BEHIND THE SCENES – ROLEX
Rolex is a name you probably hear about long before you develop an interest in watches.
Rolex is everywhere.
You can probably buy a dog slay somewhere in the outback of Antarctica using a Rolex as collateral.
For us mortals in the watch industry, Rolex is also a source of mystery and legend. Few outsiders are allowed to visit the factory. There are stories (more like industrial fairy tales) of machines which are only used for 1 specific part and come to life once a year to do a production run before being prepared again for hibernation by the caring hands of the watchmakers and engineers.
Some watchmakers’ eyes glaze over when they speak of the quality of the parts, the legendary +/-2 seconds per day accuracy and the ease with which the movements can be serviced and assembled. The consistency and the iconic, no-nonsense design (if you choose to ignore the precious stones) make the watches highly recognizable.
And there are some who say this quality comes with a price: a certain lack of diversity. Search for ”Rolex” on and choose “Sort by: Random” and you might see what they see.
Having said this, here are some fun facts we learned when we ploughed through the brand’s data:
- the collection currently features more than 2’400 watches in 14 families
- the 3 biggest families are Datejust (more than 1’400 references), Day-Date (500 references) and Pearlmaster (300 references)
- you will find a lot of gold in the catalogue: almost 1’300 references feature yellow, rose or white gold cases and bracelets. Another 1’000 references are made of Rolesor, a combination of gold and steel parts.
- the collection is powered by 19 different manufacture movements
- the most used movements are calibre 2235 (more than 1’000 references), 3155 (400 references), 3135 (350 references) and 2236 (300 references)
- Rolex tells us the recommended retail price of about 2’000 watches ranging from CHF 4’600 to CHF 46’600 including VAT. The remaining prices add to the above-mentioned mystery … you better contact a retailer for availability and price.
Let me know which watches and brands you are missing on the platform… we will go looking for them behind the scenes next.
Enjoy the watches!
Olaf Eichstädt
Co-founder and WatchAdvisor’s Chief Data Scientist
«THE PERFECT MATCH FOR WATCH LOVERS»
FINALIST: Investor Summit 2017
WINNER: SWISS STARTUP CHALLENGE 2017
WINNER: «Promotional Award 2017» from young Entrepreneurs of Zug/Switzerland
