunity for Rolex to reposition themselves. Having boutiques will help Rolex step up the game if they plan to become a top-tier brand, as AD will not just open a store for you as a showroom and only serve your VIPs. I wouldnt be surprised if Rolex purchases more brands like Breitling and Panerai to fill their mid-tier market share when Rolex enters the ultra-luxury market. Tbh Rolex wouldnt care whether ppl would buy a seamaster as an alternative or if they can make a tiny little profit from selling other brands in Buchcerer, as they know they will dominate the market for the next 20 years

I missed you Adrian ❤

Your GMT rose gold looks amazing on that Bark & Jack strap! I dont typically wear gold but that, I can wear!

Missed you too Adrian, you have a very perceptive pov. Welcome back!

Let's get back to 2000 where you can walk in unannounced and buy a Submariner, like I did. Rolex stopped production during Covid, prices went through the roof. Now Rolex is finishing up on there new expanded production facility. And China is not buying as much as before. Thus lets hope demand and supply can be like the decades and decades before the wait list for a Sub.

I wonder will some of the other manufacturers, eg Omega, remove their concessions from Bucherer as a result of this? Or is Bucherer too valuable to them even if Rolex is making money on the back of an Omega sale?

Just an AD shout out to Goldsmiths in Nottingham my brother got 2 sports models in a year at the height of the hype market, he isn’t a millionaire footballer but had just fought off cancer for the Second time, so some ADs do have a heart and its not all just about the money. Cheers

I have the Bark and Jack grey nato on my Pelagos39 absolutely love it. Patiently waiting for my turn in invisible Rolex queue

A couple of years ago I bought a Cameron Deep Sea from a friend (new, mint in box). After a week I realised what I was wearing wasn’t a watch it was statement about aspiration that said something so unpleasant about me I sold it back to him at a small loss. It’s a nasty brand selling average steel watches that will, one day, get a comeuppance.

It seems to me that a huge downturn in the market both at retail and secondary, has forced the hand of Rolex. The long awaited birds having finally come home to roost and all luxury watch brands should be a little worried but especially Rolex who have, through their slippery AD's, got away with treating customers with disdain for far too long.

Nice job Adrian. Love your updates.

Excellent video Adrian. Also lets not forget the CPO side. CPO seem to be offering a higher rate to buy back a rolex. So not just they are making money from selling rival products, they would also be taking business away from the grey market and setting the baseline price for pre owned. Why would I sell my hulk to a grey dealer when rolex are offering me more and a potential to start of a long term relationship…

I was in Zurich and Lucerne a few months back and the Bucherer stores were horribly overpriced. Literally €1000’s EUR markup on the actual store next door. IMO avoid Burcherer. Tbf my explorer 1 is the last Rolex I ever need also. So I’m probably done with Rolex unless a decent vintage GMT or explorer 2 comes up at a reasonable price. Agree with this video the buying experience is not good. the hype around Rolex is overrated even as someone who has owned several. Good video Adrian!🎉 Just remember the world of watches is totally daft and irrational!

Adrian don’t leave us hanging so long man we missed you! Lol

Well articulated video. Kudos Adrian!

Great content

I believe this has very little to do with improving their self customer experience (the frustration they provoque with way they manage their stocks availability says it all), and everything to do with gaining more power over their competition. Will they entirely decide what is advertised, seen and sold of other brands in these stores? I mean, will Rolex have full control of what happens inside these stores or will there be agreements in place with other brands? It would be good to hear other top swiss brands thoughts on this, we are all missing that part.

Rolex now will control even more who gets to buy a Rolex. Me being a Joe schmo, the possibility of ever owning a new Rolex...bucket list...is even more of a pipe dream. Rolex has the ability to price fix and completely control the retail market. They really don't need authorized dealers now. They can just open new retail stores and wipe out authorized dealers. Win for Rolex...not a win for buyers whose dream is just to own a Rolex. Feeling Ferrari vibes coming from this acquisition.

There iş no way to giving good customer experience without the watch 😂

Thank you for the episode. I wonder how this acquisition will effect ad's besides bucerer and the grey market for consumers.

I went to a rolex ad and they practically laughed in my face when i asked if they had an explorer one. I was so angry, i walked out and got an Omega Aqua Terra.

I believe they will withdraw Rolex from WOS, MP & Goldsmiths and offer to buy certain boutiques from them to soften the blow. This will be mirrored in other countries and Europe. One thing for sure - Rolex know exactly what they are up to - and nobody can second guess them !

Interesting speculation for me is what they do with Bucherer watch brand. Its an opportunity to keep moving up market while positioning Bucherer as the JLC, Panerai, Omega competitor. They could also use it to experiment with movements the way Montblanc does with Minerva movements.

Oh wow, that GMT on a NATO looks nice. I wasn't sure if the newer maxi case models would be too wide for a NATO over the slimmer 5 digit models.

Welcome back.

It’s been an absolute horrid experience trying to buy from Rolex ADs. The worst is I can buy a self described “new” 2023 version from a Greymarket dealer, which is walking distance from the AD. So I am still on the “waiting list”, for the same watch. Yet, I can’t give an alternate for (so definitely no multiple options). They would not even sell me a Tudor. So I am honestly happy about this move, I hope Rolex runs them out of town.

I think it's bigger than that for a few reasons: 1) For sure some brands might exclude Bucherer from their distribution network because well - it's not great for a brand to be something that is sold only when the real stuff is not available. 2) I'm not sure if that will fix the customer experience unless we're talking decade or so, so there must be something else. What is it? 3) money is the answer, but not just money from selling pre-owned certified watches or other brands like Omega or IWC or whatever. Where are the real BIG money? Where's that sweet creamy margin hiding? Correct, in high horology watches. Imagine a high end complicated perpetual calendar platinum Rolex? What could be the price? 100k? 200k? Even 2% margin on it could be 4k, times more than the slice you earn selling simple Oyster Perpetual, in absolute numbers of course, but you get it. Now throw in any sort of formal or informal customer loyalty program so that a few can buy it at certain condition and boom - certified pre-owned price tag is 500k. And if sold - every buck is going back to Rolex. Grey market? Mostly eliminated as you can return the watch back after 3 years and get another "piece-unique". Now optimise the Supply Chain network and squeeze a buck or a few from logistics, ensure supply chain management is mentally healthy and sober and control your cash flow distribution - you're set. The final ladder is completed - Tudor for some as a test environment of peoples estimations, likes and dislikes, Rolex sports as a regular daily watch still in high demand for certain pieces like Daytonas etc to keep the flow and pants on, and a more margin-friendly whole new segment that will explode with brands recognition, high end high horology bespoke/taylor-made/piece-unique/not-for-everyone crazy pieces with crazy complications rivalling Pateks/Vacherons etc. We all wondered "Why Cellini is still here? Why not killing it?" Well here is the possible answer why! Throw in a new factory or “maison” and voi-la! Of course that might be the most stupid explanation of what's next, but hey... why not to dream a bit P.S. to be honest I would be in a cue to get a highly finished Cellini with a display case back and all these kinds of perlage’s and anglage’s. It’s not a bad watch, with history and heritage, just not the one we’re used to see from a sports oriented brand, think it get changed and we suddenly rush for it as it was many times earlier🤷🏻‍♂️

Hey! What was it that you said at 2:38 of the video about a waitlist? It sounded like you said "Niggering at the fact" or "sniggering at the fact"? Was that a mistake or did I mishear what you you were trying to say? Thanks!

Well that's cheered me up W of S share price falling, thanks for that!

Let’s not forget it has to pass anti competition regulators, which may not be as simple as it may appear. Although Bucherer will be run completely separately to Rolex the same as Tudor is, the “other brands” may have something to say about Rolex Ultimately having a profitable interest in their sales.

That root beer + NATO combination is too beautiful!! Also, I love Bucherer - got almost all my new watches from them. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, and often recommend and pull out watches across brands for me to try/compare. I hope they will keep it this way even with Rolex as owner.

Remember when watches weren't a commodity... good times

Precious metal references as well as some two tones are already bellow MSRP on the grey market. This time next year we will be able to buy almost anything on the grey market at retail while the AD will still try to play games ..

Epic move by Rolex to buy turnkey business enabling them to showcase their brand. No downside for them. Looking forward to walking into Rolex/Bucherer and enjoying the buying experience.

They’ll do exactly the same as the crooked other AD’s and sell to who they deem “worthy” I stuck my fingers up to Rolex several years ago and I’d love to see other watch brands do the same to Bucherer. Omega, IWC, Grand Seiko etc, take your stock and redistribute to other retail outlets

It is a massive move for the Hans Wilsdorf, Foundation, Rolex and Tudor concern. The vertical integration of both brands to include retail is, to my point of view, an advantage to consolidate the brands. Now, where it becomes highly controversial is when one considers the aquisition of data from past sales of products from the competition as well as gaining data and margins on present sales…

Great video Adrian. Thank you. Got my eyes on the ribbed army green NATO for my next strap purchase.

I was last june in Bucherer New York. The best customer experience I have ever had!😊

Good to see you again, Adrian!

Nice video. For me the interesting question is what will the other brands who sell via bucherer do next?. Will they stay and accept that a sale makes Rolex richer, or do they withdraw their watches and speed up their own AD network.

I've been a long-time follower of your channel Adrian. I just noticed that there's something you could do to fix the subtitles for your videos. At times the subtitles show up with a lot of text flashed for a fraction of a second without adhering to the timeline. I have had this issue on my channel and was very stressful for me to write the subtitles. However these days I use an Opensource tool called Whisper AI - which is available for free to download. Once the video is ready to be uploaded to youtube, I drag and drop the video in WhisperAI tool and it generates subtitles in seconds. Then I do minor edits to the text and export the srt file. Hope you could use it on your future videos. Keep up the good work. Greetings from Zurich, Switzerland 🇨🇭❤

Expansion of Assets supplies is great, it is an added expertise in the field of science as well as in valuation of wealth/investment(s) supplies.

Be interesting to see the effects.

Brilliant 👏

What you've stated is absolutely accurate. I recently voiced my concerns to Rolex through a complaint on my AD, and their response echoed very closely to your sentiments. I hold the brand in high regard and value their timepieces, but I'm deeply disappointed by the unprofessional manner in which authorized dealers are managing watch deliveries and favouritism to certain individuals.

In center of Stockholm Omega opened a Omega brand store. Made al the AD's put there Omega watches on sale. Almost nobody sales omega in the center area anymore. So, is it maybe a trend among established brands? Will we see a new bunch of luxury watch stores in all big citys all over the world? Hmm...

Hi Adrian I thought since all of your videos are about luxury watches, how about reviewing two watches like the Casio G-Shock GA-2100 and the Casio G-Shock GA-B2100, like spice things up a little bit, hope you like the idea, plus both watches are really affordable, good looking, you can really push your watch creative style to the maximum by adjusting straps, bezels, even paint the watch face marks on the GA-2100, like with Casio G-Shock they really properly let the watch enthusiasts do their thing etc, even those both G-Shocks ain't luxury or no where close to it, I feel it would be two great watches to review on your channel.

Welcome back Adrian! I think you are spot on. This is also an opportunity for Rolex to perfect the buying experience. Train their sales staff and up the luxury buying experience, soup to nuts. Kind of like an Apple Store or a Tesla dealer.

Will be interesting to know what was the fair value or goodwill above valuation did they pay for Bucherer

I hope you had a good holiday 🎉

well done Rolex, great move and soon I will visit the next Bucherer store in Germany :-) Thank for this Video Adrian, missed it for a long time

Another of my favourite KZfaq presenters for horology at the very top, Mr Adrian Barker. Thank you Sir, keep it up!

Astute analysis as always.