[ckcarr]

I'm finding this entire watch culture really interesting.
Fine guitars, luxury watches, firearm collections.... high end motorcycles, cars, airplanes...
It's good to be a capitalist!

What I have learned, and believe is true regarding Rolex.

They make around 1 million new watches per year. However the worldwide demand is far higher than that.

At one time the secondary market didn't exist as it is today, but now there's a lot of money in it. Back when I bought my first (and only) Rolex you could walk in and pick from a display case. Now they, the dealers, say the displays are just that, for display only and they have no inventory. This story is not true however as they receive weekly shipments from Rolex. They have inventory locked in their vault which is available for sale.

Meanwhile, now however, you must physically walk into a Rolex dealer. There are no on-line sales. They will tell you they have no inventory - as the nice lady said to me last week.
You have to introduce yourself, give them all your personal information... maybe have coffee, or buy a trinket or two.. And they say thank you, please keep in touch.

Then, behind the scenes, after you leave they check you out to the best of their ability. They scour social media, look for repetitive purchase histories in a master Rolex database. They are looking for the flippers... And in their way, trying to protect the brand. The directive is to sell to genuine customers, not flippers. If you check out, and you seem OK, that's still not enough. You need to be earnest, returning to the store and build a relationship with them, keep inquiring...

Then one day, you may get a call saying they have a Datejust, or Oyster perpetual for you... Or maybe actually the one you want... No way will they sell you one of the higher end watches though, those are reserved for their real and loyal customers. Now, once you get that call you have to act. You'll probably be given 48 hours to decide and be there to claim the watch. If not... They will never call again.

It seems crazy..

And that's why the Rolex tax exists.