Rolex Submariner

Hi guys

Another story:

I got my hand on a brand new Rolex submariner no Date from an official dealer here in Switzerland. Usually, there are waiting lists for these models, but maybe due to Corona, I got a shot at one.

I did not buy it yet, and am hesitant because I could just invest the money into my portfolio and get some nice returns over the years.

It is roughly 9k, and I wondering if the Return on investment is really worth it.

It could also be seen as dead capital :slight_smile:

What do you guys think?

Best,

cyberhigh

1 Like

Hello

The Submariner is worth more than 9k on the greymarket, right?
So if you don’t want to keep it, you could also consider buying it and reselling it for an instant profit. Please note that there are some watch companies that will exempt you from future purchases if they find out that you sold your watch on the greymarket.

In which area is this dealer? I’m currently looking to buy a watch aswell, maybe he’d have it aswell. I’m not really looking forward to waiting such a long time.

You could make profit by selling the service of not having to wait on the waitlist. The watch itself won’t really gain in value.

As already stated, you have a chance for grey market arbitrage or keeping/using the watch. Any expectations about it gaining value are purely speculative and depend solely on how long Rolex will maintain their limited supply tactic.

I personally appreciate Rolex as a watch brand (the actual watches are fine timepieces) but not their artificial waiting lists. I also dislike the grey market that’s developed around it. It’s unknown how much the pandemic or other trends will impact the demand.

When I buy a watch it will be for me to use and enjoy. Watches enter my winder but not my balance sheet.

You could invest the money or absorb the opportunity cost and enjoy a nice watch for years to come. Which one would increase your joie de vivre more?

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Rolex GMT and Submariner are those you are regulary higher on the grey market because of the long waiting list. For example the GMT Pepsi has a waiting list of 8-10 years. So the price on the 2nd market is close to double to the official listing price with Rolex. If you love that watch, buy it, wear it and enjoy it. You will be anytime able to sell it and probably with a profit.

Edit - check Chrono24 what is available on the grey market:
https://www.chrono24.ch/rolex/submariner-no-date--mod2460.htm?dosearch=true&query=Rolex+Submariner+No+Date&goal_suggest=1

What happened to this story? I’d be on the market for some „hard“ assets too.

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I also have question how do you declare “hard” assets for tax office? What’s stopping you from not declaring, since it’s just sitting in your drawer? And if you declare, how do you value it correctly?

Until I get a 20k watch I will not declare it. My accountant always declares our car but I guess that’s probably expected by the tax man. My current watches would not affect the wealth tax assessment.

One thing to remember with mechanical watches is that they do have maintenance costs. Service is recommended every 5-8 years depending on the brand and watch. For premium timepieces it’s not cheap either. I have to get my Omega serviced and the recommended price is 550 CHF.

In Basel-Stadt a car is not a part of your tax declaration, i.e. its value is not counted towards the wealth tax.

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Maybe insurance is a factor. E.g. if you have some painting worth 10 Millions, and you insure it for that… You would have to explain where the money that the insurance gave you came from, in case that it was stolen or damaged somehow.

Between insurance payout & year-end just be sure to buy another $10 million painting! I mean kind of no-brainer for other reasons too, you don’t want to leave the wall bare too long anyways.

Hi guys

Sorry for not responding earlier

I bought mine at Bucherer in Zurich. I waited quite a while and was lucky to get one. They are strict with selling these watches.

Since they launched a new 2020 model, the submariner no dates are traded for more than 11k at the moment. At least on chrono24

Be careful with Chrono24 prices. Just because they are listed for x does not mean they’re actually selling for that amount.

Hello, it depends. Do you really like watches? If you do I think you should get it. Enjoy a very nice Time piece for years. And in case you need the money you can always sell it (apparently it holds value and protects against inflation :wink: you can always say the story that you got it spot on, no waiting list which is a privilege

quick a bit of an old post (2020) and in the meantime, many things happened (Covid, watch bubble etc…).
I am passionate about watches, and Rolex is one of the brand I am fascinated.
I consider them as an alternative investment (definetely better than park the money in the bank doing nothing)

But one important note: not all watches have the same tenure, even the Rolex. Sub (data or no-data), GMT and the other sportive ones (mainly on steel) they absorbed the drastic decrease on the second-hand market.