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THE ARGUMENT FOR ROLEX WATCHES

Rolex is arguably the most popular name in watches -- certainly when
it comes to luxury watches. Classically Swiss, since 1915 Rolex has
been producing watches designed for comfort, function and style.
Today, Rolex is one of the most powerful luxury brands in the world
working hard to retain its status. Rolex focuses on a few key watch
lines that are quickly recognizable and highly desired the world over.
Image aside, Rolex watches have a reputation for being very well
manufactured -- despite what Dwayne Smith will tell you in his
Arguments Against Rolex Watches -- lasting decades or more with simple
care.

Rolex watches are classic

You’ll see below that most Rolex watches are archetypes: The Rolex
Submariner is the classic diver’s watch, The Rolex Datejust is the
classic formal men’s watch of the last half century and The Rolex
Daytona is the classic sports chronograph. Rolex has benefited from
keeping its product line simple and consistent. Instead of releasing
brand new models, it keeps refining existing designs. This is
extremely important because each watch contains the suggestions and
wearing experiences of countless people who together have helped
create timepieces that look good and work well.

Take the Rolex Submariner line as an example. Based on the classic
“Oyster” water-resistant watch cases, the timepiece is specifically
designed to be easy to read in most conditions, to be hardy and have a
comfortable and reliable construction. The Submariner design has
achieved an almost impossible task: to look good on almost every
person, on any occasion, regardless of age or outfit. Other Rolex
watches edge close to this ideal as well. You have to ask yourself the
question of whether that is due to something about the design of these
watches or rather because we have been seeing them on important wrists
our whole lives, and they simply mentally fit these positive watch
stereotypes.

James Bond wore a Rolex

Omega doesn’t want you to know this, but the original James Bond watch
was a Rolex Submariner. Creator Ian Fleming wrote that Bond was
wearing the timepiece, while Sean Connery in the role brandished his
Submariner proudly. Countless actors, celebrities and politicians have
also been known to be Rolex men. Take the popular line of Paul Newman
Daytona watches, or the Rolex Day-Date nicknamed the “President,”
because many U.S. presidents (and otherwise) during the 20th century
were known to wear the watch. Wearing a Rolex and being associated
with these people and personalities can hardly be described as
something you’d want to avoid.

Rolex watches are the ultimate status symbol

Wearing a Rolex watch communicates to people that you are successful
enough to have rewarded yourself with the luxury of a nice watch.
Rolex watches are not the only luxury watches out there by far, but
they are the most well-known. From basic entry-level luxury models to
diamond-encrusted gold watches for the ultra-privileged, a Rolex is so
much more than a mere timepiece. It is a statement about your way of
life and taste. Some people take it even further; the world of
aftermarket Rolex watches feature decorated brims and jewel encrusted
designs, suggesting that telling time becomes a mere afterthought.

Other watches also want to be like Rolex, whose designs are the most
copied the world over. Most of these watches legitimize “homage”
timepieces with a different brand name, but there is of course the
dark underworld of fakes as well. You’ll find at least a little of
Rolex design in the majority of nice watches out there. So, even if
you don’t have a watch with the Rolex name, chances are there is a bit
of Rolex influence. You can’t deny that even if Rolex watch designs
don’t move you, a big part of you wants one.

Rolex watches have excellent movements

Being a company that makes all of its own parts (rare in the watch
world), it goes without saying that Rolex makes each of its own
movements (historically, this was not always the case), excluding
other watch companies from using Rolex mechanical movements. While
Rolex is not known in the modern sense for having particularly complex
movements (it offers basic watches with features such as the time,
date, day, or a chronograph), it is preferred by watch makers to work
on being so well designed, easy to fix and highly reliable. As such,
almost every Rolex movement sold is COSC certified Chronometer
attesting to its accuracy.

Rolex watches hold value

Among the few truly collectible watch brands from a value perspective
are Rolex timepieces. It has been said that you can buy a new Rolex
Submariner today, wear it for five years, and then sell it in good
condition for close to the original purchase price. Like cars, most
other watches lose a chunk of their value after being sized and put on
a buyer’s wrist. There are also the investment-grade Rolex watches
that achieve stellar auction results yielding some of the most
impressive prices ever known at an auction. This is due to the power
behind the Rolex name and brand, as well as the world’s fervor for
these “gold standard” super watches.


THE ARGUMENT AGAINST ROLEX WATCHES

Let’s get one thing straight: Rolexes are for people that know names
but don’t know watches. For the price Rolex charges, you can buy
dozens of other watches that are better looking, more accurate, much
less common, and don’t make you look like you're an overweight white
man coming off the golf course. Consider this: When former model Carla
Bruni hooked up with newly minted French president Nicolas Sarkozy,
the very first thing she did was make him swap out his gold Rolex for
a much more refined Patek Philippe. Rolexes reek of desperation.

No one in their right mind should spend their hard earned money on a
new Rolex. Here's why.

Rolex movements are over-hyped

First, the movement quality of your run-of-the-mill Rolex is nothing
special. In fact, many much more affordable Swiss watches use
movements that keep time just as well. To add insult to injury, there
are even some Chinese, Japanese and Russian movements that are just as
-- if not more -- accurate as a standard Rolex movement.

Rolex watches look stale

Rolex’s designs are stale. This brand hasn’t released a truly new
model in over a decade, and the majority of the watches it makes today
are exact duplicates of the watches it made half a century ago. In
fact, the biggest innovation it has made in recent years is a new
metal called “Rolesor,” which is heavily advertised as a great new
substance for watchmaking. Guess what; it’s just steel and gold.

Rolex stories are nothing but a myth

All those stories you hear about Rolexes being chosen as the watch for
great adventures are only half true. For example, Rolex claims Sir
Edmund Hillary wore an Explorer when he scaled the summit of Mount
Everest for the first time. This is not the case. In fact, he only
carried the Explorer until he reached the summit and then put on a
watch from a small British company called Smiths. Hillary even wrote a
signed letter endorsement to Smiths stating: “I carried your watch to
the summit and it worked perfectly.” Rolex also submitted a watch to
NASA in the early ‘60s to be considered for use in the moon missions.
We all know how that turned out.

Rolex watches are for seniors or rappers

It is rare for a brand to be considered both stodgy and lame and
ghetto fabulous at the very same time, yet Rolex has done it. If you
ask one person on the street what they think of Rolex, they’ll tell
you their elderly grandfather wears one in between rounds of golf and
his daily 2 p.m. nap. If you ask another, they’ll tell you the only
people that wear Rolexes are athletes and rappers. So which are you, a
sleepy 85-year-old bald man or an 18-year-old athlete from the hood
trying to prove his worth to the world?

Rolex watches are for posers

If you are not one of the two groups mentioned above, wearing a Rolex
oozes desperation. Yes, a Rolex is the most recognizable watch on the
planet -- now is that supposed to be a good thing? Young men that don
a Rolex are perceived as self-absorbed, insecure and image-obsessed by
those around them. Essentially, you just look like a douche. Be
confident enough in yourself and in your sense of style that you don’t
need to be wearing a veritable calling card of the nouveau riche.

To rolex or not to rolex? not.

Rolex is masterful at branding, and mediocre at watchmaking. Do
yourself a favor and pass on the Submariner, Datejust and Daytona. For
the price you’ll pay for a new Rolex you can buy a vintage Steve
McQueen Heuer, an equally high-quality Omega Aqua Terra Chronograph or
even a limited edition boutique diving watch from Linde Werdelin.
Don’t be fooled by the Rolex marketing machine. Be your own man and
the next time someone tries to impress you with a Rolex, sit back and
try not to make them feel bad about wearing an overpriced,
under-designed, neon sign of a watch. If all this wasn’t enough to
make you forget Rolex forever, we’ll leave you with one final
argument: Tara Reid loves Rolex. If that doesn’t make you run in the
other direction, we don’t know what will.
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