rolex

anyone who gets on the waiting list for one of these, and anyone who brags about making the list and scoring a watch, is a straight-up sucker. period. because all those waiting lists they run worldwide are fake. they're just manufactured "situations," artificially created so that demand, mystery, or whatever you want to call it keeps climbing.

let me tell you what that so-called "list" actually is. there is no official list kept anywhere, in any central database, least of all over in switzerland or wherever. think of it as nothing more than getting your name added to the dinky little contact list of whatever sales rep happens to be working that one boutique in your area, because you're an eager buyer who isn't quite vip enough.

rolex makes plenty of watches, but the authorized dealers are out here inventing imaginary lists to fake a shortage and juice the demand. dig a little and they'll tell you your spot on the list, or the reason you couldn't just buy the watch you wanted and got dumped onto some junk list instead, comes down to your "purchase history." meaning you've gotta build a relationship with that sales rep and buy other watches from them first. all of this, of course, assuming you're not vip enough :))

these lists are such a joke that a guy i know who got "added" to the list here in turkey ended up picking up the exact same watch within a few days while on a vacation in some european city.

okay, say you do make the list. don't go thinking there's some system ticking along like clockwork (no pun intended). think of it more like waiting in line at the bank, except people who show up after you, the ones richer than you, a little more prestigious, or who've already bought a few watches, just walk right past you. they get their watches in a matter of months while you look up and realize you've been sitting on that list for 2-3 years.
man, this is an entry/mid-level luxury watch at the end of the day, what waiting list? the way they act you'd think they were selling me antimatter.

there's no line or anything, folks, first they look at whether they can fob off some other watch on you, gold ones and the like. and if you already have a prior purchase history, you get the model you want with no waiting.

go ask for a steel daytona, a gmt pepsi batgirl, a mint-dial datejust and they'll tell you to get lost if it's your first time buying a rolex. these are the models you could sell the moment you walk out of the dealer, immediately turning a profit. but ask for a two-tone gold-and-steel or full gold model and maybe they make you wait a week tops for show, or you just buy it straight from the store and walk out.